Alabama rolled over Michigan 41-14 in this past season’s edition of the Cowboys Classic. The Tide will get another shot at a Big Ten team in a couple of years.
Per a release, Alabama and Wisconsin will begin the 2015 season in Cowboys Stadium for the annual season-opening game. The Badgers were previously scheduled to play Washington State on that date. A new date for that game has not been announced as of yet.
“As a league we decided that we needed to upgrade our non-conference schedule,” UW athletic director Barry Alvarez said in a statement. “We understand that strength of schedule will be a factor in determining which teams earn the right to participate in the new four-team playoff system and we want to be in that mix. There’s no better way to do that than by playing the defending national champions. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to play a storied program like Alabama in a terrific venue like Cowboys Stadium. It will be a great experience for our program, our players and our fans.”
The two sides have met just one time before: a 15-0 Wisconsin win in Madison in 1928.
Playing neutral site games at the beginning of the year has become a tradition of sorts for the Tide under coach Nick Saban. Alabama played Clemson (2008) and Virginia Tech (2009) in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff in Atlanta, and will face the Hokies again this season in Atlanta. Alabama also has a 2014 Chick-fil-A game against West Virginia scheduled as well.