We’ve finally made it. After an excruciatingly long break of 282 days, the Fighting Irish step onto the football field this weekend to kick start the 2026 season. It’s going to feel weird for sure. It’s a home game, played on Sunday night, inside Lambeau Field in Green Bay, and it’s a Shamrock Series event. Oh, and both teams will be wearing alternate uniforms.
Notre Dame has high hopes for the season, Wisconsin though, their future is a lot more murky.
Wisconsin (+20.5) vs. #4 Notre Dame
Lambeau Field
Green Bay, WI
Date: Sunday, September 6, 2026
Time: 7:30 PM ET
TV: NBC/Peacock
Luke Fickell signed an original 7-year deal with Wisconsin in 2022 and the school uses a rolling contract to keep the deal at its original length. Except for this off-season when, at the behest of Fickell, the extra year extension was not awarded. Now, Wisconsin still has 6 years of Fickell’s contract remaining with an estimated $25 million buyout.
The Shamrock Series is back for the first time in 4 years.
Notre Dame arrives as big favorites and looking to put the bad taste of last year’s playoff snub behind them. We’ll see if the nation is more interested in this game or the 7:30 PM ET kickoff on ABC between Ole Miss and Louisville that is expected to be a little more competitive.
Vegas Corner
The line opened at 20.5 points and has been holding steady for several weeks. Does that feel like a lot of points against a power program, even one like Wisconsin that is coming off an 8-loss season? If the Irish were to cover, it would be the 18th time in the Marcus Freeman era that they’ve beaten a power program by 20+ points. That would amount to nearly 1 in every 3 games.
Weather Report
The forecast was looking very solid for Sunday until very recently. Temperatures are expected to climb into the high 70’s throughout the day with light winds cutting across the field from the northeast. During the evening, temperatures should drop into the mid-to-high 60’s. However, thunderstorms are expected in the morning and throughout the rest of the day. Let’s pray we don’t have a Sunday evening kickoff lightning delay.
Series History
Notre Dame leads 9-6-2
Once upon a time, long ago, this was a fierce rivalry in the early days of college football. Wisconsin wrecked Notre Dame by a combined score of 133-0 in the early years of the 20th century, and Jesse Harper merely improved upon things with a 0-0 tie in 1917. Notre Dame’s legendary 1924 team picked up the first win in the series, cruising to a 38-3 victory in Madison, although Rockne’s deeply disappointing 1928 team lost again on the road to the Badgers.
2021: This game was weird.
The 2021 meeting at Soldier Field reignited the series for the first time since 1964. That 41-13 victory for the Irish wasn’t nearly as definitive as the score would suggest. Notre Dame was outgained, shutout in the first and third quarters, but a pair of pick sixes plus a kick return fueled a wild 31 points scored over the final 14 minutes of gameplay.
A reminder that this 2026 game is a rescheduled affair from the altered Covid season of 2020.
Fun Fact(s)
In modern times, Notre Dame hasn’t featured many players from the state of Wisconsin but there’s been a small influx lately led by Buccaneers rookie offensive lineman Billy Schrauth in the 2022 class with both tight end James Flanigan and Owen Strebig currently on the roster from the 2025 class. James’ little brother Richie Flanigan is also a commit in the 2027 class out of Green Bay.
A reminder of this weekend’s uniforms.
Wisconsin’s official school motto is “Numen Lumen” which is incredibly fun to say. It means, “God, our light.”
Bucky Badger’s full name is Buckingham U. Badger.
While playing inside Lambeau Field is fun, Notre Dame hasn’t visited Camp Randall Stadium since the 1964 season. Wisconsin’s stadium is the oldest in the Big Ten and has gone through 7 separate expansion projects throughout its history.
Coaching Staff
Luke Fickell, a long time assistant at his alma mater Ohio State from 2002-16, took over Cincinnati and went on an impressive 53-10 run over his final 5 seasons leading to this perceived jump up to the Wisconsin job in 2023. It’s not been going very well (17-21 overall, 10-17 in the Big Ten) with last year’s 4-8 season a low water mark in Madison for the 53 year old.
Fickell has wished for happier times in Madison.
Offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes enters year 2 after Wisconsin tried to overhaul the offense last year, to poor results. Defensive coordinator Mike Tressel came over with Fickell from Cincinnati and remains at his position where the Badgers defense has remains quite good.
