Wisconsin could be back in Camp Randall earlier than expected
The 2024 college football season is still a few months away and the Wisconsin Badgers will once again will be playing in Camp Randall, their home for football since 1917.
Camp Randall has been undergoing some renovations this offseason, making the playing surface heated. The heated surface will allow the Badgers to host games at the stadium more easily in the cold months of winter, potentially in the College Football Playoff.
As the team has gone through their spring practices over the last few weeks, Camp Randall has been unavailable. But they did get good news Saturday — the stadium is reportedly ahead of schedule and the team could be back playing in it by July.
According to #Badgers official: New field at Camp Randall Stadium (heated) is ahead of schedule and should be done by July.
The return of Badger football is now just 74 days away as Wisconsin gears up to face Buffalo in their season opener at home on Sept. 2.
The return of Badger football is now just 74 days away as Wisconsin gears up to face Buffalo in their season opener at home on Sept. 2. In their first game of the 2022 season, star wide receiver Chimere Dike recorded a 74-yard catch.
In the Badgers’ 38-0 win over Illinois State on Sept. 3, 2022, Dike caught three passes for 106 yards and a touchdown, including a monster 74-yard snag in the third quarter. Although he didn’t reach the endzone on the reception, quarterback Graham Mertz was able to find him for a 16-yard score a couple plays later.
The contest was the first time that Dike had gone over 100 receiving yards in his career with the Badgers and he went on to record 10 catches for 185 yards and three touchdowns against Northwestern in October, all of which were career highs.
Now with a new quarterback in Tanner Mordecai in 2023, the wide receiver will look to build off of his 47 catches, 689 receiving yards and six scores from last season.
Camp Randall remains at the top of college football’s best environments, but where do they fall in the top 12?
Camp Randall, home of the Wisconsin Badger football team was ranked within the top 12 of 247Sports’ college football stadiums for fan atmosphere. Home of the Badgers since 1917, Camp Randall has remained one of the top destinations for football fans in the country, ranking sixth on 247Sports’ list.
Also listed within the top 12 were Penn State, Nebraska, Michigan and Ohio State, with the Big Ten and SEC tying with the most teams on the list. Considering the sometimes frigid temperatures of the Midwest schools, it’s impressive that the Big Ten has as much support from the fans.
Here’s where each of the conference’s teams ranked on the final list:
The Big Ten has some of the loudest and rowdiest fan bases in the country. With those fans come some of the largest, most historic venues in the nation.
The Big Ten has three of the four largest stadiums in college football, all of which have a capacity greater than 100,000.
Wisconsin’s Camp Randall is an historic venue that cracks the top five of Big Ten stadium capacity. Even with recent upgrades, it still is one of the most classic, timeless venues in all of college football.
Here is a look at how the Big Ten stadiums rank based on capacity:
Highlights of new Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell’s arrival on campus and first day:
After a whirlwind of a day following Wisconsin’s loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday night, the Badgers’ new head coach Luke Fickell arrived with his family in Madison, Wisconsin, on Sunday night.
The news of Wisconsin targeting Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell as the team’s next head coach early on Sunday by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, and his hiring was confirmed by Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh in a statement only a couple of hours later. This news came as a surprise to many Badger fans who expected interim head coach Jim Leonhard to be named in the next few days.
Fickell spent his first day on campus taking part in his welcome event as well as touring the football facilities. It will interesting to see what changes are implemented in his first few weeks as head coach.
Below are some highlights of Luke Fickell’s first day as head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers:
In at No. 9: Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.
Here’s what 247Sports’ Brad Crawford had to say about the environment:
If the Badgers take care of business against Notre Dame at Soldier Field this season, the rest of Wisconsin’s toughest games all come in Madison behind a rabid student body that always makes it tough on the opposition. The university is planning for full capacity at home games, so you can go ahead and crank up the volume early for that opener against nationally-ranked Penn State — a huge matchup for both teams. Sadly, the Badgers may not be at their maximum spirit level since the kickoff time is slated for 11 a.m. local. Also, this is the first time that the Badgers are not opening up the season on a Friday since the 2016 season.
Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.
Who cares if the season-opener isn’t for 166 days, or if the program doesn’t start spring practice for another week. Football season is on the horizon, and an email from the athletic department from earlier today is making it start to feel real.
[lawrence-related id=29594,29113,28803]
“Following a season without fans at Wisconsin football home games last year, the Badgers look forward to welcoming fans back to Camp Randall Stadium in the fall of 2021,” the opening of the release reads.
The specific numbers aren’t known at this point and probably won’t be known until the season nears. But fans will be back at Camp Randall this fall, welcome news after the year that was 2020.
Also included in the release are single-game ticket prices for the team’s seven home games—prices which are broken up into three brackets based on the stadium’s various sections.
For Wisconsin’s season-opener against Penn State, those prices will be $130 for lower bowl tickets, $110 for upper bowl sections CC-II and $95 for upper bowl sections AA-BB & JJ-LL.
