College Football Picks 9/6 – Wisconsin at Notre Dame

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

Week One of the 2026 College Football season continues today with a rare Sunday night contest as the Wisconsin Badgers (4-8, 2-7 in the Big 10 last yr) face No. 4 ranked Notre Dame (10-2 as an Independent last yr) at historic Lambeau Field — home of the Green Bay Packers — on ESPN. The schools are facing off for the first time since September 2021; Notre Dame walloped Wisconsin 41-13 in Week 4 of that season. The 2021 Wisconsin-Notre Dame game also took place at an NFL Stadium — Chicago’s Soldier Field, home of the Bears.

With the NFL starting their regular season Sunday slate a week after college football begins, the NCAA always features a marquee matchup on a Sunday night in Week 1 to take advantage of the highly-viewed time slot. Tonight’s game being held at a sold out Lambeau Field will give off an NFL atmosphere. Notre Dame also began last season on a Sunday night in an NFL stadium, where they narrowly lost to Miami 27-24 at Hard Rock Stadium — home of the Miami Dolphins.

Notre Dame and Wisconsin have vastly different objectives for the 2026 season. Notre Dame is one of the favorites (+600) — behind only Ohio State (+550) — to win the BCS Championship this season, while Wisconsin’s mission is to finish with a winning record after posting back-to-back losing campaigns in 2024 and 2025. 

Notre Dame is a 20.5-point favorite and the total is 46.5.

GAME STORYLINES: NOTRE DAME

Last year, Notre Dame’s season ended on a controversial note after being leapfrogged by Miami for the final spot in the 2025-26 BCS playoffs. The Fighting Irish finished the regular season 10-2 and won their final 10 games in dominant fashion. Their lowest margin of victory was 10 (34-24) against USC. Notre Dame scored over 56 points three times during their 10-game winning streak — including a 70-7 victory against Syracuse. But the BCS committee did not include them in the 12-team College Football Playoffs. Notre Dame declined to participate in a bowl game afterwards.

With last year’s snub behind them, Notre Dame enters the 2026 season with an elite roster that many expect will make a deep run in the 2026-27 College Football Playoffs. The Irish advanced to the 2024-25 BCS Championship Game two years ago. Notre Dame is loaded on offense and defense.

Leading Notre Dame’s offense is superstar redshirt sophomore quarterback CJ Carr. The dynamic signal caller was named the starter as a redshirt freshman last year and was exceptional. Carr threw for 2,741 yards with 24 touchdowns to 6 interceptions on 66.6 percent completions in 12 games. Carr entered the season as the favorite to win the 2026 Heisman Trophy at (+750). If Carr does capture the Heisman, he’d be the first Notre Dame player to win the award since Tim Brown in 1987.

At running back, Notre Dame must replace the prolific production of Jeremiyah Love (1,372 yards, 18 TD’s last yr) and Jadarian Price (674 yards, 11 TD’s last yr). Love won the Doak Walker Award last year and was selected fourth overall in the 2026 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. Price was also a first-round pick (No. 32 overall) by Seattle, which shows the immense talent of both players.

Notre Dame junior Aneyah Williams (224 yards, 5 touchdowns last yr) will take the lead role at running back and attempt to fill the massive void left by NFL first-rounders Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. He’s appeared in 19 games over his first 2 seasons backing up Love and Price. It will be interesting to see how Williams fares now that he gets his opportunity in the spotlight. 

Senior wideout Jordan Faison (49 catches for 640 yards, 4 TD’s last yr) was Notre Dame’s leading receiver last year and will be CJ Carr’s top target again in 2026. Notre Dame’s wide receiver room also includes a trio of players with NFL lineage in incoming freshman Devin Fitzgerald (son of Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald), along with sophomores Elijah Burress (son of Plaxico Burress) and Jerome Bettis Jr. (son of former Notre Dame great Jerome Bettis).  

Notre Dame’s highly-rated defense is anchored by All-World junior cornerback Leonard Moore. The 6-foot-2 Texas product was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski and Jim Thorpe Awards last season and is arguably the best cover corner in FBS. He’s totaled 7 interceptions and 18 pass breakups in his two seasons at Notre Dame. Moore is expected to be a top five pick in the 2027 NFL draft.  

The sensational senior trio of defensive end Boubacar Traore (team-leading 6.5 sacks last yr), along with linebackers Drayk Bowen (67 tackles, 3.5 sacks last yr) and Jaiden Ausberry (51 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble last yr) are also returning standouts on a Notre Dame defense that allowed 17.6 points per game in 2025.  

GAME STORYLINES: WISCONSIN

Last season, the Wisconsin Badgers finished with a 4-8 record. It was the school’s fewest wins after a full season since 1995. Head coach Luke Fickell finds himself on the hot seat entering his fourth season guiding the Badgers. In his first three seasons at the helm, Fickell has gone from 7-5 to 5-7 to 4-8 last season. Wisconsin is in real danger of posting 3 straight losing seasons for the first time since they recorded 8 straight from 1985-1992. 

Wisconsin was doomed by a listless offense last year that averaged just 12.8 points per game. They ranked 133rd out of 134 FBS teams in scoring offense. The Badgers brought in a slew of offensive skill position players to rectify their feeble offense. Wisconsin added 2 quarterbacks and 8 wideouts from the transfer portal.

The most heralded addition from the transfer portal for Wisconsin is redshirt junior quarterback Colton Joseph. The dual-threat Joseph joins the Badgers after spending his first two collegiate seasons at Old Dominion. Joseph passed for 2,624 yards with 21 touchdowns to 10 interceptions, while rushing for 1,007 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. He was named the 2025 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year and led the Monarchs to their second winning season (10-3) in the program’s 12-year history.

Jaylon Domingeaux is the most decorated of the eight wideouts that Wisconsin added from the transfer portal. The 6-foot-3, Louisiana native caught 52 passes for 857 yards and 11 touchdowns for Southeastern Louisiana last year. A pair of returnees in sophomore Eugene Hilton Jr. and senior Chris Brooks Jr. are expected to be the top receivers for the Badgers, alongside Domingeaux. Both players had minimal roles in 2025.

Senior running back Abu Sama III transferred to Wisconsin after totaling 1,933 across 3 seasons at Iowa State. He will start at running back for Wisconsin against Notre Dame tonight. Sama showed big-play ability in his three years at Iowa State and could be in store for a big senior season behind a revamped offensive line. 

Wisconsin’s defense was the only bright spot last season as they ranked 24th in total defense. Sophomore linebacker Cooper Catalano (56 tackles, 2 sacks last yr) and senior safety Mathew Jung (49 tackles last season) are two returning standouts on the defense.

The Badgers added four highly-regarded transfers to the defense in Marvin Brooks Jr. (49 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception last yr) from Missouri, linebacker Justus Boone (28 tackles, 1 sack) from Arkansas, defensive lineman Hammond Russell IV (2 sacks, 1 forced fumble) from West Virginia and redshirt sophomore linebacker Jon Jon Kamara from Kansas. All four newcomers should be significant contributors for the Badgers this season. 

THE PICK: NOTRE DAME (-20.5)

Notre Dame has gone 24-4 over the last 2 seasons, but 3 of those losses occurred during the first 2 weeks of the season. They started 1-1 in 2024 and 0-2 last year. I expect the Irish will come out focused in 2026 and pick up a relatively easy win against a rebuilding Wisconsin team that has added a plethora of new players from the transfer portal. Lay the Big Points…Notre Dame 38, Wisconsin 14