Wisconsin Badgers are one of the more elite teams in the Big Ten through the last 20 years or so. Badgers have won multiple Big Ten titles, made it to countless Rose Bowl’s, and the only thing they’re missing is a trip to the College Football Playoff. If I were to tell you that they spend significantly less than Minnesota and Rutgers on recruiting, would you believe me? Well, according to a new USA Today report, Wisconsin comes in last from a recruiting spend standpoint only spending 335,000+ last season. Some might argue there is a need to boost that number up, but most admire Wisconsin’s ability to do more with less.

You have to admire what Wisconsin has done without spending a fortune on recruiting. To me, it is not a cheap thing, rather, Wisconsin is allocating their resources to other parts of the football team. Trust me, this is not a case where a scrappy football team is scraping together a few nickels to get by. Badgers have deep pockets, but it’s not being spent on recruiting. My guess is if prominent boosters see this report and don’t like that they’re dead last, Wisconsin’s Athletic Director and former head coach Barry Alvarez will flip it and ask for a sizable donation.

What this report shows me, at least from a Big Ten perspective, is dropping bags on recruiting doesn’t always equal success. Minnesota spent over a million dollars with nothing really to show from it. Same goes for Nebraska. Rutgers spent nearly 900,000 which is absolutely wild when you consider the type of team Rutgers is. Yes, Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State are at the top, but I don’t think that means Wisconsin cannot compete with them on a regular basis.

In last year’s recruiting rankings, Wisconsin finished fifth among Big Ten teams. They check in at number 28 with Graham Mertz leading the way. Not bad for a school that doesn’t spend money on recruiting.

Charlie.