166 days, or 23 Saturdays, until Wisconsin kicks off their 2021 football season. And Badger fans will again have the chance to watch their team take the field live, in-person at Camp Randall Stadium.
Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.
UWBadgers insider Andy Baggot wrote today that 85 percent of Badger football season ticket holders renewed their tickets for this…
UWBadgers insider Andy Baggot wrote today that 85 percent of Badger football season ticket holders renewed their tickets for this season’s six-game home schedule.
“For a program that’s had a renewal rate of 93 percent or better every year since the late 1990s, that number would typically qualify as a disappointment,” the article reads. “But when you consider the extraordinary circumstances affecting this process, the number is enough to coax superlatives from the normally understated [Paul] Chryst.”
Baggot continues to quote head coach Paul Chryst‘s comment of “that’s amazing” when referring to the recently-released renewal rate.
After seeing the Major League Baseball season struggle to start–yet alone start with fans,–the NBA season recently release their plan to continue their season in late July without fans and European soccer leagues resume play in empty stadiums, this news is great for those thinking about fan attendance in the fall and about whether they will be able to attend Badger football games.
Even Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez chimed in, saying “Our culture that we have throughout our athletic department runs through our fans…There’s a trust and a loyalty and a belief.”
Assistant athletic director for ticket operations Brian Moore did tell UWBadgers.com, additionally, that if the Badgers are unable to play games in Camp Randall this season–or if spectators aren’t allowed to attend the games–that tickets will be refunded in full, saying “We’re not in the business of losing people, so we wanted to be as flexible as we could.”
More and more will become clear as September approaches, but news coming out now is pointing towards a high likelihood of football in Madison this fall.
With sports currently on hold, I thought I’d go back into the archive of classic Badger games from the early 2000s up until 2016 that I…
Though I have always been an avid fan of college football, I didn’t start closely following the Badgers until I arrived on campus in 2017. With sports currently on hold, I thought I’d go back into the archive of classic Badger games from the early 2000s up until 2016 that I haven’t yet watched or do not remember watching. This BadgerWire rewatch series is my analysis and reactions while watching those contests.
As chosen by you on Twitter, I decided to start with the David Gilreath game: No. 1 Ohio State at No. 18 Wisconsin on October 16, 2010.
Starting an article series in the coming days where I go back and re-watch old Wisconsin football games which I don't know the outcome of, since there's nothing better to do, and write up my thoughts and reactions to the contests. Where should I start?
My first thought watching this game was how much I miss hearing Brent Musberger’s voice saying “you are looking live” when an ESPN broadcast went on-air. Tuning into a game, hearing his voice, the best big-game voice in college football history, and seeing him next to a young Kirk Herbstreit brought big time nostalgia right out of the gate.
That nostalgia didn’t last long as Gilreath took the opening kickoff to the house.
I’d seen the highlight before and knew the play happened, though I was caught off guard when the house started rocking before I could even see who was on the field for both teams.
It seemed on television like the loudest moment I’ve ever heard at Camp Randall Stadium.
Ohio State then got a shot with the ball and immediately made me question why they were the number one team in the nation. Terrelle Pryor thought he was who Justin Fields is for the current Buckeye team. The mix of athleticism and a rocket arm applies to both quarterbacks, though it was evident early on that Fields does what Pryor did when he was in college but does it all a lot better.
In total, it was clear from the onset that this No. 1-ranked Buckeye team is not close in talent level to the top-5 Buckeye team from this past season.
Wisconsin quickly got the ball back from Ohio State and the offensive line gave running back John Clay entire freeways to run through en route to another touchdown to make it 14-0 Badgers. I guess offensive line play has been a strength of this program for a little while. Up to that point, the Badgers led 14-0 and quarterback Scott Tolzien had not thrown a ball past the line of scrimmage, a perfect image of Wisconsin football.
The game moved on and as the Badgers added to their lead I realized why fans voted this game as the first to go back and re-watch. One overarching observation I had throughout the contest was that if you put last year’s Badger team against this Buckeye team, and against the TCU team that Wisconsin met in the Rose Bowl that year, they would have dominated the contest. It’s impressive how far this program has come in terms of NFL talent on both sides of the football and schematic advancements on offense while at the same time staying true to their brand of football.
Well, not surprisingly at all and nearly identical to this year’s Big Ten Championship, Ohio State rallied after halftime and cut the lead to 21-18.
It was after this point when it became clear how dominant J.J. Watt was and how good of a pro he was destined to be–and it was great hearing Herbstreit talk about Watt and his path to Wisconsin with no knowledge of the star he was going to become.
