With the move into the Big Ten, the Oregon football program will get the opportunity to meet up with some intriguing foes, including some opponents that the Oregon Ducks are, more or less, already pretty familiar with. While the Oregon Ducks haven’t really met up with the Wisconsin Badgers on a ton of occasions, there have been some pretty intense matchups between these two teams.
These two iconic programs come from different corners of the country, but thanks to the magic of bowl games (shoutout to the Rose Bowl) and now conference realignment (which is a bit of a mess), Oregon and Wisconsin have had a few opportunities to face each other.
But that should be happening more regularly moving forward (again, thanks to the sometimes delightful mess that is conference realignment).
Let’s go over the history between Oregon and Wisconsin, which includes a couple Rose Bowl showdowns.
Oregon Ducks history vs. Wisconsin Badgers series summary
- First meeting: September 24, 1977
- Last meeting: January 1, 2020
- Oregon's record: 3-3
- Total games: 6
- Oregon’s largest margin of victory: Oregon 45, Wisconsin 38 (2012 Rose Bowl)
Oregon football history vs. Wisconsin Badgers
The first encounter between the Ducks and Badgers happened in Eugene, Oregon all the way back on September 24, 1977. Unfortunately for Oregon football fans, the Ducks lost that one. And then they lost the next meeting in 1978 in Madison by a score of 22-19.
After a bit of a break, this series picked back up in the early 2000s. And, just as the previous two meetings went to Wisconsin, the Badgers managed to win the third meeting between these two teams.
Things changed in 2001 though as the Oregon Ducks finally got a win over Wisconsin to the tune of a 31-28 win in Eugene.
After that came the Rose Bowl wins for the Ducks. In two of the most memorable Oregon football games in recent history, the Ducks were able to get some thrilling wins. On January 2, 2012, the Ducks raced past the Badgers in a back-and-forth affair, winning 45-38. Then, in 2020, the Ducks emerged with a closely contested 28-27 win over Wisconsin.
Now, moving forward, these two programs will have more opportunities to meet up on a more regular basis.