The ACC’s push for a level playing field has supposedly brought about a surprise change for two teams. Pittsburgh and Wisconsin will no longer be meeting for the scheduled 2026 meetup, the schools announced on December 5.

“The University of Pittsburgh and University of Wisconsin have mutually agreed to cancel their Sept. 19, 2026 meeting in Madison,” the Panthers said in a press release. “Pitt and Wisconsin are still scheduled to meet in the 2027 Aer Lingus College Football Classic. That game remains unchanged and set for Aug. 28, 2027 at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.”

Wisconsin has now replaced the Pittsburgh game with Eastern Michigan. The Badgers now have a complete non-conference lineup, beginning with Notre Dame on September 5, Western Illinois on September 12, followed by EMU. The Big 10 schedule is yet to be announced, but Wisconsin will play Michigan State, Iowa, UCLA, Rutgers, Penn State, Minnesota, Purdue, USC and Maryland.

Notably, the Ireland clash between the Badgers-Panthers will just be the fourth time the duo will play each other, with Pitt holding a 3-0 record. In their 1938 matchup, the team pulled off a shutout 21-0 victory, followed by a 26-6 win the next year, and a 13-11 win in 1967.

Neither program has specified a reason behind the cancellation, but insiders suggest it might be because of the major scheduling change in the ACC.

“My assumption here is that Pitt will be playing a 9-game ACC schedule in 2026 and this game was dropped to make room for that,” 247Sports’ Chris Peak shared on X.

With ACC teams starting with a “9+1” model (9 conference + 1 P4 opponent) schedule, it only made sense that Pittsburgh would follow suit.

However, the Panthers’ non-conference schedule is a little complicated at the moment. Pitt and Ole Miss agreed to play a home-and-home series starting 2026, which was to be held on September 5. That spot was originally booked for a Miami (Ohio) game. While it was expected that the game would be moved to August 29, no such changes have been made as of yet.