Wisconsin just inked a deal to become the next Big Ten team to play get murdered by Alabama in a marquee early season game.
Wisconsin, the three-time defending Big Ten champion, and Alabama, the two-time defending BCS champion, will open the 2015 football season on Sept. 5, 2015 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
"As a league we decided that we needed to upgrade our non-conference schedule," UW Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez said. "We understand that strength of schedule will be a factor in determining which teams earn the right to participate in the new four-team playoff system and we want to be in that mix. There's no better way to do that than by playing the defending national champions. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to play a storied program like Alabama in a terrific venue like Cowboys Stadium. It will be a great experience for our program, our players and our fans."
"This is a tremendous opportunity for our team to open the 2015 season against a nationally-recognized SEC opponent," Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersen said.
The game time and television network have yet to be determined.
UW and Alabama have met just one time in the schools' history, a 15-0 Badger victory on Nov. 3, 1928 at Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin has not played an SEC team since playing five consecutive bowl games against the conference from 2003-07 (UW went 2-3 in those games). The Badgers have not played an SEC team during the regular season since losing, 27-7, at LSU on Sept. 30, 1972.
All joking aside, if the Big Ten wants to get on the SEC's level, it will have to start beating SEC teams. They don't come much bigger than Alabama. And, as fans, these are the games we want to see early in the year. Kudos to both programs for scheduling this one.
