Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin game in 2026 moved to Week 1

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Wisconsin Badgers reportedly have moved their game scheduled for 2026 to Week 1. That will make the game part of Labor Day Weekend and is now scheduled for Sunday, September 6th.

This is part of a series of non-conference neutral site games between the two teams. The first was played back in 2021 at Soldier Field in Chicago. This one acts as a sort of return game and will be played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. That’s given the series a sort of home-and-home effect despite both games being neutral site games, with Notre Dame having a large presence in Chicago. Meanwhile, Wisconsin has its own presence, obviously, in Green Bay.

Initially, this game was scheduled to be played in 2020. However, the pandemic-altered season forced the game to be postponed. This became the first opportunity for each team to play it.

In the first of the two matchups, Notre Dame dominated Wisconsin. The Irish would win 41-13, though both teams are very different now. Besides roster turnover, both teams have new coaches. Marcus Freeman, who was the Notre Dame defensive coordinator at the time, is now the head coach. Meanwhile, the Badgers are now led by Luke Fickell, though with another season before this game is even set to be played, there’s room for even more change.

The 2026 matchup will be the 18th time these two teams have met. In their previous 17 meetings, Notre Dame leads the all-time series with a record of 9-6-2. However, they’ve only played once since 1965.

Notably, this is going to be a Shamrock Series game for Notre Dame. A series of neutral site games that dates back to 2009 and typically sees the Irish break out new alternate uniforms, Notre Dame is 12-0 all-time in the series of neutral site games. That includes a 49-14 win over Army at Yankee Stadium in 2024.

Lambeau Field is one of the great historic venues in football. The home of the Green Bay Packers, it’s the second-oldest NFL stadium and has seen some of the iconic moments in league history played there. That includes the Ice Bowl, which helped spawn its Frozen Tundra nickname. Of course, the hope is that Lambeau won’t earn that nickname on Labor Day.

Notably, this will only be the third ever college game played at Lambeau Field. St. Norbert vs. Fordham in 1983 was the first. Later, in 2016, Wisconsin took on LSU there.