Alabama Football vs. Wisconsin: A matchup history

Alabama Football has only faced Wisconsin twice in program history, and when the Crimson Tide travels to Madison to face Badgers, it will be the first time in 96-years the two teams will have faced off at Camp-Randall Stadium.

Back then, the visiting Tide faced a capacity crowd of around 33,000 fans. There will be over 80,000 raucous Wisconsin fans in the stands this time around as Alabama goes on the road for the first time in the 2024 season. 

Coach Kalen DeBoer hopes his squad has a better visit to Madison than Wallace Wade’s did back in 1928. Wade’s Tide were blanked 15-0 by the Badgers en route to a 6-3 finish. Wade led the Tide to national titles in 1925 and 1926 before a bit of a down stretch between 1927-29 where Alabama didn’t win more than six games any of the three seasons and held just a 17-10-1 record. Wade righted the ship in 1930, leading his Tide to a 10-0 season in 1930 culminating in a second victory at the Rose Bowl in his final season as the head coach. 

There’s only been one additional meeting between the two schools despite both programs being around since the late 1800’s. It’s a surprise considering the SEC/Big Ten bowl tie-ins that there hasn’t been a random meeting in a bowl game between the two teams over the years. 

Wisconsin has never made the trip to Tuscaloosa, which they will do for the first time in 2025. 

Instead, the two teams faced off in the season opener of 2015 for the AdvoCare Classic at Jerry World in Arlington, Texas. The 3rd ranked Crimson Tide defeated the 20th ranked Badgers 35-17. 

That game launched Derrick Henry’s Heisman campaign, as he gouged the Badgers for 147 yards and three touchdowns on just 13-carries. He was so unstoppable there was a Wisconsin player who tried to swap sides in the middle of the game.

That game was also the first win in what became an eventual national championship season for Alabama, its first title in the College Football Playoff era. 

Here’s hoping this battle with the Badgers is another launching point toward a national title.