The Aporia · Wisconsin counting on refurbished roster to help Badgers rebound from two straight losing seasons

Wisconsin counting on refurbished roster to help Badgers rebound from two straight losing seasons

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗

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Megargee, S. (2026, August 18). Wisconsin counting on refurbished roster to help Badgers rebound from two straight losing seasons. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/wisconsin-counting-on-refurbished-roster-to-help-badgers-rebound-from-two-straight-losing-seasons/article_f0a0a71f-15a1-55ce-bf5a-83aa04bf1e99.html

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Quick Summary

Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh invested in the team's roster, adding 34 transfers, including 27 from Bowl Subdivision programs, to help the Badgers recover from two straight losing seasons. The team had a Power Four-leading 22 consecutive winning seasons before this downturn. Wisconsin opens against No. 4 Notre Dame and has a lighter schedule compared to last year, which may aid their return to bowl eligibility. The Badgers' linebackers Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano are considered a strong point, having made an impact in the previous season.

Written by AI on 2026-08-18, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Wisconsin is hoping that its revamped roster will help the Badgers bounce back from two straight losing seasons. The team had 22 consecutive winning seasons before this recent downturn, but has gone 4-8 in each of the past two years. To address this slide, athletic director Chris McIntosh invested heavily in recruiting, bringing in 34 transfers, including 27 players from other Bowl Subdivision programs. One reason for optimism is the duo of young linebackers Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano, who both saw significant playing time as freshmen and showed promise in wins over Washington and Illinois last year. With a lighter schedule and an improved roster, Wisconsin hopes to return to bowl eligibility this season. The team's first game will be against No. 4 Notre Dame, but the conference schedule does not include any of the three Big Ten teams that made last year's College Football Playoff (Indiana, Ohio State, and Oregon).

Written for “Wisconsin Football Season Preview” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

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sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

1 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

64/100

Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

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articles that frame the event the way this one does

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Who wrote this

Steve Megargee

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Topics

Badgers Big Ten Indiana Notre Dame Wisconsin

Subjects

Wisconsin GPE · 11× Badgers ORG · 4× Big Ten ORG · 2× Indiana GPE · 2× Notre Dame ORG · 2× Ohio State ORG · 2× Old Dominion ORG · 2× Chris McIntosh PERSON · 1× MADISON GPE · 1× Wis. GPE · 1×

Narrative

Wisconsin opens against No. 4 Notre Dame, but the conference schedule doesn’t include any of the three Big Ten teams that made last year’s College Football Playoff (Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon).

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-18

🔮 McIntosh believed Fickell could win at Wisconsin if he got more financial support.

2026-08-18 · Toronto Star

Wisconsin counting on refurbished roster to help Badgers rebound from two straight losing seasons · assertive framing

Claims (24 extracted, 1 hedged)

Wisconsin believes its increased investment in roster construction can help the Badgers bounce back from back-to-back losing seasons. asserted

Badgers → believe → seasons

Before departing as athletic director to take a job in the Big Ten office, Chris McIntosh decided to stick with Luke Fickell rather than making a coaching change. asserted

McIntosh → depart → change

McIntosh believed Fickell could win at Wisconsin if he got more financial support. uncertain

he → believe → support

Wisconsin then added 34 transfers, including 27 from other Bowl Subdivision programs. asserted

Wisconsin → add → programs

Wisconsin had a Power Four-leading 22 straight winning seasons before this recent downturn. asserted

Wisconsin → have → downturn

An improved roster and a lighter schedule ought to help the Badgers return to bowl eligibility this season. asserted

Badgers → help → eligibility

that → open → Playoff

Strengths include young linebackers asserted

Strengths → include → linebackers

The linebacker duo of Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano gives Wisconsin reason for hope. asserted

duo → give → hope

Both moved into the starting lineup late in their freshman seasons and provided a spark in victories over Washington and Illinois last year. asserted

Both → move → Washington

Posa made such an impact that he earned third-team all-Big Ten honors from the league’s coaches despite starting just five games. asserted

he → make → games

Weaknesses include issues on offense Wisconsin ranked next-to-last among all FBS programs last year – ahead of only UMass – in yards per game and yards per play. asserted

Wisconsin → include → play

The Badgers did plenty of work to upgrade their talent base on that side of the ball in the offseason. asserted

Badgers → do → offseason

There’s no doubt Wisconsin’s offense will be better this season than it was a year ago. asserted

it → ’ → ?

But there was such a long way to go that simply getting back to respectability would be a major step forward. asserted

getting → be → respectability

New faces S Marvin Burks Jr. started 26 straight games for Missouri from 2024-25. asserted

Jr. → start → 2024

He had 66 tackles in 2024 and 49 last season. asserted

He → have → 2024

QB Colton Joseph comes over from Old Dominion to become the fourth straight transfer to open a season as Wisconsin’s starter at this position. asserted

Joseph → come → position

He threw for 2,624 yards and 21 touchdowns while rushing for 1,007 yards and 13 more scores last year to help Old Dominion go 9-3 in the regular season. asserted

Dominion → throw → season

CB Javan Robinson made 26 straight starts at Arizona State from 2024-25. asserted

Robinson → make → 2024

RB Abu Sama III rushed for 1,933 yards at Iowa State the last three seasons. asserted

III → rush → State

He ran fot 732 yards and gained 5.2 yards per carry last year. asserted

He → run → carry

OT PJ Wilkins has a good chance of opening the season as Wisconsin’s starting left tackle. asserted

Wilkins → have → tackle

He primarily played guard at his two previous schools: Charlotte (2024) and Mississippi (2025). asserted

He → play → schools