The Wisconsin Badgers have a much more manageable schedule this year than in 2025. Last year was "a mountain," as Luke Fickell called it. It was a challenge that seemed insurmountable, and yet even in a frustrating four-win season, the Badgers managed to knock off two ranked teams in Washington and Illinois. This 2026 season has its own challenges, but nowhere near what the Badgers were staring down last year.
There are currently four preseason top-25 ranked opponents on the Wisconsin schedule. The chances of it staying that way actually seem low. Thus, this thought experiment is discerning which each preseason team will be ranked (of the four) by the time the game arrives for Wisconsin.
Notre Dame: Preseason Ranking No. 4, by Wisconsin game = No. 4
This is the easiest game to predict because the Fighting Irish face off against the Badgers in Week 1 of the season. There will be no change between now and September 6th. The Badgers will assuredly play one ranked team on their schedule and will be guaranteed a top-5 team.
Penn State: Preseason Ranking No. 18, by Wisconsin game = No. 14
The Nittany Lions have a really easy schedule to start the season. Their first three games are against Marshall, Temple, and Buffalo. If there is any chance they fall it would be to Temple on the road but that's very unlikely and thus by the time Wisconsin rolls into Beaver Stadium, Penn State will be 3-0 and most likely have moved up in the AP Rankings.
Other teams above them have some games that could be losses, and thus, sitting at 3-0, the Badgers should be taking on a top-15 team on the road come September 26.
USC: Preseason Ranking No. 14, by Wisconsin game = No. 21
USC is hard to predict; it's a team with a ton of talent and a coach who proved he's excellent at Oklahoma. He's been lackluster as a Trojan head coach, but Lincoln Riley is stepping into a big season and a potential make-or-break season. There's a chance USC could be top-10 by the time the Wisconsin game comes around, or could be outside the top-25.
The Trojans have three ranked games before Wisconsin. There's No. 2 Oregon, No. 17 Washington, and No. 18 Penn State all back-to-back-to-back. That's a brutal way to enter into the Wisconsin game and they could go 3-0 in that time or 0-3 or somewhere in between.
The good news for USC is that they should be undefeated by the time they see the Ducks. With wins over San Jose State, Fresno State, Louisiana, and Rutgers. So at 4-0 before Oregon, which is a pretty assumed loss, putting the Trojans at 4-1, and let's say USC loses to Washington but beats Penn State, or the other way around, that's 5-2. Not great, not terrible, feels like a No. 21 team. But with two fresh losses before taking on the Badgers.
Iowa: Preseason Ranking No. 22, by Wisconsin game = Unranked
Things will start off well for Iowa with a victory over Northern Illinois and most likely a win over their rivals, Iowa State, with a new coaching staff, putting the Hawkeyes at 2-0. The third week is another win on the schedule against Northern Iowa, but then they will most likely lose to Michigan, Ohio State, and Washington all back-to-back-to-back and come in angry against Minnesota on the road. That game will determine things for the rankings.
That stretch, even if they pick up a win over Washington or Michigan (Ohio State is unlikely), the Minnesota game could really determine whether the Iowa Hawkeyes are ranked or not. This prediction is saying that, however those four games fall, Iowa is out of the rankings.
Add us as a preferred source on Google