Wisconsin will host Georgia Southern in 2023, the schools announced today. It will be the first meeting between the two programs barring any potential bowl game matchups that could occur before the start of the 2023 season.
The addition of Georgia Southern to the 2023 schedule completes the non-conference portion of the schedule for the Badgers that season. In addition to Georgia Southern, Wisconsin will also play Buffalo of the MAC (Sept. 2, 2023) and on the road at Washington State of the Pac-12 (Sept. 9, 2023). The game against Washington State satisfies Wisconsin’s non-conference scheduling commitment to the Big Ten to play a power conference opponent each season. The 2023 game at Washington State is the second part of a home-and-home series between the Badgers and Cougars, with Washington State traveling to Madison in 2022.
Wisconsin’s power conference opponent commitment to the Big Ten is also satisfied in 2020 and 2021 with Notre Dame (in Lambeau Field and Soldier Field, respectively), 2024-2025 with Virginia Tech, 2026-2027 with Pittsburgh, and 2029-2030 with UCLA. The Badgers have an exemption for 2018 and 2019 with no power conference opponents on the schedule in non-conference play.
For Georgia Southern, the addition of Wisconsin is the fourth Big Ten opponent the program has faced. Georgia Southern played Indiana last season and will play Minnesota in 2019 and Nebraska in 2022. The Eagles will also play power conference opponents each season leading up to the Wisconsin matchup. Georgia Southern faces Clemson this fall, LSU and Minnesota in 2019, Ole Miss in 2020, Arkansas in 2021, and Nebraska in 2022. All of those games will be played on the road.