Wisconsin has never let an FCS team leave Madison with a win, but the Badgers have had to sweat a few of these games more than they probably wanted to.
That’s the backdrop for Saturday night, when Wisconsin hosts Western Illinois in one of those familiar buy games against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent. These matchups usually serve as a payday and a chance for the bigger program to work through a tune-up, but the results around college football have shown there’s always at least some danger attached. Three FCS teams already pulled off upsets in Week 1, with Tarleton State beating Bowling Green, The Citadel upsetting Charlotte and Idaho State knocking off Utah State.
Wisconsin’s record in these games is spotless at 14-0, but not every win has been comfortable. The Badgers have had a few close brushes with disaster, and their history against FCS opponents includes more than one game that made fans shift in their seats.
The most recent example came in 2024, when Wisconsin beat South Dakota 27-13. The Badgers were only up by seven heading into the fourth quarter, making it a far more competitive game than the final score suggests. Still, it wasn’t the most nerve-wracking FCS matchup Wisconsin has survived.
That distinction belongs to the 2008 game against Cal Poly. Wisconsin needed overtime to escape with a 36-35 win, and the Mustangs even scored first in the extra period before failing to convert the extra point. That Badgers team wasn’t a powerhouse either, finishing 7-6, and the game came far closer than anyone in Wisconsin probably wanted.
There have been other tense moments along the way. In 2012, Northern Iowa pushed the Badgers late and scored 14 points in the fourth quarter before Wisconsin held on for a 26-21 win.
A year earlier, Wisconsin beat The Citadel 45-31, but the Bulldogs hung around for all four quarters. And in 2022, the final season of the Paul Chryst era began with a much cleaner result, as the Badgers rolled past Illinois State 38-0.
The most lopsided of these games came in 2010, when Wisconsin hammered Austin Peay 70-3. Scott Tolzien threw three touchdown passes and only had two incompletions, while the Badgers piled up 346 rushing yards.
James White scored four times, and both he and John Clay went over 100 yards on the ground. That Wisconsin team went on to finish 11-2 with a loss in the Rose Bowl, and it looked every bit the part against an overmatched opponent.
For now, Wisconsin’s perfect record against FCS teams remains intact. But as the Badgers get ready for Western Illinois, the history says these games can turn awkward fast if the favorite isn’t sharp.
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Wisconsin Just Got A Troubling Sign About Fan Confidence
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Luke Fickell acknowledged the challenge and framed the response in familiar terms for any program trying to regain momentum: put a winning product on the field and let the numbers follow. For Wisconsin, the concern is not just one opening-day crowd, but what it suggests about the wider level of confidence in where the program is headed. [Read more 🡒]