<P> The Wisconsin Badgers football team is the intercollegiate football team of University of Wisconsin--Madison . The Badgers have competed in the Big Ten Conference since its formation in 1896 . They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth - oldest stadium in college football . Wisconsin has had two Heisman Trophy winners, Alan Ameche and Ron Dayne, and have had nine former players inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . As of October 28, 2017, the Badgers have an all - time record of 693--489--53 . </P> <P> The team's nickname originates in the early history of Wisconsin . In the 1820s and 1830s, prospectors came to the state looking for minerals, primarily lead . Without shelter in the winter, the miners had to "live like badgers" in tunnels burrowed into hillsides . </P> <P> The first Badger football team took the field in 1889, losing the only two games it played that season . In 1890, Wisconsin earned its first victory with a 106--0 drubbing of Whitewater Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin--Whitewater), still the most lopsided win in school history . However, the very next week the Badgers suffered what remains their most lopsided defeat, a humiliating 63--0 loss at the hands of the University of Minnesota . Since then, the Badgers and Gophers have met 122 times, making Wisconsin vs Minnesota the most - played rivalry in the Football Bowl Subdivision . </P> <P> Upon the formation of the Big Ten conference in 1896, Wisconsin became the first - ever conference champion with a 7--1--1 record . Over the next ten years, the Badgers won or shared the conference title three more times (1897, 1901, and 1906), and recorded their first undefeated season, going 9--0--0 (1901). With the exception of their second undefeated season in 1912, in which they won their fifth Big Ten title . </P>

When do the badgers play their first football game