Wisconsin football announced a schedule change for next season. The Badgers will no longer play the Pitt Panthers; instead, Wisconsin will play Eastern Michigan. The immediate reaction was that Luke Fickell and the Badgers were running away from any semblance of competition, adding a sure win to the schedule. Yet, the announcement said that it was a mutual decision. Let's dig in.
While neither program has officially announced the "why" to the cancellation, it's not hard to figure out how the game got pulled, and it actually starts in the ACC office. The ACC has said, "Most teams will begin playing nine conference games plus one P4 game in 2026; however, multiple teams will play eight conference games and two P4 non-conference opponents to accommodate for currently scheduled non-conference games as part of the transition to the new model.”
The ACC may be the reason the Wisconsin and Pitt cancelled their 2026 game
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In other words, the ACC is encouraging its teams to find a way to get to nine conference games next season and is only letting the ones that can't get out of non-conference games stay at eight. By next season, they will all have to get to nine games.
Wisconsin, trying to find a semblance of a good season next year, wasn't going to force Pitt's hand and would let the game be cancelled without any penalty. That's the most likely theory. It may never be confirmed, but it's plausible and makes actual sense.
So yes, Luke Fickell needs wins, but the reality is that the ACC and Pitt were looking for someone to drop from their non-conference to schedule another conference game instead. Wisconsin accommodated, and now the Badgers get to face an easier foe in Eastern Michigan.
The Pitt Panthers and Wisconsin Badgers will still face off against each other in 2027 in Dublin, Ireland. That game is not in danger of being changed, as it's one of the travel games that has been part of the marketing strategy for both teams.