#9 Iowa Hawkeyes at Wisconsin Badgers Game Center

After a long extra week off to ponder the disappointing loss to Purdue in week seven, the Iowa Hawkeyes are set to be back in action this week as they travel to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. While Iowa was idle last week, the Badgers did what the Hawkeyes could not as they downed Purdue 30-13 in West Lafeyette.

The win moved Wisconsin to 4-3 on the season and pulled them to within a game of the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten West standings as they now sit at 2-2 in conference play. The Hawkeyes, now 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference, need a win in Madison to keep control of their own fate in the race for a return trip to Indianapolis. A win for the Hawkeyes would leave just Minnesota a viable contender for the division while a loss would put the Badgers firmly in the race.

Here’s a quick look at this weekend’s matchup.

Date: Saturday, October 30th
Time: 11:00am CT
Matchup: #9 Iowa Hawkeyes (6-1, 3-1) at Wisconsin Badgers (4-3, 2-2)
Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI
TV: ESPN
Preliminary Weather Forecast: partly sunny with temps in the upper-50s, 5% chance of rain
DraftKings Opening Line: Wisconsin -3.5, O/U 37

History

This weekend’s matchup will be the 95th between the Hawkeyes and Badgers in a series that dates back to 1894. Wisconsin holds the all-time series lead 48-44-2 and despite a win by the Hawkeyes a year ago, the Badgers have thoroughly dominated Iowa in recent years.

Wisconsin has won seven of the last nine meetings dating back to 2010, including four straight from 2016-2019. Current Badger head coach Paul Chryst is 4-2 all-time against Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes. Ferentz, on the other hand, is 8-12 all-time against the Badgers.

The Hawkeyes enter this weekend’s contest as the higher ranked team for the first time since 2009. That’s notable as the higher ranked team in this series has gone 13-3 dating back to 2000. All three of the underdog wins have come by the Hawkeyes as Wisconsin has not beaten Iowa when the Hawkeyes are ranked ahead of them in the AP poll while Ferentz has been the head coach.

The most recent upset came when unranked Iowa knocked off the #19 Badgers 10-6 in 2015. That was also the last time Iowa won in Madison. The Hawkeyes have won four of nine meetings at Camp Randall under Ferentz.

Iowa enters Saturday’s showdown for the Heartland Trophy 20-4 in their last 24 rivalry trophy games. All four of those losses have come at the hands of the Badgers.