Despite staying put at the top of the coaching food chain, Wisconsin made a ton of changes among their assistant ranks. Jayden Everett (RB), Ari Confessor (WR), Eric Mateos (OL), Tuf Borland (LB), Robert Steeples (CB), and Bob Lighashesky (ST) are all new for 2026.
Portal
Wisconsin brought in the 9th most transfers (33 total) this off-season among all FBS programs, and while many of the pre-season prognostications mention the Badgers added a lot of talent, their portal class was only ranked 38th nationally according to 247 Sports. We’ll discuss a couple key transfers in a bit, but basically nearly every positional unit has been rebuilt or supplemented by transfers as Wisconsin brought back very few starters from 2025.
They are definitely attempting a full rebuild of the receiving corps where Shamar Rigby (Oklahoma State), Jaylon Domingeux (Southeastern Louisiana), Malachi Coleman (Minnesota), and Zion Kearney (Oklahoma) all look to feature prominently. None of them have been especially productive at the FBS level though–Rigby’s 25 catches last year in Stillwater being the best season of the bunch.
They’re looking for Bowling Green transfer Jacob Harris (19 catches and 5 touchdowns last year) to be their top pass catcher at tight end.
P.J. Wilkins has come over from Ole Miss and looks set to start at left tackle. Austin Kawecki is another Oklahoma State transfer who came to Madison and looks to start at center. Florida State transfer Lucas Simmons-Johansson has been working at right tackle.
Edge rusher Justus Boone is starting after 3 seasons at Florida and one stop at Arkansas. Junior Poyser (Buffalo) and Hammond Russell (West Virginia) are providing size on the defensive interior.
Wisconsin has tried to boost their secondary in a big way. Ohio State transfer Bryce West is at nickel, Arizona State transfer Javan Robinson is at corner, and Missouri transfer Marvin Burks is slotting in at safety.
Top Players
QB Colton Joseph
Wisconsin arguably hasn’t had a solid season at quarterback since our transfer friend Jack Coan back in 2019. The Badgers are hoping that changes in 2026 with the acquisition of Colton Joseph from Old Dominion. He didn’t play in 2023 while in Norfolk then threw for 4,251 yards in 20 starts over the last 2 seasons with the Monarchs.
Joseph won the QB job easily.
Joseph has been viewed as a decent passer with a huge part of the off-season trying to establish a competent passing game with all of these new receivers. Notre Dame will like its chances with their secondary in that matchup, although Joseph has been an excellent runner over his career with 1,654 yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground on 272 carries.
RB Abu Sama III
The senior broke onto the scene at Iowa State as a freshman where he led the Cyclones in rushing, thanks largely to an incredible 276 yards on just 16 carries against a ranked Kansas State team to finish the regular season. The past 2 seasons had been more mediocre (1,319 yards at 4.9 per carry) and instead of following Matt Campbell to Penn State, Sama made his way to Madison. He brings a veteran presence to the backfield and is expected to get the bulk of the carries against the Irish.
LB Mason Posa
Wisconsin feels like the linebackers are the strongest unit on their team and a big part of that is sophomore Mason Posa. A 4-star out of Albuquerque, he was the top recruit in the Badgers’ 2025 class and picked up 5 starts while earning Freshman All-American honors. Despite missing a game, Posa still led Wisconsin in tackles (61) and added 4 sacks with 3 passes broken up.
Prediction
I’ve been searching for ways to figure out if Wisconsin is a sleeping giant again but the hope on that front looks sparse these days. They last won 10 games back during the 2019 season which isn’t that long ago but also college football has been rapidly changing and the Badgers have been falling quickly down the pecking order. Things didn’t look super promising in the 2022-23 Paul Chryst to Luke Fickell transition years where Wisconsin went 14-12 overall, but since the Big Ten got rid of divisions, the Badgers are 5-13 in league play.
Clearly, problems on offense have plagued this program and have been holding the Badgers back from competing at a much higher level. On that front, I think they’ll be a lot more solid in 2026. Joseph offers such a higher ceiling at quarterback and his dual-threat abilities should immediately raise the floor from what this offense has looked like in the past.
