Notre Dame spent the offseason stewing over a playoff snub. Wisconsin spent it rebuilding almost from scratch. Both stories collide in Green Bay to open 2026.
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WISND
WISND
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Best BetNotre Dame
Notre Dame brings back a Manning Award finalist at quarterback and a defense that only lost position coaches, not its coordinator, while Wisconsin is trusting a brand-new QB in his first Big Ten action. That talent and experience gap is about as wide as openers get. The Irish are the play to win outright here.
Wisconsin
+33 transfer portal additions overhaul the roster
+Colton Joseph brings proven dual-threat production
+Defensive coordinator Chris Ash returns for year 2
−Lost both starting RBs, Love and Price, to NFL Draft
−Lost linebackers and defensive backs coaches this offseason
−Making Lambeau Field debut in a hostile-adjacent building
This one's got a real headliner: CJ Carr, the Manning Award finalist who threw for 2,741 yards, 24 touchdowns and just 6 picks last season, against a Wisconsin team starting a quarterback who's never taken a Big Ten snap. Colton Joseph transferred in from Old Dominion as a dual-threat playmaker and instantly became QB1 over a crowded room, which tells you plenty about where the position stood in Madison. Carr's arm versus Joseph's legs is the swing factor here, and it's not close on paper.
Notre Dame isn't walking in unscathed. Both starting running backs, Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, bolted for the NFL Draft as first-round picks, leaving Aneyas Williams penciled in as the new lead back without a proven college workload. The Irish also lost linebackers coach Al Washington and defensive backs coach Mike Mickens to NFL jobs this offseason, though coordinator Chris Ash stays put for year 2. Wisconsin, meanwhile, went the opposite direction and overhauled almost everything, bringing in 33 transfer portal additions to patch holes across the roster.
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WIS Wisconsin
ND Notre Dame
The venue is its own story. Notre Dame is making its Lambeau Field debut as the designated home team in the Shamrock Series, a neutral-site-but-not-really matchup deep in Badgers territory. That's a wrinkle worth watching: Wisconsin gets a virtual home crowd against a Notre Dame team that's rarely, if ever, played in front of a hostile Wisconsin-heavy stadium.
Wisconsin Badgers
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
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Luke Fickell is squarely on the clock. He's 17-21 through 3 years in Madison and enters year 4 with a 4-8, 14th-place finish in the Big Ten hanging over him. The portal spending spree was a clear response to that — analysts are pointing to an improved secondary and a quarterback room that should be a real upgrade over last year's mess. Whether that shows up immediately against a roster as loaded as Notre Dame's is the real test.
Wisconsin Badgers
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Notre Dame comes in with the bigger chip on its shoulder. A 10-2 finish that still wasn't enough for a playoff bid tends to sharpen a roster, and this group returns its best player at the most important position. Wisconsin's floor is unclear until Joseph and a retooled defense actually take the field together, but a friendlier 2026 schedule gives Fickell more room to find out early without it costing the season.
