In what should be a good, tough Top 20 battle Wisconsin takes on Notre Dame Saturday afternoon on neutral ground in Chicago. These schools are only about a morning’s drive apart but haven’t met since Coach Parseghian’s (look him up) first game with the Irish back in 1964.
These teams were supposed to meet last season at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, but the game got canceled. So they’ve rescheduled that meeting for 2026.
As for Saturday the Badgers are favored by just less than a touchdown. Who do we like for our free pick (more college football picks)?
Notre Dame-Wisconsin Betting Odds
Week 4 college football betting lines opened Wisconsin at around -5.5 over Notre Dame, with an over/under of 46. Early betting action at the sportsbooks then bumped the Badgers to -6.5.
Notre Dame-Wisconsin College Football Betting Preview
The Fighting Irish are 3-0 on the season after beating Purdue last week 27-13. Notre Dame spotted the Boilermakers the first three points of the game but rallied to lead 10-3 at the half. The Irish then allowed Purdue to get within 17-13 midway through the third quarter but scored the last 10 points of the game to secure the victory.
Near the end Notre Dame intercepted a Boilers pass in the end zone to preserve the cover as a 7.5-point favorite.
The Irish actually got out-gained by the Boilers 348-343 and lost time of possession by a 34:26 split. But Notre Dame out-rushed Purdue 120-57 and won the turnover battle 2-0.
The Irish opened this season with a 41-38 overtime victory over a bad Florida State team and came up short ATS as seven-point favorites. Notre Dame then held off Toledo 32-29 but whiffed ATS as a 16-point favorite.
The Irish returned only nine starters this season, just three on offense and six on defense, from a team that played 10-2 last year. So it’s a bit difficult to tell right now just how good this Notre Dame team is.
The Badgers, meanwhile, are 1-1 on the season after beating Eastern Michigan two weeks ago 34-7. Wisconsin then had last week off to prepare for this game.
UW started slowly against the Eagles but broke loose with 17 points in the second quarter to lead 24-0 at the half. The Badgers then scored the first seven points of the second half and later tacked on one last score with four minutes left to cover the spread as 26-point favorites.
Eastern Michigan’s only score of the game came on a 98-yard interception return in the fourth quarter. So the score of that game could have been 40-0.
Wisconsin made 26 first downs last week to just three for the Eagles, out-gained EMU 518-92, out-rushed Eastern Michigan 352-16 and dominated time of possession by a 40:20 split.
The Badgers opened this season with a 16-10 home loss to Penn State even though Wisconsin actually out-rushed the Nittany Lions 180-50 and held a huge 43:17 time of possession advantage. But the Badgers had a chip-shot field goal blocked and twice came away with zero points after reaching the Penn State 2-yard line.
Wisconsin returned 17 starters this season, nine on offense and eight on defense, from a team that played 4-3 last year. The Badgers began this season as the favorites to win the Big Ten West again but will probably have to play perfect conference ball from here on out to pull that off.
This is the first meeting between these two programs since 1964, a 31-7 Irish victory.
- Get more details: Notre Dame vs Wisconsin 9/25/21 Match-up Stats
College Football Betting Trends
- Through 10 games this season matching two ranked teams the higher-ranked of them are just 4-6 SU, 3-7 ATS.
- Notre Dame is 13-8 SU, 9-11-1 ATS against Big Ten opponents under Coach Kelly.
Totals Report
Overs are 2-0 in Notre Dame games this season, which are averaging 59 total points.
Unders are 2-0 in Wisconsin games this season, which are averaging just 34 points.
