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The wait is almost over! This has been an exceptionally long offseason for Notre Dame after the playoff snub and electing to sit out of the postseason. Thankfully, we will see the Irish back on the field this Sunday night against the Wisconsin Badgers, their first opponent of the 2026 season. The Badgers are coming off a 4-8 season and are desperately looking to get back to postseason eligibility. Head coach Luke Fickell will square off against his former defensive coordinator, Notre Dame's head coach Marcus Freeman. 

Location: Lambeau Field (Green Bay, Wis.)
Date: Sunday – September 6
Time: 7:30 PM ET
TV: NBC/Peacock
Line: Notre Dame -20.5; O/U 47.5 (FanDuel)

Let's kick off our preview of this matchup with an overview look at the Wisconsin Badgers. 

HEAD COACH – Luke Fickell 

Overall Record: 80-46 (12th year) 
Record At Wisconsin: 17-21 (5th year) 

The Fickell-era in Madison has left a lot to be desired amongst Badgers fans. After picking up a win in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in his first game as their head coach in 2022, the former Cincinnati Bearcat coach went 7-6 in his first full season at the helm in 2023. Unfortunately, that was Fickell's last winning season with Wisconsin. In 2024, they went 5-7 against a brutal schedule and went 4-8 this past season. 

Stacking back to back sub .500 records at a place like Wisconsin is not where you want to be. Thankfully, their schedule this season doesn't include the likes of Ohio State, Oregon, Alabama, Indiana, Michigan or Illinois, all teams they played in '24 and '25. There are winnable games on the slate this fall, and with a revamped roster, this is the year some predict Wisconsin has their turnaround. 

It's a real possibility they could go undefeated in Madison with their home slate featuring Western Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Michigan State, USC, Rutgers and Minnesota. If they're able to accomplish that, Fickell's set might go from hot to warm, but a turnaround is a non-negotiable this fall. They made the proper portal acquisitions on both sides of the ball to do so. Now, it'll be up to Fickell to get this team back on track. 

Offensive Coordinator:

Jeff Grimes (2nd season)   
Defensive Coordinator: Mike Tressel (4th season) 

WISCONSIN 2026 SCHEDULE

2025 STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Rushing: QB Colton Joseph (Old Dominion) – 158 att., 1,007 yards, 6.4 YPC, 13 TD; RB Abu Sama III (Iowa State) – 140 att., 732 yards, 5.2 YPC, 5 TD; RB Darrion Dupree – 83 att., 363 yards, 4.4 YPC, 2 TD; RB Bryan Jackson (USC) – 36 att., 123 yards, 3.4 YPC, 4 TD

Passing: QB Colton Joseph (Old Dominion) – 173-290, 59.7%, 2,624 yards, 9.0 YPA, 21 TD, 10 INT, 152.7 Rating

Receiving: WR Jaylon Domingeaux (SE Louisiana) – 52 rec., 857 yards, 16.5 YPC, 11 TD; WR Shamar Rigby (Oklahoma State) – 25 rec., 351 yards, 14.0 YPC, 1 TD; TE Ryan Schwendeman (Southern Illinois) – 15 rec., 191 yards, 12.7 YPC, 2 TD; TE Jacob Harris (Bowling Green) – 19 rec., 182 yards, 9.6 YPC, 5 TD; WR Chris Brooks – 11 rec., 124 yards, 11.3 YPC; WR Eugene Hilton – 8 rec., 91 yards, 11.4 YPC; WR Tyrell Henry – 5 rec., 29 yards, 5.8 YPC, 1 TD 

Tackles: LB Mason Posa – 58; LB Cooper Catalano – 56; S Matt Jung – 49; S Marvin Burks (Missouri) – 49; CB Javan Robinson (Arizona State) – 42); DT – Junior Poyser (Buffalo) – 31; OLB Sebastian Cheeks – 24; 

Tackles For Loss: OLB Sebastian Cheeks – 5.5; DT Junior Poyser (Buffalo) – 5.5; LB Cooper Catalano – 4.5; LB Mason Posa – 4.0; S Matt Jung – 1.0 

Interceptions: S Marvin Burks (Missouri) – 1

WISCONSIN OVERVIEW

This is a very pivotal year for Wisconsin, there's no way around that. From 2005 to 2019, they had 10 double-digit winning seasons, but they haven't since and the last time they came close was in 2021 when they went 9-4. Fickell is one of the coaches routinely mentioned on the hot seat, and it's understandable after going 17-21 since taking over in 2023. 

There are key players on both sides of the ball that are expected to make significant impacts. The Badgers had one of the best, under-the-radar portal sessions this offseason bringing in several players to contribute right away that have multiple years of eligibility remaining. Hopefully, those portal players won't take long to turn around their fortunes in the Big 10. Over the last two seasons, Wisconsin is 5-13 in conference play, shades of what they were a decade ago. 

If Fickell can get the offense turned around, I think they have something cooking in Madison. Their defense last year was the lone bright spot, but having an offense that ranks at the bottom of college football will routinely put your defense in bad positions. If this offense can be serviceable, find ways to consistently run the ball and rank in the upper half of college football in efficiency, points per game and yards per play, this could be the turnaround Badger fans have been eagerly waiting for. 

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