The Brewers had a great season in 2025. They surprisingly upended the league’s regular season and parlayed it into a small playoff run. Most fans would say that everything is looking good for the team. It’s a positive number in the Wisconsin sports scene that doesn’t look so good when you look outside of the Brewers.
When it comes to Wisconsin sports, it almost always starts with the Packers. They are by far the most popular team in the state, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon. However, it has been a difficult season for them. They will make the playoffs again, although they will be the bottom seed in the NFC for the third year in a row. While things were still good in that regard, the final weeks of the regular season were bleak. Injuries hit the team hard and took them from a potential Super Bowl contender to a team that will limp into the playoffs. Injuries to key players are part of the reason, with the most recent two being Micah Parson’s ACL tear and Jordan Love’s concussion and shoulder injury. There’s still a chance they turn it around with a playoff run, but it’s rock bottom for the Packers right now.
Next up are the Bucks. In terms of a championship, they have the most recent of the three major pro teams, winning the NBA Finals in 2021. However, they are on track to have their worst season since 2015-16. After 33 games they are 14-19. A major reason for this is Giannis Antetokounmpo’s injuries; the Bucks are 2-11 and he is inactive this season. He recently returned to the lineup and the Bucks have won two games in a row. There is still time for a turnaround this season, but the halfway point is approaching and they need a healthy Antetokounmpo to make that happen.
Moving on to college sports, the Badgers are the big team in the state. In college football, they have posted consecutive losing seasons for the first time since the 1990s. They had the second-lowest point total in all of Division 1 FBS football and had an infamous stretch of games in which no touchdowns were scored. The men’s basketball team looks better at 8-4, but conference play is just beginning. There is also Marquette for the major college basketball teams, but they are having a rougher season at 5-8.
Meanwhile, the Brewers are coming off one of their best seasons in franchise history. They had a franchise-best 97 wins that led all of baseball. They made a run to the National League Championship Series before losing to the eventual World Series champions. Nearly all the key contributors will return at the start of next season. They have a young team that is on course for further growth. It’s one of the greatest times for the franchise.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s all good for the Brewers. They still play in a competitive division, where they have to beat the Cubs, who also look strong. There are also the Reds in the picture, and the end-of-season play-offs have them heading into 2026 with confidence. Outside of the division, the Dodgers continue to tower above the National League with a superstar team that will be tough to beat. Other major market teams also remain a factor with larger payrolls, and a possible work stoppage after the 2026 season is in the picture.
One advantage the Brewers have – if you can call it an advantage – is that the Brewers have regularly started the season with “lower” expectations. Because they have built their roster primarily with internal prospects and rarely make big signings in free agency, they have regularly started the season as underdogs. When the season goes better than expected, it is assessed more favorably. On the other hand, compare it to the Packers and Bucks, who have regularly entered seasons with high expectations. As a result, if they don’t meet those expectations, it’s seen as a worse season, despite it being objectively a good season.
Therefore, this is a “cloudy” time for Wisconsin sports rather than a “gloomy” time. Objectively speaking, the pro teams are still showing some success, even if it’s not exactly what fans want to see. Meanwhile, not many Packers or Bucks fans would say it’s a good time for either team. As for the Brewers, it depends on the fan. If it’s a fan watching the entire season, they would say it’s been a really good year. On the other hand, if it’s a fan who only watches the playoffs, they may be more negative based on a sweep in the NLCS.
At this point, it’s still a positive 2026 outlook for the Brewers. They have become as competitive as the Packers and Bucks and have escaped from the shadows they lived in for a few decades. While the prospects for the other teams may not be great right now, they could be the bright spot in state sports for a while.
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