Wisconsin football has been known to run the Midwest. There are a few programs that absolutely get excited to play and lose their minds when they beat Wisconsin. Even in the last few years, when the football program has been down. You still see Minnesota celebrate as if they beat a 10-win Badger team. Or Iowa gloating in the middle of the field post-game. Why? The rivalries are real and go deep. Really deep.
A couple of those rivalries go back to the dawn of football, especially the Wisconsin vs. Minnesota rivalry. It doesn't matter if those programs are doing well or doing badly, or alternating good and bad; Wisconsin loves beating Minnesota, and Minnesota loves beating Wisconsin. CBS ranked this rivalry as the No. 2 rivalry in the Big Ten. It's not the only Wisconsin rivalry to make the top-10.
Top 10 Big Ten Rivalries according to Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports pic.twitter.com/NiEUXa30Ik
— The Big Ten Huddle 🎙️ (@TheBigTenHuddle) May 20, 2026
Wisconsin football holds top rivalries against Minnesota and Iowa
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Iowa found itself on the list three times; it turns out they get under multiple programs' skins. Lots of fanbases are rooting for the downfall of the Hawkeyes. A fun team to see lose, there's no doubt. Wisconsin and Iowa is also a historic rivalry. It goes back to 1894 when the Badgers won 44-0. Though the rivalry probably didn't really kick into gear until the 1920s when the contest actually went back in forth. To start it was all Wisconsin who won the first six matchups.
Though the rivalry didn't get a name or a trophy until 2004, when it was dubbed "The Battle for the Heartland." The name was relatively floating around before the trophy, but Barry Alvarez and Bob Bowlsby (Iowa athletic director) finally put it all together.
All-time, the series goes to Wisconsin by one game. 49-48 is the all-time record, though the Hawkeyes have won four in a row.
The more important football rivalry for Wisconsin is the "Border Battle" or the "Battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe" or even sometimes just the "Axe Game." It is the most-played rivalry in the history of college football. Not just the Big Ten, but in all of college football, the two programs have played 135 times. With the contest still being split. Minnesota has 64 wins, with Wisconsin having 63, and there are 8 ties.
It is even older than the Iowa vs. Wisconsin rivalry, as it started back in 1890 and really hasn't missed a beat since. It wasn't until the 1940s that the trophy and a more official name came to be for the rivalry game. The Golden Gophers have won the last two, and if there is a game that's circled for Wisconsin fans, it's this one.
Finally, Wisconsin has another named football rivalry that didn't make the list above. It's versus Nebraska. It doesn't have the same history, even though the two teams first met in 1901. The conference alignment for a while kept them apart until Nebraska came to the Big Ten in 2011. There is a trophy to play for called the "Freedom Trophy." And the rivalry does seem to be picking up a little juice in the last few years. Wisconsin fans are starting to circle Nebraska, too. Even if Wisconsin has the 13-5 advantage.
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