Wisconsin’s 2026 slate may look friendlier than the gauntlet the Badgers faced in 2025, but there’s still plenty of room for trouble. Last season, Wisconsin drew eight opponents that finished ranked or were ranked at the time, including Alabama, Oregon, Indiana and Ohio State - all four of whom reached the College Football Playoff.
This time around, the schedule sets up with more winnable spots on paper, but that doesn’t mean the road gets easy. In this part of the series ranking the Badgers’ 2026 opponents from easiest to hardest, the middle of the board is where things start to get tricky. These are the games that could swing the whole season, the ones Wisconsin should be expected to handle if it’s truly moving forward - and the ones that could turn into headaches fast if it isn’t.
8th: @ Maryland
Even with this one landing in November, Maryland feels like a useful measuring stick for Wisconsin. The Badgers’ 2025 slide was already underway when the Terps helped trigger the early downward spiral in Camp Randall, so this trip to College Park offers a clean chance to see whether Wisconsin has actually turned a corner.
Malik Washington is back at quarterback for Maryland, but there hasn’t been much in the offseason to suggest the Terps are set for a major leap. Most early projections still have Mike Locksley’s team sitting near the bottom of the conference, though often ahead of Wisconsin.
If Luke Fickell’s team has genuinely improved, this is the sort of game it ought to be able to close out.
7th: vs. Michigan State
Pat Fitzgerald should make Michigan State better. That much seems fair to expect. His teams will probably be more organized and tougher than the middling Spartans Wisconsin has seen in recent years.
At the same time, Fitzgerald is stepping into a different kind of pressure than he had at Northwestern. Expectations will be higher, and that changes the equation, even in year one.
Sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic already has the offense in his hands and profiles as a solid Big Ten starter. Still, if Wisconsin’s defense becomes what it’s supposed to be, the Badgers should be able to keep the Spartan attack in check.
This is the kind of early conference game Fickell has to win, especially with Notre Dame in Green Bay and Penn State in Happy Valley sitting just before it.
6th: @ UCLA
Anyone treating this as a soft landing is probably in for a surprise. The Rose Bowl trip is not a giveaway, mostly because UCLA now has a coach who arrives with real momentum. Bob Chesney comes in after taking James Madison to the College Football Playoff last season and going 21-6 over two years after replacing Curt Cignetti.
And while success outside the Power Four doesn’t always carry over, Chesney kept James Madison rolling after Cignetti left, and UCLA appears to have the financial backing that Luke Fickell didn’t have when he first got to Wisconsin. That gives Chesney a better runway than most first-year hires.
For the Badgers, this looks like one of those games that could easily tilt the wrong way. Wisconsin may well be an underdog when it gets there.
5th: vs. Minnesota
Minnesota may not rank among the five best teams on Wisconsin’s schedule, but P.J. Fleck has had the Badgers’ number lately, and that alone makes this one dangerous. Drake Lindsey returns at quarterback for the Gophers, which only adds to the concern.
The timing matters too. If Wisconsin’s season has gone off the rails, Luke Fickell could be gone by the time this game arrives, or at the very least be coaching under a heavy cloud. If the Badgers are winning, then this game becomes massive in a different way.
Either way, Wisconsin has to find a way to take back the Axe. Whether the Badgers enter at 9-2 or 2-9, that part doesn’t change.
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For Nolan Winter, that kind of setup may be exactly what he needs. A lead guard willing to create passing windows and work the pick-and-roll can open more scoring chances for a big man who has been looking for a clearer path to a breakout, though Winter still has to keep developing his own game for it all to click. [Read more 🡒]