After spending weeks looking inward at the Wisconsin football program, observing practice performances, and projecting the depth chart, we can finally shift our focus to another team.
The Badgers will open their 2026 campaign against the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at legendary Lambeau Field on Sunday night. While it’s not your traditional cupcake start to the college football season, this matchup gives us an immediate barometer on this team.
Will they get blown out by a top five team in the country? Can they at least hang with the Irish and make it a game, or are they a program that’s capable of shocking the world and upsetting a national title contender?
Outside of knowing the Fighting Irish are one of the top teams in the country, what else do you know about the Badgers’ Week 1 opponent?
If the answer is little to none, I’ve got a quick Week 1 preview to get you up to speed ahead of the biggest matchup on the Badgers’ schedule.
Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame game info and betting odds
When: Sunday, Sept. 6 — 6:30 p.m. CT
Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wis.
How to watch: NBC/Peacock
How to listen: Badger Radio Network
Unsurprisingly, Wisconsin is a big underdog against one of the top-ranked teams in the country. Here are the lines for the Badgers’ Week 1 matchup, via FanDuel:
Spread: Wisconsin +20.5 (-105)
Moneyline: Wisconsin +1060
Over/under: 46.5 (-112)
Opposing players to know
QB CJ Carr
The opposing quarterback is the obvious answer for every matchup, but the Irish have one of the best in the country.
Carr broke out last season for the Irish, throwing for 2,741 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just six interceptions, helping lead the Irish to a 10-2 record.
Big things are expected for the junior signal-caller, who currently has the best odds on FanDuel to win the Heisman at +700, ahead of Texas quarterback Arch Manning (+850) and Miami QB Darian Mensah (+950).
CB Leonard Moore
Like Carr, Leonard Moore is considered among the best college football players at his position. The 6-foot-2 junior cornerback is one of the top NFL prospects heading into the season and is coming off an All-American season where he had five interceptions and returned one for a touchdown.
Moore finished the 2025 season as the top-graded player in the country, according to PFF, with a 91.8 overall grade and a 92.5 coverage grade.
In his media availability this week, Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell had a ton of praise for Moore, recognizing him as one of the top players in the country, but the Badgers weren’t going to shy away from him, either.
“We’ve got to not think that we can’t go that direction,” Fickell said of Moore. “I’m not saying he’s not the best in the country. I’m not saying he’s not a top-2, 3 [NFL draft] pick in the country. But the idea is you’ve still got to be able to run your offense. The thing that I love about what it is that we do is, we make people do everything, so he’ll have a chance to prove that he’s the best in the country.”
You can expect to see and hear about Moore plenty on Sunday night.
DL Boubacar Traore
The biggest mismatch of the night for the Badgers is going to be the Wisconsin offensive line vs. the Notre Dame defensive line, specifically their edge rushers.
With offensive tackle Kevin Heywood missing significant time during fall camp and his Week 1 availability still uncertain, Boubacar Traore could be a huge problem for the Badgers. Heywood has returned to practice in some capacity, but Fickell indicated that his status will likely be determined closer to game time. The junior edge rusher is coming off a season where he tallied 6.5 sacks in 11 games with Notre Dame.
While he is known for his pass-rushing, Traore has continuously improved his run-stopping ability. Last season, he logged a run defense grade of 75.2, so running at Traore to neutralize his pass-rushing may not be the best option, either.
Matchup history
Historically, the Badgers and Fighting Irish have faced off 17 times since 1900, with Wisconsin holding a 6-9-2 record against Notre Dame. In their most recent matchup, Wisconsin fell to the Irish 41-13 at Soldier Field in 2021 in a game that was a little closer than the final score suggests.
Before that game, the two programs hadn’t met since 1964 when the Irish defeated the Badgers, 31-7, at Camp Randall Stadium.
Beyond the history of the two programs playing each other, there’s plenty of history and connections between the programs as they stand.
The most obvious connection between the two programs is Luke Fickell and Marcus Freeman. Freeman was Fickell’s defensive coordinator at Cincinnati when the Bearcats became the first Group of Five school to make the College Football Playoff in 2021. The offensive coordinator for the Irish, Mike Denbrock, held the same role at Cincinnati, too.
Notre Dame also has multiple coaches on staff with connections to the Badgers. Joe Rudolph (offensive line), Chris Ash (defensive coordinator), Mike Brown (wide receivers), Aaron Henry (co-defensive coordinator), Charlie Partridge (defensive line coach), and Gino Guidugli (quarterbacks coach) all have connections with the Wisconsin football program in the past fifteen seasons.
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