1976 Wisconsin Badgers football team

The 1976 Wisconsin Badgers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. In their seventh season under head coach John Jardine, the Badgers compiled a 5–6 record (3–5 against Big Ten opponents) and finished in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Big Ten.^[1]

Quarterback Mike Carroll was selected as the team's most valuable player and led the Big Ten Conference with 1,773 yards of total offense.^[2][1] Running back Larry Canada led the team with 993 rushing yards, the fifth-highest total in the Big Ten during the 1976 season. Ira Matthews was the team's leading scorer with 42 points on seven touchdowns.^[1]

David Charles was selected by the AP as a second-team wide receiver, and Dave Crossen by the UPI as a second-team linebacker, on the 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team.^[3][4]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	at No. 2 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Atbor, MI	L 27–40	101,347	[5]
September 18	North Dakota*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 45–9	62,213
September 25	Washington State*	Camp Randall stadium Madison, WI	W 35–26	64,658
October 2	at No. 9 Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	L 24–34	39,033–48,350
October 9	Purdue	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 16–18	79,111
October 16	No. 9 Ohio State	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 20–30	79,579
October 23	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 28–25	24,580
October 30	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 25–31	54,121
November 6	Iowa	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	W 38–21	79,521
November 13	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 14–15	27,518
November 20	Minnesota	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	W 26–17	60,304
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Only one Wisconsin player was selected in the 1977 NFL draft.^[6]