The 2025 college football season ended with Indiana’s historic win, and it’s time for a season review. The AP poll gives a good measure of a team’s success, and the recently released coaches’ poll does the same. College football head Coaches rank their top 25 teams in the season, and a cumulative list is announced. This year, though, a Big 10 HC has two prominent SEC programs off his list, which is becoming a point of major backlash.

Wisconsin head coach, Luke Fickell, in his Coaches’ poll list ranked Indiana at 1st, Miami at 2nd, Ohio State at 3rd, and Ole Miss at 4th, followed by Oregon (5th). At the 6th spot, Fickell kept Texas Tech, and he put Texas A&M in 7th position. The other three programs in his top 10 include Alabama (8th), Oklahoma (9th), and Notre Dame (10th). Interestingly, there was no mention of Georgia at all in his list.

Georgia finished the 2025 season with an impressive 12-2 record and also won the SEC championship. Kirby Smart’s team then earned a bye in the playoffs and lost its quarter-final game against Ole Miss. Because of the performances, Georgia earned a 6th spot in the AP Poll and got a 5th spot in the Coaches Poll. But interestingly, it still did not make it to Fickell’s list.

Moreover, UGA isn’t the only major program the Wisconsin head coach snubbed. He had it out for a few other SEC giants.

Fickell also didn’t include Vanderbilt in his top 25. Vandy ranks 15th in the AP Poll and got the same spot in the coaches poll. The program finished with a 10-3 season, and its QB, Diego Pavia, was a Heisman finalist. Vandy’s inclusion was a no-brainer, just like Georgia’s.

Because of these omissions, college football fans are visibly furious over Fickell’s controversial act.

Fans are calling out Luke Fickell’s Poll rankings

Other teams in Luke Fickell’s top 25 include Michigan at 15th, when both the AP poll and Coaches poll have kept the Wolverines at 21st and 22nd positions. Another interesting inclusion is Georgia Tech, which earned a 17th spot in the Wisconsin head coach’s list. Georgia Tech finished with a 9-4 season, didn’t make the top 25 of the AP Poll, and is ranked 24th in the coaches poll.

“Good way to get coaches to leave Wisconsin (Fickell) off their ballots next time,” a user wrote on X about Fickell’s ranking decision. Whereas a Georgia fan was visibly furious and urged Kirby Smart to take Wisconsin in his schedule. “Kirby Smart definitely needs to get Wisconsin on the schedule.”

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Georgia’s 2026 schedule is already out, and the only way the team could face Wisconsin is in the playoffs. By the looks of Wisconsin’s 4-8 record in 2025 and a 5-7 record a year before that, the matchup isn’t happening any time soon in the playoffs. As for Fickell’s omission and errors in the list, they were explained by some users, who alleged that Fickell had not prepared his list himself.

“Thought it was COMMON knowledge the coaches don’t actually do these polls….it’s the athletic departments’ SIDs that do them, NOT the coaches,” the user wrote. Another user presented non-verifiable data, which showed the futility of the coaches’ poll. “Why is the coaches’ poll still a thing? It’s not even filled out by 75% of coaches. It’s done by their assistants.”

Fickell’s omission and grading of the team are glaring without a doubt. He kept an 8-win Tennessee over Georgia, which the program defeated on the road. Leaving off Vanderbilt is another blunder, and being oblivious to the program’s success is like living under a rock. It’s how one user pointed.”Can’t win as the Badgers coach and obviously can’t evaluate the college football 🏈 landscape- bad combination.”

Luke Fickell enters his fourth year at Wisconsin and would be on the hot seat. He has compiled a 17-21 losing record for the Badgers, and without a significant leap in 2026, the program would easily show him the door. His $54.6 million, 7-year contract is also costing a lot for the Badgers, and if not for his $25 million buyout, Fickell might have already been fired in 2025.