Mid-American Conference (MAC) champion Western Michigan was selected as an at-large as the highest ranked College Football Playoff (CFP) Group of Five team while Wisconsin was chosen as an at-large out of the Big Ten Conference.

Wisconsin was an 81⁄2 point favorite to start the game.

[1] This was the fifth meeting between the schools, with Wisconsin leading the all-time series 4–1.

The most recent meeting was on August 31, 2000, where the Badgers defeated the Broncos by a score of 19–7.

Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.