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Wisconsin Badgers Football: Series announced with Pitt

By Tanner Nestle

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: Head coach Paul Chryst of the Wisconsin Badgers cheers during the 2017 Capital One Orange Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: Head coach Paul Chryst of the Wisconsin Badgers cheers during the 2017 Capital One Orange Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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Wisconsin will play a home-and-home series in 2026 and 2027 with the Pitt Panthers.

Wisconsin announced a new non-conference opponent for 2026 and 2027. The Badgers are adding an ACC member and Paul Chryst’s old program to the schedule. The games will be played at the campus locations.

https://twitter.com/BadgerFootball/status/999651230090780674

The Badgers became victim of the ‘weak schedule’ narrative during the 2017 season after BYU’s disappointing season. They were the best non-conference opponent on the slate. Prior to last year, Wisconsin had played LSU twice and Alabama once, but it wasn’t enough to earn the respect of naysayers. Wisconsin has since been working to fix this issue.

Where Pitt stands currently doesn’t make it much of an addition to the schedule. It hasn’t won a bowl game since 2013 under Chryst and is coming off a losing season. This isn’t to say Pitt can’t compete though. The Panthers have beaten two top-5 teams in the last two years, Clemson in 2016 and Miami in 2017.

MIAMI GARDENS, FL – DECEMBER 30 (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL – DECEMBER 30 (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

It’s difficult to project where anybody will be in 2026, but we’ll assume Wisconsin will still be competing for Big Ten championships. Pitt doesn’t show too many signs of becoming a front-runner in the ACC, but it also doesn’t appear to be a bottom-dwelling team either. At the very least Pitt will be a more formidable opponent than North Texas or Hawaii, some of Wisconsin’s other future non-conference opponents.

Wisconsin hasn’t announced any other opponents for the 2026 or 2027 seasons so we can’t judge the non-conference strength of schedule for those years. Before the series with Pitt, the Badgers will play two games each against Notre Dame (2020-21), Washington State (2022-23) and Virginia Tech (2024-25). In each of those years Wisconsin does not play a second non-conference Power Five team. Pitt’s current status is a little concerning. But this could suggest Wisconsin is looking to still add more non-conference Power Five opponents in those years.

Next: 10 best Wisconsin football games since 2010

The Badgers also have a series scheduled with UCLA for the two years following the series with Pitt.

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