My final notes as the Badgers secured one of the biggest victories in their program history to date:
Buckeye Cameron Heyward was a man amongst boys
Pryor was a bad thrower of the football (⅛ on passes 5+ yards down the field in the first half)
I loved hearing Musburger and Herbstreit talk about Watt, James White and Paul Chryst and say how highly they were regarded without any idea how good they were going to become
Fields and the current OSU spread offense is so, so, so much more effective than the version Buckeye Head Coach Jim Tressel had running in Madison that day
This Badger team isn’t dissimilar from the one we watched last year, with Nick Toon being Quintez Cephus, Tolzien as Jack Coan and Clay and White combined as Jonathan Taylor
Finally, Chryst’s late-game play action call to seal the victory caught me, the entire stadium and even the announcers off guard
If you are like me and haven’t yet seen this game in its entirety, do so. It’s worth your time.
If you’re a fan of college football or early 20th century architecture, come along for a nostalgic visit to these 32 legendary, on-campus stadiums across America. From the Big House in Ann Arbor to an intimate venue like Peden Field in Athens, Ohio, …
If you’re a fan of college football or early 20th century architecture, come along for a nostalgic visit to these 32 legendary, on-campus stadiums across America. From the Big House in Ann Arbor to an intimate venue like Peden Field in Athens, Ohio, these stadiums hark back to the Golden Age of American sports.
Put these oldest college stadiums on your bucket list, load up the SUV and catch a college game in one of these iconic venues.
32. Sanford Stadium, University of Georgia (1929)
Sanford Stadium — Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Dedicated on October 12, 1929, when Georgia hosted Yale, Sanford Stadium is known for its numerous architecturally pleasing expansions that have been carefully planned to fit with its existing “look”. 92,746 watch games played “Between the Hedges”, the privet hedges surrounding the field. The sacred hedges were removed in 1996 to accommodate the Olympic soccer competition.
31. Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium, Duke University (1929)
Dedicated October 5, 1929, Wallace Wade seats 40,000. Originally named Duke Stadium, it was renamed in 1967 for football coach Wallace Wade. A just completed major renovation greatly modernized the stadium. The stadium was the site of the 1942 Rose Bowl, weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
30. Kinnick Stadium, University of Iowa (1929)
Formerly known as Iowa Stadium, Kinnick Stadium opened October 5, 1929. It currently holds 69,250 people. The stadium was renamed in 1972 for Nile Kinnick, the 1939 Heisman Trophy winner, who died in service to his country in World War II.
29. Peden Stadium, Ohio University (1929)
Situated on the banks of the scenic Hocking River in Athens, Peden Stadium has been the home of the Bobcats since October 2, 1929. Today, it has a capacity of 24,000 and is the oldest football venue in the Mid-American Conference.
28. Kenan Stadium, University of North Carolina (1927)
Kenan Stadium opened on November 12, 1927. Built at a cost of $303,000 with a seating capacity of 24,000, the stadium today holds 51,000. Set among the pine trees of south campus, it is one of the most scenic stadiums in the South.
27. Kyle Field, Texas A&M University (1927)
Kyle Field has been home to the Aggies in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a complete stadium since October 24, 1927. “Home of the 12th Man,” it seats 102,733, largest in the SEC. In 2014, Kyle Field’s hosted the largest attended SEC and state of Texas football game, when 110,631 witnessed Texas A&M’s loss to Ole Miss.
26. Michigan Stadium, University of Michigan (1927)
Known as “The Big House”, Michigan Stadium was dedicated in October 1, 1927. It is the largest stadium in the United States and third largest in the world. Its official capacity is 107,601, but it has hosted crowds in excess of 115,000.
25. Ryan Field, Northwestern University (1926)
Home of the Wildcats since October 2, 1926, Ryan Field holds 47,130 people. Prior to 1997, the stadium was named Dyche Stadium, for William Dyche, Class of 1882. It was renamed in honor of the family of Patrick G. Ryan, in recognition of the family’s contributions to Northwestern.
24. Faurot Field At Memorial Stadium, University of Missouri (1926)
71,168 capacity Memorial Stadium opened October 2, 1926 as a 25,000-seat, single level, horseshoe stadium. The original horseshoe is completed by a grass berm, famous for the giant block “M” made of painted white stones behind the endzone. In 1972, the playing surface was named Faurot Field in honor of longtime coach Don Faurot.
23. Nippert Stadium, University of Cincinnati (1924)
Home to the Bearcats in rudimentary form since 1901, and as a complete stadium since September 27, 1924, Nippert Stadium seats 40,000 fans.
22. Michie Stadium, US Military Academy (1924)
Michie Stadium, the home of the Army Black Knights, opened in 1924 and seats 38,000. Because of the view offered by its location overlooking the Hudson River and the medieval-style campus below, it is one of the nation’s most scenic sport venues.
21. Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, University of Texas (1924)
Memorial Stadium has been home to the Longhorns since November 27, 1924. The current capacity of 100,119 makes the stadium the second largest in the state of Texas, the largest in the Big 12, eighth largest stadium in the United States, and the 11th largest in the world.
