Fresh off a 24-20 upset win over the No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions on the road, the Wisconsin Badgers are heading back home to face the Michigan State Spartans at Camp Randall Stadium this weekend.
Following their 54-10 domination of the Eastern Michigan Eagles in Week 3, the Badgers were looking much improved going into Happy Valley. But they dug themselves into an early 17-0 hole, thanks to a pair of early turnovers, and trailed by double digits in the final eight minutes of the game.
Nonetheless,
behind a strong defensive performance and two late touchdown drives, Wisconsin was able to pull off the upset on the road, securing the biggest win of Luke Fickell’s career with the Badgers.
Heading into the week, the Badgers are the first team out in the AP Top 25, and could very well find themselves in the rankings with a win on Saturday.
They’ll take on a Michigan State team that went through some changes in the offseason, firing head coach Jonathan Smith and hiring longtime Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. The Spartans added over 50 new players in the offseason with their transfer and freshmen classes, and have a new-look team in 2026.
So far, the Spartans are 2-2 this season. They opened the season with a 30-20 win over Toledo and beat Eastern Michigan 35-7 in Week 2. Then, they faced the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on the road, losing 27-10 before their 31-13 loss to Nebraska this weekend.
Wisconsin and Michigan State have played two common opponents. The Badgers beat Eastern Michigan by 44, while the Spartans won by 28. But Wisconsin lost to Notre Dame by 28, while Michigan State lost by only 17.
The Spartans struggled in their Big Ten opener last weekend, as they rushed for just 39 yards (including sacks). Quarterback Alessio Milivojevic was sacked six times, and the Spartans lost three turnovers in the game. Michigan State struggled with Anthony Colandrea’s dual-threat ability, and could face a similar challenge this weekend against Colton Joseph.
Kickoff is set for 11:30 a.m. on Big Ten Network at Camp Randall. What are the odds looking like for Saturday’s game?
Wisconsin opened as a 10.5-point favorite on FanDuel, but that has since dropped to 9.5 points. Just like last week, the over/under is low at 43.5 points. Wisconsin’s projected win total currently sits around 27.5 points.
Michigan State is dealing with a big injury currently, as running back Cam Edwards is expected to be out for the season. He has run for 304 yards and three touchdowns on 64 carries this season.
We’ve seen what the Badgers can be on both sides of the ball, but they didn’t play very cleanly in Week 4. Let’s see if they improve, or even regress, going into Week 5 as they return back home.
