The Wisconsin Badgers have made a change to their 2026 football schedule, replacing a previously scheduled ACC opponent with a team from the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the school announced Friday.
Wisconsin was previously scheduled to host the Pitt Panthers at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisc., on Sept. 19, 2026. The game was originally part of a home-and-home football series, but the second game of the contest scheduled to be played in Pittsburgh in 2027 was moved to Dublin, Ireland.
As a result, Wisconsin and Pitt have decided to mutually cancel the 2026 contest and will only play the single neutral site game, which is now the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. That game is slated for Saturday, Aug. 28, 2027, which is Week Zero that season.
To replace the Pitt contest, Wisconsin has added a home game against the Eastern Michigan Eagles (EMU) of the MAC on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. Eastern Michigan University is winless in four previous trips to Madison.
Eastern Michigan previously had a full non-conference schedule for the 2026 season. In order to schedule the game at Wisconsin, the Eagles rescheduled a contest at Marshall in 2026 and will now travel to Huntington, W.Va., on Sept. 20, 2031.
Additionally, Eastern Michigan pushed its 2026 home game against the Lindenwood Lions back one week from Sept. 19 to Sept. 26.
Wisconsin is scheduled to open the 2026 season against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc., on Sunday, Sept. 6. The following week on Saturday, Sept. 12, the Badgers will host the Western Illinois Leathernecks in Madison.
The Big Ten slate of opponents for Wisconsin in 2026 is also set, with dates to be revealed possibly later this month. Wisconsin will host Michigan State, Minnesota, Rutgers, and USC and will travel to take on Iowa, Maryland, Penn State, Purdue, and UCLA.
Football Schedules
