The Wisconsin Badgers have adjusted their 2027 football schedule, canceling a previously planned matchup with a Pac‑12 opponent and replacing it with a MAC foe, FBSchedules.com has confirmed.
Wisconsin had been slated to host Colorado State on September 18, 2027. However, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported last month that the game was canceled and that the Badgers would instead fill the date with a home contest against UMass.
Sources: Colorado State and Wisconsin have mutually agreed to cancel their game in September of 2027. Colorado State initiated the conversation as a way to play seven home games in 2027, and they are expected to add another home game. (Wisconsin is expected to replace CSU with… pic.twitter.com/lJXEq2R6oL
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 16, 2026
Copies of documents obtained from the University of Wisconsin–Madison via a state open‑records request confirm that change. Wisconsin and Colorado State mutually agreed to cancel the 2027 matchup with no penalty owed by either school.
In place of Colorado State, Wisconsin has officially added UMass for the same date, September 18, 2027, at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisc. According to the contract, the Badgers will pay the Minutemen a $1.325 million guarantee for the game.
The two programs have met only once before. Wisconsin defeated UMass 45–0 in Madison in 2013.
The Badgers are scheduled to open the 2027 season on August 28 against Pitt in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland. They are also set to host Southern Illinois on September 11.
UMass now has five non‑conference opponents booked for 2027, meaning one previously announced game will need to be rescheduled or canceled. The Minutemen are currently slated to host Stony Brook (Sept. 4) and UConn (Oct. 16), while traveling to Indiana (previously Sept. 18) and Temple (Oct. 9).
