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Notre Dame kicks off the 2026 season against Wisconsin at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Sunday night. This game was supposed to have been played back in 2020 as the first half of a 2-year contract, but was postponed due to the Big Ten’s decision to play a conference-only schedule during the Covid pandemic. With the bitter taste of last season’s playoff miss still lingering, head coach Marcus Freeman and his Fighting Irish will be looking to “Leave No Doubt” and take the first step toward the program’s first national title since 1988. 

SERIES HISTORY

Surprisingly, even though these programs seem to have a lot in common as physical, Midwestern programs built around a strong offensive line, this will be the just the second matchup between the Irish and the Badgers on the gridiron since 1964. The Irish lead the all-time series 9-6-2.

One of the strongest ties between the two programs is former Wisconsin head coach and athletic director, Barry Alvarez, who took over a downtrodden Wisconsin program in 1990 after serving as Notre Dame defensive coordinator from 1988-1989. Alvarez’s defense was a key part in the Irish going 24-1 over those two seasons and capturing the 1988 national championship. In 1988, the Notre Dame defense only gave up 13.0 PPG, which ranked 3rd in the country, while in 1989, the defense allowed 14.5 PPG, ranking 9th. One of the great what-ifs in recent Notre Dame history is what would have happened had the university turned to Barry Alvarez rather than Bob Davie after Lou Holtz’s retirement. 

At Wisconsin, Alvarez would lead the Badgers to 3 Big Ten titles and 3 Rose Bowls, becoming the only coach in Big Ten history to win consecutive Rose Bowls and becoming the school’s all-time leader in wins with 120. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010 and after stepping down as head coach in 2005, continued to serve as Wisconsin athletic director (a position he assumed in 2004) until January 2021. Alvarez was instrumental in getting the Notre Dame-Wisconsin series on the books, as according to the Chicago Tribune, he brought up the idea of a two-game series with Jack Swarbrick in 2009 while on the Notre Dame campus for a speech.

Alvarez’s success on the gridiron made it very difficult for Notre Dame to recruit the Badger State for a long time. In fact, Notre Dame had not signed a high school player from Wisconsin for 21 years until offensive lineman Billy Schrauth became the first player to commit to Notre Dame after Marcus Freeman took over as head coach in December 2021. Since then, OG Owen Strebig, TE James Flanigan, and P Eric Schmidt have also made the jump to South Bend, with DL Richie Flanigan set to join his brother next year. 

Of course, with this game being played at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, no mention of this matchup would be complete without talking about the historic ties between Notre Dame and the Green Bay Packers. Curly Lambeau founded the Green Bay Packers in 1919 after playing under Knute Rockne, and the legend is that he donned the Packers originally in blue and gold to pay homage to Notre Dame. As Packers head coach, Lambeau convinced Jim Crowley of the famed “Four Horsemen” to join him in Wisconsin, and after his playing career, Crowley would coach a young Vince Lombardi at Fordham. Lombardi would go on to win 5 NFL championships, including Super Bowls I and II. One of his stars on 4 of those championship teams was former Irish Heisman Trophy winner Paul Hornung. 

SERIES RESULTS

2021 – Notre Dame 41,Wisconsin 13 (Neutral Site – Chicago)
1964 – Notre Dame 31,Wisconsin 7 (Away)
1963 – Wisconsin 14, Notre Dame 9 (Home)
1962 – Wisconsin 17, Notre Dame 8 (Away)
1944 – Notre Dame 28,Wisconsin 13 (Home)
1943 – Notre Dame 50,Wisconsin 0 (Away)
1942 – Notre Dame 7,Wisconsin 7 (Away)
1936 – Notre Dame 27,Wisconsin 0 (Home)
1935 – Notre Dame 27,Wisconsin 0 (Away)
1934 – Notre Dame 19,Wisconsin 0 (Home)
1929 – Notre Dame 19,Wisconsin 0 (Neutral Site – Chicago)
1928 – Wisconsin 22, Notre Dame 6 (Away)
1924 – Notre Dame 38,Wisconsin 3 (Away) 
1917 – Notre Dame 0,Wisconsin 0 (Away)
1905 – Wisconsin 21, Notre Dame 0 (Neutral Site – Milwaukee)
1904 – Wisconsin 58, Notre Dame 0 (Neutral Site – Milwaukee)
1900 – Wisconsin 54, Notre Dame 0 (Away)

