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As the fifth-oldest college football stadium in the United States, Camp Randall has amassed a rich history. It was used as a Union army training camp and hosted the Wisconsin State Fair before the UW Board of Regents purchased the land in 1893. The track-and-field team used Camp Randall to train before it also became the grounds for football and baseball in 1895. Several sets of stands and stadiums have been built since then, so there are a couple of answers regarding the Badgers’ first opponent, depending on what you mean by “Camp Randall.” If we’re talking about Camp Randall field, lined with precarious wooden stands, then the first Camp Randall game took place on September 30, 1895, against Iowa State (then Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm). The Badgers took the W, beating Iowa State 28–6. After a disastrous bleacher collapse in 1915, the UW began construction on the initial portion of what is considered today’s Camp Randall Stadium. The first game that took place in this safer, concrete stadium (with a capacity of 11,900) was against our number one rival, the Minnesota Gophers. We beat them 10–7 on November 3, 1917. Interested in more Badger football history? UWBadgers.com hosts an archive of stats going back to the 1889 season.

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