Joseph’s step up to the power program level (to say nothing of facing Notre Dame’s defense in his first game!) deserves some skepticism. As does Wisconsin’s distinct lack of proven playmakers in the passing game. The Irish defense, and stingy secondary, going against this Wisconsin passing game might be the biggest mismatch of the game–although this is potentially the biggest surprise of the game too as the Badgers work in so many new pieces.
Wisconsin has been building their passing game from the ground up.
Maybe Wisconsin can carve out a nice run game, although question marks on the offensive line threaten to destroy a competent offense and/or any sneaky new play-calls with the dual-threat Joseph. Projected starters Kevin Heywood & Emerson Mandell missed most of fall camp and are questionable while Fickell has reiterated this week that “you will see a lot of guys play.” That’s not a great sign.
The Badgers’ defense should be pretty resilient and I can see a bit of a slow start for the Irish. There were a lot of starters lost from this defensive unit, although just one NFL Draft pick (7th round) while a few others transferred out to presumed greener pastures. They should be strong up the middle and have a good shot bottling up Notre Dame’s re-worked running game without Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. This will be a nice challenge for a re-worked Irish offensive line that did quite a bit of shuffling around and doesn’t have a completely settled right guard situation.
There’s been a lot of fuss about Notre Dame’s wide receivers not necessarily taking the next step or not looking too different from a year ago. I expect CJ Carr to be extremely efficient, spread the ball around, and for the Irish to throw the ball a lot more than may be expected. I think Wisconsin’s going to be feistier on offense than expected, Joseph will extend a couple drives with his legs, but a couple bad turnovers turn this game into a weird score that looks a bit different than how things will feel mid 2nd-quarter.
Lightening delay would be brutal!
Nice preview. I’d love to see ND out in front early and get to spread the snap counts around, but the thing I’m looking forward to most is just have ND football back. LET’S GO IRISH!
With a banged up OL and a quarterback who barely managed a 2:1 TD:INT ratio last year I will be very disappointed if we give up 17. I agree that a slow start offensively feels likely, the key will be making halftime adjustments to attack whatever they’re giving us. After all the offseason hype I’m on pins and needles waiting to see what Carr can deliver on Sunday
I’m fine with a lightning delay, but only if it delays the kickoff by 30-45 minutes.
I have to be at church on Sunday night from 5-7 for youth group, so I’ll be catching up on the DVR if the game starts on time.
GO IRISH!
LEAVE NO DOUBT!!
BEAT THEM BADGERS!!!
Now that game week is here, I am so mad it is Sunday. 1 extra day of waiting feels soooo much longer now that kickoff is in sight.
Our offense was fully reliant on Love and Price last year. And we still couldn’t convert in short yardage situations. With a reworked O Line this year, new running backs, and an inexperienced Tight End group, I don’t expect Denbrock to have figured out short yardage this early in the season.
31-10 Irish. Defense is stifling except for one blown play (maybe a long QB run, maybe a Christian Gray first-game-at-nickel moment). Defense or special teams scores a TD. Offense does enough to win easily, but fanbase is frustrated with just a 2 score lead at halftime.
I think the only thing that keeps this close is the Fickell relationship. Freeman gets Jarrard/Grubbs in the game earlier than is probably a good idea if you want Carr to win the Heisman.
If Carr is half as good at adjustments at the line as people are saying, this could get ugly early.
We are talented, but basically inexperienced at WR, other than Faison. I see one or two long pass completions (balls in the air, not short catch and run), more broken tackles by the WRs so at least one long YAC play. I also see Aneyas breaking a long run so that the booth has to say, maybe they won’t miss Love/Price as much as we thought.
The TEs are better this year.
Unless Joseph breaks a run, I don’t see them running much. They will get yards, but not a lot.
I see us at 49, maybe 56. Wisconsin scores a late TD against walk-ons to get to 10. Freeman has to clear out a room so Fickell can become a defensive analyst next year while he looks for his next HC gig.
Since early spring it seems many of the people covering ND football have been talking like many of the very talented young players have proven themselves. Now with the season upon us in a couple days, they don’t seem quite so sure of ND being a juggernaut from the start. There may be a learning curve or growing pains, however it be framed. Oline being #1, as to proving themselves. That could take a while but their ceiling is sky high.