NOTABLE GAMES

Notre Dame 41, Wisconsin 13

Already the losingest coach in Notre Dame history, Brian Kelly won his 106th game at Notre Dame with a 41-13 victory over Wisconsin at Chicago’s Soldier Field to surpass Knute Rockne for the most wins as a coach on the Fighting Irish sideline (though Kelly’s winning percentage ranks just 14th all-time among ND coaches and 7th since Rockne). As Notre Dame fans had grown accustomed to against ranked teams under Kelly, the Irish started slow, committed 11 penalties for 93 yards, and accounted for just 3 rushing yards on 32 carries (and just 39 yards on the ground without sacks). However, Chris Tyree answered a Wisconsin field goal that gave the Badgers a 13-10 lead with just 14 minutes left in the game with a 96-yard kickoff return, and then the Notre Dame defense took over. Jayson Ademilola forced a fumble that led to a Drew Pyne touchdown pass to Kevin Austin 6 plays later to extend the lead to 24-13, and Jonathan Doerer extended the lead to 27-13 with a field goal after Cam Hart picked off Badger QB Graham Mertz. Then, with Wisconsin in desperation mode, Irish linebackers Jack Kiser and Drew White each returned interceptions for touchdowns in the last 2:13 of the game to extend the final margin to 41-13 after the 31-point fourth quarter explosion keyed by the coordinator Marcus Freeman’s defense and special teams. The following week, Notre Dame suffered a disappointing loss at home to Cincinnati which ultimately kept the Fighting Irish out of the 2021 College Football Playoff. 

1964 – Notre Dame 31, Wisconsin 7

From 1953-1963 Notre Dame had only gone 12-26 against the Big Ten (including losses to Wisconsin in 1962 and 1963), and the program had fallen on hard times following the departure of legendary coach Frank Leahy in 1954. Ara Parseghian was hired from Northwestern with the goal of revitalizing the football program, and in his first game at the helm, the Irish traveled to Madison to face Wisconsin. With a rejuvenated offense led by quarterback John Huarte (who would win the Heisman Trophy that season) and receiver Jack Snow, Notre Dame dominated from start to finish and won 31-7, announcing the return of the Irish to the national scene. Snow set a then-Notre Dame record with 217 receiving yards, and the Irish defense chipped in too, holding Wisconsin to an astounding -51 yards rushing. In his book Resurrection detailing the 1964 Notre Dame season, author Jim Dent recalls the impact that the Wisconsin win had on the program, writing “In one of the most remarkable scenes anyone could remember inside Camp Randall Stadium, the Notre Dame players scooped up Parseghian and carried him off the field…no one questioned the joy Notre Dame felt at that moment. The Irish had been left for dead in 1963.” 

1943 – Notre Dame 50, Wisconsin 0

Notre Dame coach Frank Leahy captured his first national title at Notre Dame and QB Angelo Bertelli became the first Notre Dame Heisman Trophy winner despite only playing 6 games due to his Marine deployment in World War II. En route to the title, Notre Dame walloped Wisconsin 50-0 in Madison. The Badgers, who finished 1-9 that season, provided a welcome respite for an Irish team that beat 5 top-10 teams on their way to the championship.

1929 – Notre Dame 19, Wisconsin 0

Notre Dame and Wisconsin met at Soldier Field in Chicago in a game that would be dominated by the Irish defense. Notre Dame shut out Wisconsin 19-0 en route to winning Knute Rockne’s second national championship. Rockne’s 1929 squad would only allow 38 points the entire season – an unheard of 4.2 PPG average in the modern game (though it surprisingly only ranked 13th in the nation that year). 

1924 – Notre Dame 38, Wisconsin 3

Notre Dame beat Wisconsin for the first time in school history, running away with a 38-3 blowout victory in Camp Randall Stadium. After the Wisconsin game, Notre Dame would close out the season with wins over Nebraska, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, and Stanford to capture the university’s – and Knute Rockne’s – first national championship.

RECOMMENDED READING

Resurrection: The Miracle Season That Saved Notre Dame by Jim Dent

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