Big Ten announces changes to 2022 football schedule

Badgers open season on Sept. 3 vs. Illinois State

The Big Ten Conference on Jan. 12 announced changes to the 2022 football schedule which has resulted in some modifications to Wisconsin’s schedule for next season.

Barry Alvarez Field will debut when the Badgers kick off 2022 at Camp Randall Stadium on Sept. 3 against Illinois State. That game will also mark the grand opening of the CR Future project, the comprehensive renovation of the south end of Camp Randall. Nonconference home games against Washington State (Sept. 10) and New Mexico State (Sept. 17) will follow.

UW opens the conference season at Ohio State on Sept. 24 before hosting Illinois on Oct. 1. Homecoming, which was originally scheduled for Oct. 15, has been moved to Oct. 22 vs. Purdue. One game that did not change is the annual battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe against Minnesota, which will conclude the regular season on Nov. 26 in Madison.

The changes made by the Big Ten come as a result of modifications made in response to the truncated 2020 season that would have seen some teams play at the same location two years in a row. As an example, in the original 2022 schedule, the Badgers were slated to travel to Purdue and host Nebraska for the second straight year. The locations of those games have now been switched.

The Badgers finished the 2021 season 9-4 and are among the top 20 in a number of “Way-Too-Early Top 25” rankings for 2022. Since 2004, UW has won 87% of its games (104-15) at Camp Randall Stadium, the fifth-best home winning percentage in the country among Power Five teams over that span.

View the entire 2022 schedule at https://uwbadgers.com/sports/football/schedule.