Wisconsin ready for ‘tough, hard-fought, physical’ rivalry game against Iowa

The Big Ten West began in 2014, Iowa and Wisconsin combined to win seven of the 10 division titles. The two historic Big Ten programs will meet this week for the 98th time, and they’ll play for the Heartland Trophy for the 21st time.

Coming off the heels of a hard-fought loss at home to Penn State, the Badgers football team has no time to recover as it has to go on the road to Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, for a primetime matchup against the Hawkeyes on Saturday.

“It turns over pretty quick and now we got to move on. That was the biggest message on Sunday — our ability to regroup and reload, because we got to get rolling,” Badgers coach Luke Fickell told reporters Monday. “Make sure we’re getting to the physicality of what it is that we need to do and knowing what it’s going to be like going over to Iowa and playing another night game. It’s going to be a tough, hard-fought, physical football game that will probably come down to the fourth quarter.”

Wisconsin leads the all-time series against Iowa 49-46-2. The Badgers have not won in Iowa City since 2018. Both programs have bigger and more heated rivalries, but the matchup has been historically one of the most closely contested Big Ten games every year.

Hawkeyes quarterback Cade McNamara is reportedly dealing with a concussion, putting his status for Saturday’s game up in the air, but regardless, Iowa still presentes a tough test. If McNamara is unable to play due to the concussion, Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan is the likely replacement at quarterback.

Iowa is 5-3 this season and its defense is still elite under defensive coordinator Phil Parker, allowing 19 points per game. Experts favor the Hawkeyes by 3.5 points as Wisconsin looks to pick up its elusive sixth win and become bowl eligible.