Wisconsin heads into this weekend’s matchup with Iowa trying to do two things at once: end a four-game skid against its rival and land one of the biggest wins of Luke Fickell’s year.
The Badgers have had a rough time holding up physically in this matchup. In last season’s 37-0 loss, Wisconsin allowed more than 200 rushing yards.
The year before that, Iowa rolled to a 42-10 win. Those two games made the gap look wide, especially in the trenches and against the run.
This trip looks different on paper for Wisconsin. Last year’s meeting came with the Badgers sitting at 2-3 after a loss to Michigan. This time, they enter at 5-2 and are coming off a win over USC.
Iowa, though, is still the team oddsmakers trust more. The Hawkeyes are favored by 3.5 points on FanDuel Sportsbook after opening the week at 4.5. The total is set at 36.5, a number that says plenty about what kind of game this is expected to be.
On a neutral field, that line would still tilt slightly toward Iowa. The Hawkeyes are the top team receiving votes this week, while Wisconsin sits at No. 25.
Iowa’s season has been a strange mix of dominant and sluggish. The Hawkeyes are 5-2, with blowout wins over Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa and Washington, plus narrow victories against Iowa State and Michigan.
In the 16-13 win over Iowa State, Iowa rushed for fewer than 100 yards, while Hank Brown threw for 191 yards. Against Michigan, the Hawkeyes were held under 60 rushing yards and averaged just 2.4 yards per carry, but Brown still finished with 227 passing yards and two touchdowns.
They’ve also had a game where the offense never really got going in a loss to Ohio State, finishing with under 250 total yards. But they were able to overwhelm Washington 41-24 behind more than 250 rushing yards.
Last weekend brought another tough result. Iowa fell 13-10 to Minnesota, rushing for only 90 yards at 3.0 yards per carry.
The loss also dropped the Hawkeyes out of the Top 25, and it came with a brutal setback: star running back Kamari Moulton is out for the season. Moulton had nearly 100 rushing yards and a touchdown in last year’s game against Wisconsin.
The good news for Wisconsin is that its run defense has been elite. The Badgers gave up just -17 yards, including sacks, against USC last week. That’s a dangerous sign for an Iowa team that ranks 81st nationally in rushing yards at 138.0 per game and 122nd in rush attempts at 30.0 per game.
Even so, Iowa’s defense is still the backbone of the team. The Hawkeyes rank 22nd in adjusted EPA per play against FBS opponents, while Wisconsin is in the top 10 in that category as well. Put it all together, and this shapes up as a low-scoring, defense-heavy game with Iowa still carrying the slight edge.
In Other News...
Wisconsins Quarterback Carousel Keeps Raising An Uncomfortable Question
Since Luke Fickell took over, the quarterback spot at Wisconsin has been anything but stable, and the ripple effects have reached well beyond Madison. A string of departures and injuries has pushed the Badgers into constant turnover at the most important position on the field, while former Wisconsin passers have scattered to new programs in search of better fits and clearer paths to playing time. Braedyn Locke, Cole LaCrue, Mabrey Mettauer and Nick Evers are among the names who moved on, each landing in a different situation with different levels of opportunity.
For Wisconsin, the more uncomfortable part is how familiar this has started to feel. Some of those transfers have found modest success elsewhere, others have seen limited action, and the churn only reinforces how much the Badgers are still trying to sort out the position under Fickell. The current quarterback picture is no easier to project than it was a year ago, and with former options continuing to surface in other places, the question hanging over the program is not just who starts next, but when the revolving door finally slows down. [Read more 🡒]
Kentuckys New-Look Roster Just Got An Encouraging Preseason Sign
The preseason conversation around Wisconsins perimeter game got a little more interesting this week when data analyst Evan Miyakawa released a ranking of college basketball teams with the most elite 3-point shooters on their rosters. In a sport where spacing can change everything, those kinds of lists tend to say as much about a teams ceiling as any early preview, and Wisconsin found itself grouped with some familiar names such as BYU, Kentucky, NC State and West Virginia in the broader top-end discussion.
For the Badgers, it is another reminder that shooting still matters in the Big Ten, especially with the roster landscape shifting before the season. Several of the players highlighted in the ranking, including Milan Momcilovic, Paul McNeil Jr., Finley Bizjack and Eian Elmer, are also being watched as potential 2027 NBA Draft prospects because of their shooting and long-term upside, which only adds to the intrigue around how quickly these teams can stretch the floor when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Faces A Brutal Iowa Test With Its Offense Under Pressure
Wisconsin heads into its matchup with Iowa facing the kind of game that can expose every flaw in an offense. The Hawkeyes are built to make things hard on opponents, especially against the run, which means the Badgers may have to find answers through the air if they want to keep drives alive and stay on schedule. It is the sort of physical Big Ten test that can turn into a grind quickly, with both defenses capable of making the night uncomfortable.
For Wisconsin, the bigger question is whether its passing game can do enough to loosen Iowa up and prevent the Hawkeyes from crowding the line. The Badgers have had their share of recent offensive issues, so any signs of rhythm will matter, particularly against a defense that gives up more through the air than on the ground. On the other side, Wisconsin's defense should have chances to make an impact too, with sacks looming as one of the more realistic ways to swing momentum in a game that figures to be tight and tense. [Read more 🡒]