Wisconsin gets a quick chance to reset after its opener, and the assignment could not be much more straightforward: Western Illinois comes to Madison on Sept. 12 for a 6:15 p.m. kickoff on Big Ten Network.
The Badgers are coming off a 41-13 loss to No. 5 Notre Dame at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Sept. 6, and the next game is being framed as a test of something different.
As John Steppe put it, “The Notre Dame game was a test of UW’s talent. Western Illinois will test the Badgers’ focus.”
The expectation is that Wisconsin should have control from the start and be able to get its top players out early.
There’s also the matter of the matchup itself. Western Illinois is an FCS team that lost by 31 points to another FCS opponent last week, and that has opened the door for Wisconsin’s ground game to do damage. Steppe wrote that Abu Sama and the rest of the Badgers’ running backs should have a favorable opportunity against a “lackluster Western Illinois defensive front.”
The predictions reflected that confidence. Mark Stewart picked Wisconsin to win 41-3, while Steppe went with a 45-6 Badgers victory.
For fans following along on the radio, the game will air on FM-94.5 and AM-620 in Milwaukee, AM-1310 and FM-101.5 in Madison, with other affiliates across Wisconsin. SiriusXM Channel 123 will also carry the broadcast. Matt Lepay will handle play-by-play, with Mark Tauscher as analyst and Patrick Herb reporting from the sideline.
Wisconsin’s 2026 schedule now moves into a stretch that includes Eastern Michigan on Sept. 19 at 11:30 a.m. on Peacock, followed by a Sept. 26 trip to Penn State with kickoff no later than 4 p.m. and TV still to be determined. The next slate also lists Michigan State, UCLA, USC, Iowa, Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue and Minnesota, with several game times and TV details still TBD.
In Other News...
Badgers Made An Early Statement Against The Champs For One Big Reason
Against the defending national champions, Wisconsin showed early that it could absorb a punch and keep swinging. The Badgers dropped the opening set to Texas A&M in a five-set volleyball match, but their offense found its rhythm as setter Charlie Fuerbringer kept the middle attackers involved and the teams defense held up in the long rallies that turned the match into a grind.
What helped swing the night was the presence of Decelise Champion, who made a significant impact after entering the match and gave Wisconsin another layer it needed with Jaela Auguste and Grace Egan unavailable. Even without that full lineup, the Badgers looked composed in the biggest stretches, a good sign for a team trying to stack wins while learning how to finish against elite competition. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Commit Kingston Allen Keeps Fueling A Ranking Debate
Kingston Allen keeps giving Wisconsin fans another reason to watch the 2027 class closely. The Badgers commit has been piling up huge numbers early in his high school career, building a rsum that already puts him in rare company among young running backs. Even with that production, national recruiting services still have him listed outside the very top tier, with 247 Sports slotting him at No. 150 overall and as a four-star.
The disconnect is what makes Allen such an interesting name to track from Wisconsins side. His weekly output suggests a player doing far more than just holding serve against expectations, and it raises the familiar recruiting question of whether some prospects are being judged more by ranking inertia than by what they keep showing on the field. For the Badgers, the appeal is obvious: if he keeps producing at this rate, the debate around where he belongs nationally is only going to get louder. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Is Proving It Can Survive Early Tests The Hard Way
Wisconsins volleyball schedule has wasted no time asking for answers. The Badgers opened the season against four top-10 opponents and went 1-3 in that stretch, a gauntlet that could have shaken a lesser group. Instead, they steadied themselves at home with wins over No. 17 Florida and Auburn, moving to 3-3 while holding onto a No. 6 ranking and showing they can absorb early adversity without losing their place among the sports elite.
The latest test added another layer of proof, as Wisconsin handled No. 19 Texas A&M in a five-set match and kept building momentum ahead of a meeting with Texas. What has stood out so far is not just that the Badgers have survived the schedule, but that they have done it against ranked opponents in a way that keeps their rsum pointed in the right direction. The next challenge should say even more about where this team stands when the caliber of opponent only keeps rising. [Read more 🡒]