Notre Dame football opens the 2026 season on Sunday with a trip to Lambeau Field to face the Wisconsin Badgers.

Head coach Marcus Freeman brings a Fighting Irish team loaded with expectations, including a legitimate national championship path. With quarterback CJ Carr returning and a stingy defense under second-year defensive coordinator Chris Ash, this group has the look of an elite team. The question is whether Notre Dame can start fast against a Wisconsin program in transition.

On the other side, Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell enters the year on a bit of a hot seat with his future uncertain in Madison. The Badgers jumped into the transfer portal heavily this offseason, most notably landing new starting quarterback Colton Joseph, who was a star at Old Dominion previously. They also have a deep running back room and are hoping an improved defense begins to trend back upward.

After a full week of analysis breaking down the players to watch and the areas where Notre Dame can separate themselves, it’s time for a game prediction.

Final score prediction: Notre Dame 37, Wisconsin 13

The Fighting Irish are 20.5-point favorites in most places, and that number makes a whole lot of sense based upon these two teams on paper.

For Wisconsin to keep this game close, the Badgers are going to need to run the football. Joseph will be a part of that conversation, along with Iowa State transfer running back Abu Sama III. Because of that approach, the first portion of this game could be somewhat close as Wisconsin tries to shorten the contest.

Eventually, though, this improved Notre Dame defensive line led by Armel Mukam, Francis Brewu and Tionne Gray, and company will create negatives in the run game and harass Joseph enough to keep Wisconsin behind the sticks and off schedule. If that happens, it’s only going to take a couple of explosive plays for the Fighting Irish offense to put this game out of reach.

Notre Dame’s offense has the weapons to pull away

With Carr and an improved, deep wide receiver room, I do think we see a lot more passing early in this game with hopes to open up the offense down the stretch. Aneyas Williams and the Notre Dame running game also have a chance to assert themselves and put this one to bed once the passing attack opens things up.

Carr enters the season with high expectations himself, including some who believe he could contend to be in New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. I do believe Carr has a strong start to the season against a Wisconsin secondary that experienced a lot of turnover via the transfer portal this offseason.

A 24-point victory will not be enough for some, but in a unique Shamrock Series game at a historic venue like Lambeau Field, this would be a very solid start for Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish get ready for what should be a deep playoff run in 2026.