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For the first time since 2021, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will take on the Wisconsin Badgers. In their last meeting, the two teams squared off at Soldier Field in Chicago. This fall, the venue will be at Lambeau Field. These two big-named Midwest programs have rarely faced off on the gridiron. They've only played once since 1965 with that matchup coming in 2021.

The Irish and the Badgers also rarely square off on the recruiting trail, but that doesn't mean there won't be some intriguing matchups to keep your eye on Sunday night. Let's look at how these two teams stack up in the recruiting ranks using Rivals/On3 composite rankings to compare. 

Notre Dame Offense vs Wisconsin Defense

There are intriguing recruiting matchups all over the field between Notre Dame's offense and Wisconsin's defense. Sophomore Will Black (No. 17) will be squaring off with one of the Badger's highest rated recruits, Sebastian Cheeks (No. 134). Cheeks is one of the most experienced defenders Wisconsin has in the trenches while Black is the most inexperienced on Notre Dame's offensive line. From the recruiting rankings, Black wins this matchup, but the true battle will be on the field. 

The Badgers secondary needed revamped after last season's rough performance. One of the players expected to make an impact is Ohio State transfer Bryce West (No. 72) who gets the nod at nickel. He'll likely be going against Notre Dame's highest ranked recruit in the starting lineup at wide receiver, Jaden Greathouse (No. 158). The last time Greathouse went against a defensive back recruited by the Buckeyes, he faired pretty well. Will that be the case Sunday night? 

As you can see, this matchup does favor the Irish from a recruiting rankings perspective. Ten of their 11 starters on offense ranked as Top 300 recruits. Four of Wisconsin's starters ranked as Top 300 recruits coming out of high school on defense, but players like Matt Jung, Cooper Catalano, Mason Posa and Cheeks have either lived up to or surpassed their high school recruiting rankings. 

Notre Dame Defense vs Wisconsin Offense

Unlike the offensive side of the ball, this side of the ball is significantly more lopsided in Notre Dame's favor. Wisconsin's highest ranked recruit on offense, between the starting lineup and the 'top reserves' is right tackle Lucas Simmons (No. 124) who transferred in from Florida State this past portal cycle. Seven of Notre Dame's 11 starters were graded out as Top 300 recruits with the majority of them being ranked as Top 200 recruits coming out of high school. 

That being said, some of the more interesting matchups between the Irish defense and the Badger offense will be along the interior of the trenches. All four of Notre Dame's defensive tackles in the rotation in Jason Onye (No. 709), Armel Mukam (No. 469), Tionne Gray (No. 457) and Francis Brewu (No. 470) will be going against two three-stars from Wisconsin in left guard Collin Cubberly (No. 548), center Austin Kawecki (No. 534) and right guard Stylz Blackmon who was unranked coming out of high school. 

What will take the day? Initial recruiting rankings from the interior players or the level of development they've received at the collegiate level? Not all three-stars are created equal and several rise above their initial rankings. Notre Dame star cornerback Leonard Moore is a prime example. 

As we know, recruiting rankings aren't the end all, be all when it comes to evaluating opponents. Notre Dame's best player was a three-star recruit coming out of high school. Wisconsin's best projected offensive player is quarterback Colton Joseph who transferred in from Old Dominion and was an unranked recruit coming out of high school. Recruiting rankings don't tell they whole story, they just provide some context to the relative baseline players enter college with and in this instance, this matchup favors the Irish. 

It is worth noting that two of Wisconsin's highest rated offensive recruits won't be playing in this matchup. Kevin Heywood (No. 60) and Emerson Mandell (No. 162) were expected starters in the trenches but are currently injured. 

CLASS RANKINGS

Here are the class rankings of the two programs from the last five seasons (247 Composite Rankings) 

Notre Dame

2026 – 5
2025 – 12 
2024 – 9
2023 – 12
2022 – 7

Wisconsin

2026 – 79
2025 – 27 
2024 – 23
2023 – 59
2022 – 44

Advantage: Notre Dame

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