Wisconsin is leaning all the way into the moment.
Fresh off its comeback win on the road at No. 13 Penn State, the Badgers unveiled new all-red uniforms for Saturday’s homecoming game against Michigan State, giving their Week 5 “Red-Out” a look to match the plan in the stands.
The school had already set the tone by asking fans to pack Camp Randall in Cardinal Red, but the new reveal takes it a step further. This is Wisconsin’s first alternate jersey since the opener against Notre Dame, when the Badgers wore their metallic Shamrock Series look.
The jersey itself isn’t brand new to the program. Wisconsin wore the same design last season for homecoming against Iowa, though that version came with white pants and a white helmet featuring the old-school block W. This time, the Badgers are going full red, pairing the jersey with red pants and an inverted version of the helmet.
Alternate uniforms haven’t been a regular thing under Luke Fickell, but homecoming appears to be the exception. Wisconsin has clearly decided this is the right time to make a splash, especially after the kind of win that gets people talking again.
The Badgers’ victory in Happy Valley pushed them to the edge of the AP Top 25 and nudged them back into the national conversation. Nobody is suddenly slotting Wisconsin into the Big Ten title or College Football Playoff race, but the program did what it needed to do: land a big win, turn some heads, and get a little respect back.
That matters in Madison, where homecoming weekend already brings plenty of energy. Add in the start of the men’s hockey season this weekend, and the city has plenty going on. The new uniforms just give the buzz around Wisconsin football another jolt.
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The case for the Badgers starts with the resume, especially the win at Penn State and a schedule that has asked plenty of them already. The debate, though, is whether that body of work outweighs the flaws that still show up when the team is broken down more closely. For Wisconsin, that tension is what makes the ranking conversation so compelling right now, because the numbers tell one story while the eye test keeps leaving room for disagreement. [Read more 🡒]