Ranking Wisconsin Football’s 2026 Schedule From Easiest to Hardest: Part 1
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The Wisconsin Badgers had a brutal draw in 2025, facing eight opponents that were either ranked or ended the season ranked. That included Alabama, Oregon, Indiana, and Ohio State, who all made the College Football Playoff.
In 2026, their schedule looks better on paper, but there are still some difficult challenges to come.
In Part 1, we discussed some of the easiest games on Wisconsin’s schedule. Now, it’s time for Part 2 in my series projecting how difficult various games will be on the Badgers’ schedule this fall.
This installment finds Wisconsin in what amounts to must-win scenarios against all four teams that they could go 4-0 (or 0-4) against. Let’s get right to it.
8th: @ Maryland
Despite taking place in November, this game will be an interesting bellwether for the Badgers to see how much they’ve improved from the 2025 near disaster that was started on its early downward spiral by Maryland in Camp Randall.
Yes, the talented Malik Washington will be back calling signals for the Terps, and this one takes place in College Park, but Maryland has done nothing in the offseason to make experts believe they’ll be significantly better this fall.
Most early prognostications place Mike Locksley’s crew at or near the conference basement, albeit often higher than the Badgers.
If Fick’s lads have improved meaningfully, this will be the kind of battle where they should find a way to get it done.
7th: vs. Michigan State
I want to go on the record with my belief that Pat Fitzgerald will improve the Spartans. They’ll likely be a tougher, more disciplined unit than the mediocre one they’ve been for years.
But expectations for Fitzgerald will also be higher than they ever were at Northwestern, so, even in year one, there will be added pressure he’s never had to face. Time will tell how he fares.
Sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic has already been handed the keys to the Spartans’ offense and looks like a solid Big Ten starter, but if Wisconsin’s defense is what we all hope it will be, they’ll contain the Spartan offense.
Simply stated, this is a must-win for Luke Fickell early in the conference schedule and coming off tough battles with Notre Dame in Green Bay and Penn State in Happy Valley.
6th: @ UCLA
Any Wisconsin fans chalking this up as an easy victory are in for a rude awakening. While it’s impossible to predict what will happen in the Rose Bowl, there’s a new, very confident sheriff in Westwood named Bob Chesney, who had his James Madison squad in the College Football Playoff last season, going 21-6 across two seasons after taking over for Curt Cignetti.
As any Badger fan should well know, non-Power Four success as a coach doesn’t necessarily translate to the Big Ten, but Chesney kept the James Madison wagon humming post-Cignetti and seems to have the financial resources at UCLA that Luke Fickell simply didn’t when he joined the Badgers, suggesting a smoother transition for Chesney.
This will be a tricky one for the Badgers to win, and there’s a good chance they’ll enter as underdogs.
5th: vs. Minnesota
While Minnesota very well may not be one of the five best teams Wisconsin plays, college football’s most okayest coach, P.J. Fleck, has the Badgers’ number right now. So, I have every reason to expect this will be a tough battle, especially with the talented Drake Lindsey back at quarterback for the Gophers.
The X-factor is how late this game is played. If the Badgers’ season doesn’t go as we’d hoped it would, it’s possible Fickell will be gone by the time it happens (or, even worse, a dead coach walking).
But if Wisconsin is having a good season, this game will mean everything to the team. Whatever the situation, the Badgers simply must find a way to get the Axe back, whether they’re 9-2 or 2-9 heading into the game.
COMING SOON: Part 3
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