Wisconsin has had two Heisman Trophy winners, Alan Ameche and Ron Dayne, and has had twelve former players inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Afterwards, the Badgers struggled to regain their momentum, with their efforts hampered by many of their star players leaving as a result of World War II.

Continuing under the direction of Bruhn in 1962, the Badgers had another landmark season, spearheaded by the passing combination of Ron Vander Kelen to All-American Pat Richter.

The Badgers finished 8–1, earned their eighth Big Ten title, and faced the top-ranked USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl.

While the Badgers weren't a consistent winner under Jardine, the program regained stability, and also brought excitement in running backs Rufus "Roadrunner" Ferguson and Billy Marek.

By the end of the 1989 season, the Wisconsin football program was in disarray, shouldering a debt of over $2 million and with only 30,000 fans attending games at the 77,000-capacity stadium.

New athletic director Pat Richter named Barry Alvarez, the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, as the new head coach.

They steamrolled through the season, finishing 10-1-1, winning their first Big Ten championship since 1962 and beating UCLA 21–16 to claim their first Rose Bowl victory.

Due to the loss of scholarships as a result of the NCAA investigation, the Badgers struggled through the 2001–2003 seasons, never finishing higher than seventh in the Big Ten.

Following the 2005 season, Alvarez resigned as head coach in order to focus on his duties as athletic director, a position he had assumed in 2004.

In 2011, the Badgers were once again crowned Big Ten Champs when they defeated Michigan State in the first-ever conference championship game.

At the request of the team captains, Barry Alvarez named himself interim coach for the 2013 Rose Bowl, where the Badgers lost, 20–14 to Stanford.

[13] At the request of the teams' seniors, Barry Alvarez named himself interim coach for the 2015 Outback Bowl vs. Auburn on January 1, 2015.

[15] Gary Andersen finished his coaching career at Wisconsin with a 19–7 record a 73 percent winning percentage with one Big Ten west division title.

5 ranked LSU Tigers 16–14 in their season opener at Lambeau Field, the first ever major college football game in the historical stadium.

Undefeated during the regular season, the Badgers were ranked fourth in the nation before narrowly losing the Big 10 championship to Ohio State.

Wisconsin struggled to a 4–3 record, losing three games in a row to ranked opponents before finishing the season with a 20–17 overtime victory over Minnesota.

Defensive Coordinator Jim Leonhard became the interim coach and went 4-3 overall to finish the season 6-6, keeping Wisconsin's bowl streak alive.

After a 16-0 setback that season, the Wisconsin lettermen's group, the National 'W' Club, presented Minnesota with an axe wielded by Paul Bunyan.

Each year since, the winner of the annual battle between the Big Ten rivals is presented with the axe, complete with scores inscribed on the handle, for display on its campus.

The trophy, which is a bull mounted on a walnut base (native to both Wisconsin and Iowa), has been inscribed with the scores of all games in the long-time series.

With Big Ten expansion, the Wisconsin and Iowa football teams were placed in separate divisions, thus ending their annual rivalry.

[citation needed] The tradition "officially" began on Saturday, October 10, 1998, at the Badgers Homecoming game against the Purdue Boilermakers.

[30] During a game in which no offensive points were scored in the third quarter, and with the Badgers en route to their second 6–0 start in the modern football era, a team official piped the song through the loudspeakers.

[31] On September 6, 2003 (the Badgers' first home game of the season), with the construction of skyboxes surrounding Camp Randall Stadium, UW officials decided to cancel the "Jump Around" due to worries about structural integrity.

[32] When news surfaced on Monday, September 8, that this event was not a technical or human malfunction, but rather a decision by campus officials, the students launched a protest.

[33] The song's title is displayed on unofficial Wisconsin Badgers clothing and apparel, along with the credit/debit cards of the university's employee/student/alumni credit union.

On August 12, 2020, it was announced that Wisconsin would play versus the Southern Illinois Salukis in 2027, a game rescheduled from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[58] On June 7, 2021, it was announced that Wisconsin would play versus the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in 2026 at Lambeau Field, a game rescheduled from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[59] On November 21, 2023, it was announced that Wisconsin would play versus the Pittsburgh Panthers in 2027 at Aviva Stadium in Ireland as part of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.