The Wisconsin Badgers are 1-1 at Lambeau, but Badgers fans are 2-0. And Notre Dame and LSU fans were winners as well. That's what a major college football game at the NFL's most storied stadium offers, a day full of fun, tailgating and football. Granted, Wisconsin fans would have been happier had the Badgers upset Notre Dame as they did LSU 10 years ago, instead of taking a 41-13 drubbing on Sept. 6 in the opening game for both teams. But up until halftime, when the Badgers trailed 13-10 against the favored Fighting Irish, it was a good day. It was the culmination of a weekend of activities ahead of the game, including Badger Bash North on Saturday in downtown Green Bay and a Notre Dame rally in the Titletown district. The atmosphere around the stadium was more college-like than a regular Packers game, as could be expected. There were the two teams' very large bands, for example, who could not be missed anywhere they marched. The official Notre Dame Leprechaun and Bucky Badger were there, as were several unofficial leprechauns and badgers.
There seemed to be more tailgating, not only in the Lambeau parking lots, but also on the streets surrounding the stadium. A lot more pedestrians were on side streets hours before kickoff, looking at times more like Madison than Green Bay. And a mass was held in the parking lot at the corner of South Ridge Road and Lombardi Avenue, courtesy of the Notre Dame contingent. Notre Dame fans Joe Donovan of the Detroit area and Dave McCann of Los Angeles graduated together from Notre Dame in 1979. It was their first time at Lambeau Field, a bucket list trip. They spent the earlier part of the day at Titletown, the entertainment/commercial/residential district west of Lambeau Field. "We loved Titletown," said Donovan, a Lions fan. "Detroit has nothing like that." The term "bucket list" came up a lot talking to Notre Dame fans, many of whom were from Illinois, specifically the Chicago area, but also Indiana, Michigan, California, Washington State, Tennessee and Ohio. Badgers fans from Madison were plentiful, but they also had travelers making that bucket list trip from the likes of Indiana, Oklahoma, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. Many were from other Wisconsin towns, such as Oconto, Green Bay and Owen-Withee, west of Wausau.
All of which made the Packers and Green Bay businesses happy, because it was essentially importing money. Packers Superfans were in attendance, having appropriately traded green and gold for red and white. Scott Schwartz, the "Mayor of Lot 1," held court in his usual place near the Oneida Nation gate. Wayne Sargent, the Ultimate Packer Fan, was perhaps the Ultimate Badger Fan on Sunday, but the Packers International Fan of the Year two years ago, Matthias Kraus of Germany, had no dog in the fight, so stuck with his Packers gear. Inside Lambeau, fans in the concourses made way for the Notre Dame marching band, which was going from somewhere to somewhere else in a long line, shouting "Let's go Irish."
Cheeseheads were seen here and there, even on a day when the Packers weren't playing. One downside to having so many people making a mark on their bucket list all at once was that things didn't go as smoothly as during a Packers game, when most people know the drill. For example, it took cars an hour and a half to go 0.7 mile from Cormier Road to Valley View Drive for much of the pregame period, far worse than for any Packers games. Parking attendants speculated it was because of the number of first-time visitors to Lambeau, some of whom didn't always know where they were going.
Inside the stadium, ushers were kept busy directing fans to the proper sections, which sometimes is even a challenge for Packers fans. But in the end, 75,929 fans made their way into Lambeau Field for the Shamrock Series neutral-site game hosted by the Fighting Irish. Next on Lambeau's schedule is the first Packers home game, on Sept. 24 against the Atlanta Falcons, with eight more Packers games to follow. More in the vein of Sunday's meeting will be the Travel Wisconsin Frozen Tundra Faceoff on Feb. 20, 2027, featuring a doubleheader that sees the national champion Badgers women's team and top 10-ranked Badgers men's team play under the lights of Lambeau Field. Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X at @RichRymanPG and on Instagram at @rrymanPG. This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: A lot of bucket lists were checked off for Notre Dame-Wisconsin game