Wisconsin Badgers’ pivotal 2026 football schedule revealed

1. September 6th vs. Notre Dame (Alternate location game hosted in Green Bay)
2. September 12th vs. Western Illinois
3. September 19th vs. Eastern Michigan
4. September 26th at Penn State
5. October 3rd vs. Michigan State
6. October 10th: Bye week
7. October 17th at UCLA
8. October 24th vs. USC
9. October 31st at Iowa
10. November 7th vs. Rutgers
11. November 14th at Maryland
12. November 21st at Purdue
13. November 28th vs. Minnesota

Wisconsin will have quite the start to the season against Notre Dame, but the out of conference match-up should deliver a quality test early. Western Illinois and Eastern Michigan went a combined 8-16 in 2025 with a lack of overall talent on each roster. Before Wisconsin can escape September, the Badgers will need to open Big Ten Conference play against the new-look Penn State Nittany Lions and Matt Campbell.

Campbell has put together a solid roster in the wake of the shakeup that Penn State endured and the Nittany Lions will look significantly different. Penn State has 37 transfers into the program at the moment with a significant amount of the transfer being former Iowa State players.

October will be the most difficult month of the season for Wisconsin as Michigan State, UCLA, USC, and Iowa are the scheduled opponents. Coach Pat Fitzgerald will return to collegiate football with the Spartans and the team is bound to improve upon a lackluster 2025 campaign.

UCLA has the second best transfer class in the conference behind Indiana with 41 total transfers into the program. USC, on the other hand, has just eight transfers into the program with the 14th rated transfer class in the conference. The Trojans lost 21 players to the portal including multiple contributors which will be difficult to replace this late in the off-season.

The last two years in a row the Badgers have been blown out by Iowa, but that streak could come to an end in 2026. The Hawkeyes have added little to the roster and will showcase a similar team in 2026 while the Badgers have made plenty of changes across the roster.

November will be the biggest test for Wisconsin as the games against Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue, and Minnesota should all be wins. Rutgers is averaging two conference wins per year since joining the Big Ten and 2025 was no different with blowout losses to Washington, Oregon, Illinois, and Ohio State.

Maryland, Purdue, and Minnesota combined for six conference wins last season and the Golden Gophers recorded five of those wins. The Terrapins have just two conference wins in two seasons while the Boilermakers have not won a conference game since the Big Ten expanded.