Saying that, the team and coaches will be supremely motivated on Sunday. Leave no doubt should be on full display, I think. I don’t think there are many, if any, Wisky players that would start at ND. Perhaps a couple. Wisc. has many transfers, they would be better off if this game were in Oct. If Wisky gets down two scores early they could be in big trouble. The main worry is their QBs legs. ND will take that away. I could see an ND pick every 10-12 throws. I think we may see this ND D getting a push up the middle taking away the QBs ability to step up in the pocket. I hope we see that all year. That would be huge with this secondary. In a nutshell, the more Wisky throws the better for ND.
It will be interesting to see how the offense approaches this game. I think Carr comes out throwing with underneath stuff and using the RBs in the pass game. Setting up a deep shot. If Faison, Greathouse and Aneyas get some YAC, the Badgers are toast. As much as we worry about our WR group, they are much better than Wiskys. Denbrock is going to have something cooked up that surprises and with this much time, I think you can count on Special Teams to have a momentum swinging play or two.
Add it all up, 17-3 at the half, Final ND 37- Wisc.6 …Wisc. could get another 7, ND could get another 20. HCMF does not take his foot off the gas often.
GO IRISH !!
For once I am more worried than you. Prister’s basic concerns trouble me. A basic pretty darn good UW culture fit for defense, including coaches, some good tradition on defense, plus decent players — match against the uncertainties on our offense that kind of concern us all (O-line cohesion, unproven TEs, uncertain RBs behind Aneyas). So I think we score less points than we think, and HCMF morphes into former understudy to HCLF. Which could lead to weird coaching moments.
I do think our D should match up well. And I hope to goodness we work out a win.
But I’m deep in my pre-game angoisse (nice French word that might be translated as “anguished anxiety”…
Funny thing is Prister has lead the way all off season tooting the horn for unproven ND players. Now in the last 10 days he’s hedging his bets. My main reason for optimism is I don’t think this Wisky QB is all that good. They most likely stifle the run but, if CJ has time they are in trouble.
Early games in the season, w/o much film, always risk a defense getting caught off guard, but I’d bet that once this defense settles in that Wisc. won’t be able to do much at all until garbage time.
If you told me our D doesn’t allow more than one TD through the first 4 games, I’d absolutely buy that. I think this D could be the best we’ve had this century (please Chris Ash don’t waste it!).
The offense, huge ceiling, but also lower floor – very interested to see how things play out.
I met Tim at the same time as Lou Somogyi, wound up being friends with Lou, lost track of Tim. But he shared one thing with Lou, a sort of deep respect for the DNA of a program. In Lou’s case , he went very deep into the historical patterns of ND teams, which actually held up quite well. Tim got more, can I say, a bit full of himself, and specifically to your point doubling down, specializing almost, in evaluating players especially recruits. Hence leading to all that horn tooting you correctly mention.
I think he’s hedging his bets for the same reason I am — teams tend to revert to their DNA and so he’s now thinking their defense might be pretty good. And that might match up well against a couple of our unknown areas.
I agree that our defense should do well even against this QB but we’ll see. The stats on him against the two good defenses he played last year were not good.
On the other hand some of the same could be said about CJ? Anyway, yes, CJ will need the time — what can really help though is to quote you, “If Faison, Greathouse and Aneyas get some YAC, the Badgers are toast.”
Noise, I was an early subscriber(82′-83′?) to B&G Ill. when it was delivered to my mail box once a week. I paid extra for in season 1st class delivery back then. I so looked forward to each issue. I’m am very familiar with Lou and Tim. I learned so much about ND history from Lou. I was not intending to bash Tim. There were many others that cover the team doing the same. He was only one example.You and I have been around long enough to have seen this kind of thing before. It makes us much more reluctant to jump onto the hype train.
Exactly!!!
It’s… Game Day! (Except technically for us across the Atlantic kickoff is on the 7th, oof).
It does feel like a heck of a long off-season, thanks for counting up the days, Eric. Though back before we decided to go to bowls, it used to be the same long duration. Only I was playing kid sports and back then it was basketball in the winter, baseball in the spring and summer, and football in the fall, so it all seemed organic.
Anyway, here we go. Just reread your preview and it’s good. I do see the hedges and the caveats which reinforce my extreme nervousness.
Beat the Badgers!
Go IRISH !!
Genuinely curious why anyone was excited about this D Line’s ability to pressure.
Freeman needs to go talk to some other coaches about how to prep your team in the offseason. Why are his teams never good until week 4?