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Come Fan with UsSaturday, June 20, 2026

UNLV Vs. Wisconsin: Game Time, TV Schedule, Odds And More

Bert Bielema’s merciless horde breaks out superweapon Russell Wilson against UNLV in the most interesting game of college football’s opening night. College football’s opening night!

It’s not every day that a game between a heartless national title contender and a wayfaring mid-major is a must-see, but that’s because not every day has college football happening. College football is happening on this very night.

The No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers take on the UNLV Rebels, but that's not really what we're here to observe. Imported insta-starter Russell Wilson takes over a Badgers offense whose per-game scoring was almost as high as Wisconsin's men's basketball program's. If Bert Bielema's boys can drop 83 points with Scott Tolzien, what can they do with perhaps the ACC's best player from last year?

The primary question: were Wilson’s spotty accuracy numbers (2009 and 2010 combined: 25 INT, 59 percent accuracy) due to having to carry an entire offense, or will those mistakes carry over now that he’s backed up by mountains of cheese-powered beef? (Gross!)

Will the addition of Wilson be enough to make up for the significant talent Wisconsin lost? We might not have any better answer to that question after this game, since -- oh right, UNLV is playing too, and will settle things down somewhat after last year’s wide-open attack -- but we’ll likely get some sense as to how he fits into Bielema’s plans for another Rose Bowl charge.

Game date, time: 8 pm ET, Thursday, Sept. 1

Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison

TV channel: ESPN

Spread: Wisconsin by 35

For further reading, news, discussion and more:

Wisconsin fans, head to Wisconsin blog Bucky’s 5th Quarter. UNLV fans, you’ve invited to Mountain West Connection.

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