First up for Wisconsin is the one that matters most right now: a road trip to No. 13 Penn State to open Big Ten play. It’s the kind of early conference test that tells you plenty, and it lands in what should be a loud, high-stakes setting.
But with three weeks of the 2026 season already in the books, there’s also enough evidence to take a fresh look at the rest of the Badgers’ Big Ten schedule. Some teams have flashed real strength. Others have already raised the same old questions.
Penn State has only lined up against Marshall, Temple and Buffalo, but the early returns are hard to ignore. Rocco Becht has been efficient and mistake-free, and the Nittany Lions’ pass defense has been brutal, ranking No. 1 nationally at 90.0 yards allowed per game.
Michigan State still fits the rebuilding label, but Pat Fitzgerald has clearly gotten some traction. The Spartans opened with a narrow 10-point win over Toledo, which left plenty of doubt, yet they looked much more competitive in Week 3 against Notre Dame and were within 10 heading into the fourth quarter. They’re not a pushover anymore, though Wisconsin should still go in as the favorite.
UCLA has been one of the more interesting early surprises under new head coach Bob Chesney. The Bruins are sitting at No. 1 nationally in rushing offense at 286.7 yards per game, though that number comes against California, San Diego State and Purdue. The real test is still ahead, with a road trip to Oregon on Oct. 10 likely to reveal more.
USC remains hard to pin down. The Trojans are 4-0, but there’s still a lot of skepticism around whether Lincoln Riley’s team has truly turned a corner.
Rutgers pushed USC hard and scored 35 points in Piscataway, and the week before Louisiana hung 30 on the Trojans in Los Angeles. The offense is still dangerous.
The defense, not so much.
Iowa has already delivered the familiar range of results. The Hawkeyes hammered Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa by a combined 95-0, then edged Iowa State 16-13 at home.
That feels pretty on brand. With Michigan next and Ohio State after that, the picture should get clearer fast.
Rutgers finally got off the schneid Friday night with a home win over Howard, but the bigger story is how rough the first month has been. The Scarlet Knights are 1-3 after losses to UMass, an uninspiring Boston College team and USC. At this point, it’s hard to point to another sure win.
Maryland has a quarterback who is making noise. Malik Washington has been elite in his sophomore season, and the Terrapins still have some work to do to look like a complete team. Wisconsin, though, doesn’t need any reminder of what Maryland did to the Badgers in Camp Randall Stadium last fall.
Purdue has been a bit feistier than expected, and the offense is producing. The problem is on the other side of the ball, where things have looked rough. Wake Forest and UCLA combined for 90 points against Barry Odom’s team, and Wisconsin should still be favored there unless things go completely sideways.
Minnesota is the hardest team to pin down. The Gophers crushed Eastern Illinois and Akron, then lost fairly convincingly to Mississippi State.
That makes the ceiling tough to define, but it also knocks down any talk of this being the year Minnesota turns into a College Football Playoff team. There’s talent on the roster and an NFL-leaning quarterback, yet the flaws are still there.
In Other News...
Wisconsin Fans Have One New Concern About Kingston Allen
Kingston Allens latest high school outing only added to the buzz around Wisconsins 2027 running back commit, and it was the kind of performance that makes recruiting follow-up feel more like a weekly habit than a one-time check-in. He piled up 296 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 21 carries, while also adding 33 receiving yards, another reminder that his season has already become one of those rare stretches that can redraw expectations before a player ever arrives on campus.
For Wisconsin fans, the upside is easy to see. Allen has nearly 2,000 yards through six games and is on track to top his previous seasons production, which is exactly the sort of trajectory that gets people thinking about future impact at the college level. The one new concern, though, is the same kind of concern that tends to follow a workload like this: how much more can he keep carrying before the wear and tear starts to matter? [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Volleyball Just Sent Another Early Big Ten Message
The Big Ten opener brought an early test, and Wisconsin handled it by turning a shaky start into a steady answer. After dropping the first set at home against No. 20 Oregon, the Badgers settled in and won the next three, getting strong work from freshmen Audrey Flanagan and Decelise Champion along the way.
It was the kind of result Wisconsin can build on as conference play opens, especially with the home floor already starting to feel like a safe place. The win pushed the Badgers to 7-4 and extended their home streak to five straight, a solid opening statement in a league where every early chance to stack wins matters. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Opens Big Ten Play With A Tough Test Waiting In Happy Valley
Wisconsin finished off its non-conference slate with a 54-10 win over Eastern Michigan, a result that left the Badgers at 2-1 heading into the part of the schedule that usually tells the most about where a team really stands. Now the margin for error gets much smaller as Luke Fickells group heads to Happy Valley to open Big Ten play against No. 13 Penn State, a road assignment that will immediately show how far Wisconsin has come in the early stages of the season.
A big part of the challenge will be dealing with Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht, who Fickell singled out for his experience and ability to hurt defenses in more than one way. For Wisconsin, this is the kind of opener that can sharpen a teams identity quickly, because the Badgers are not just stepping into conference play, they are stepping into one of the toughest environments on the schedule with a polished opposing quarterback waiting on the other side. [Read more 🡒]