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Wisconsin football: Badgers set to play Alabama in primetime on Sept. 5

A big test awaits Paul Chryst in his first game as Wisconsin's head coach.

By Jake Kocorowski
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Wisconsin Badgers will now play two of their games on their 2015 football schedule under the lights of primetime.

After it was announced earlier this month the Badgers would host Hawaii in a 7 p.m. kickoff at Camp Randall Stadium on Sept. 26, ABC confirmed Thursday the AdvoCare Classic pitting Wisconsin against Alabama would be on its Saturday Night Football broadcast on Sept. 5. The game emanating from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex. will be the first of the network's Saturday night games for the 2015 college football season -- and like the contest against Hawaii -- will have its kickoff at 7 p.m. CT.

Here's the official release from the Wisconsin athletic department:

MADISON, Wis. -- Already set to be played on one of the nation's grandest stages, this fall's highly-anticipated matchup between Alabama and Wisconsin now has a television timeslot to match.

The Badgers' season-opening showdown with the Crimson Tide in the AdvoCare Classic has been selected as ABC's first Saturday Night Football broadcast of the college football season, the network announced Thursday. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. (CT) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The game will be the first for Paul Chryst as head coach of the Badgers and will mark the second all-time meeting between Wisconsin and Alabama. UW scored a 15-0 win at Camp Randall Stadium in the teams' only prior meeting in 1928.

The matchup with Alabama marks the second of three straight season openers for Wisconsin against opponents from the Southeastern Conference. The Badgers faced LSU in last year's AdvoCare Texas Kickoff in Houston and will take on the Tigers again on Sept. 3, 2016, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

Alabama finished the season 12-2 overall and ranked No. 4 in the final AP Top 25 after a loss to eventual national champion Ohio State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The Badgers finished 11-3 and ranked No. 13 following their defeat of Auburn in the Outback Bowl.

Thursday's announcement gives the Badgers at two prime-time games in 2015, as UW's Sept. 26 matchup with Hawaii at Camp Randall will also kick off at 7 p.m. Wisconsin is 36-29 all-time in night games, including a 6-3 mark on neutral fields.

Game times have also been announced for UW's Oct. 17 Homecoming game vs. Purdue (11 a.m.), Oct. 24 matchup at Illinois (2:30 p.m.) and inaugural trip to College Park, Maryland, to take on the Terrapins on Nov. 7 (2:30 p.m.).

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