The Wisconsin Badgers and Illinois Fighting Illini will square off for the first time since 2023 on Saturday.
The Big Ten rivals come into this matchup heading in opposite directions. Illinois enters Saturday ranked No. 21 in the country, while the Badgers are slugging through a season that has featured only one Big Ten win.
Illinois comes in with a 7-3 (4-3 Big Ten) record and will head to their third bowl game in the last four years in a matter of weeks. The Illini started the season hot with three straight victories, holding steady with a 4-3 record since. Two of those losses came against Ohio State and Indiana, the No. 1 and 2 teams in the country, respectively.
The Illini are led by senior quarterback Luke Altmyer, who has over 2400 passing yards on the campaign and ranks seventh in the country in QBR. Altmyer is regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the Big Ten, a conference that possesses the elite quarterback play of Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, Heisman-level talents that both dominated Wisconsin this season.
Illinois is coming off an emphatic victory at home against the Maryland Terrapins. The Illini held the Terrapins to just six points, and Luke Altmyer had his seventh multi-touchdown game this season.
For the Badgers, they are back in Madison after a blowout loss to the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington. After a tightly contested first two quarters, the Badgers lost control in the second half, resembling losses all year for head coach Luke Fickell and his team. They enter Saturday with a 3-7 (1-6 Big Ten) record and will miss out on bowl season for the second year in a row after snapping their 22-year bowl streak last season.
If the Badgers are able to feed off home field advantage like they did in their upset win against the Washington Huskies, where the atmosphere and weather were on their side, they could send fans home happy in the final home game of 2025.
Seniors like Ricardo Hallman, Vinny Anthony II and Riley Mahlman will play in their final home games as Badgers on Saturday. After a couple of disappointing seasons, the seniors will look to end their Badger careers with a victory.
Although this game may not seem as meaningful for the 2025 season, it is crucial for the momentum Fickell and the Badgers are trying to create going into next season.
It has not been a pretty sight this year for Badger football, but a win against a Big Ten rival in Illinois could go a long way for the future of the program. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Camp Randall.
