Barry Alvarez confident Wisconsin Badgers will 'compete well' with Alabama in Week 3

Former Wisconsin Badgers coach and athletic director Barry Alvarez isn't ready to predict a Week 3 upset over the Alabama Crimson Tide, but he expects UW to put up a strong fight.

Oct 2, 2021; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Former Wisconsin Badgers athletic director and football head coach Barry Alvarez looks on during the second quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Camp Randall Stadium. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Former Wisconsin Badgers coach and athletic director Barry Alvarez isn't ready to predict a Week 3 upset over the Alabama Crimson Tide, but he expects UW to put up a strong fight.

After Alabama lost in Week 1 to Florida State, Alvarez declared on his weekly radio show for ESPN Madison that Wisconsin should be the favorites over the Crimson Tide for their matchup.

Since then, the Badgers had a slow start against Middle Tennessee State, and Alabama thrashed UL-Monroe.

That changed the math a little bit, with Wisconsin as a double-digit underdog, but Alvarez still has faith in his team.

"That's what the bookies see. That's not what I happen to see." Alvarez said. "I have confidence that our guys will go compete with them and compete well,"

"𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐄, 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐄."

Barry Alvarez responds to the Badgers being -20.5 point underdogs to Alabama, after his bold declaration last week that Wisconsin would be favored over the Tide 😬 pic.twitter.com/MYQfQFcwI8

— ESPN Madison (@ESPNMadison) September 9, 2025

Alvarez has plenty of experience coaching teams in huge matchups like this.

His teams weren't quite underdogs of this magnitude, but he knows the approach Luke Fickell and his staff need to take this week.

They can't let the reputation of Alabama shape how good the players think they are.

"It's a good team. You have to respect them," Alvarez said. "But don't make this bigger than what it is. Don't make them better than who they are."

"𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒."

Barry Alvarez lays out what his message to the Badgers would be ahead of their game against Alabama, and he doesn't want Wisconsin to get caught up in the Tide's history 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/xHJuSnvfxI

— ESPN Madison (@ESPNMadison) September 9, 2025

Alabama has been more vulnerable under head coach Kalen DeBoer than they were under Nick Saban.

The Crimson Tide have lost multiple games as double-digit favorites in recent years. The Badgers have to convince themselves they'll be the next team to do it.

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