This is an opinion column.

This is one of those weeks circled on calendars for years.

It’s been five years since Alabama and Wisconsin inked a deal for this rare home-and-home into practically new territory. The Crimson Tide will be making its first journey to a Big Ten stadium since 2011.

Next year will mark Wisconsin’s first venture to Tuscaloosa in the program’s storied history.

This is exactly the vision when Alabama left the annual trips to Atlanta and Arlington, Texas behind. Well, that and increasing revenue for the return trips because playing too many directional state schools wasn’t moving the needle or bringing value to the jacked-up premium seat purchasers.

But for college football romantics, there’s something special about traveling to a new place, different region, and game-day culture. That was certainly the case for the Alabama-Penn State home-and-home in 2010 and 2011. There was something harmonious about having thousands of fans leave the comfort of home to experience a completely different brand of tailgating, dressing, and football.

Auburn felt that last year with its far-outside-the-box trip to Berkley to play Cal. It must’ve been like playing on the moon compared to Jordan-Hare Stadium — fittingly a place Tiger fans would’ve rather been after Saturday’s return visit from the Golden Bears.

The Auburn game in the Bay Area last September was a night game. So was Penn State’s trip to Tuscaloosa in 2010 and the next year’s visit to Happy Valley was a midafternoon kick.

Plenty of time to share traditions, food and drinks, possibly even a Peachy Paterno ice cream cone at the Penn State Berkey Creamery.

And that’s part of the issue that’s tamping down any real buzz surrounding Alabama’s first trip to Madison since 1928 (more on that in a minute).

Blame Fox.

Like the Crimson Tide’s trip to then-non-conference foe Texas two years ago, the game Saturday will be a pre-noon kickoff in Camp Randall Stadium. The network seized on the fact nobody really wants to play in the Jefferson Pilot time slot so they started moving marquee games into that void.

They call it Big Noon Saturday because the Eastern Time Zone is clearly the focus.

So it’ll be an abbreviated pregame festival as the crimson and cardinal reds meet and share their football religions.

Perhaps their more accustomed to these morning kicks in Big Tenn land so they’ll probably begin the legendary Wisconsin party scene predawn. And continue after the game until the next dawn because if Madison is known for anything, it’s their collective ability to enjoy a game day and make beer kegs disappear.

And that’ll be important because of the second reason this weekend’s somewhat of a bummer.

Five years ago when this deal was done, Wisconsin was poised for a season that ended in the Rose Bowl. Two years before that, a 13-1 season ended in the Orange Bowl. The program won at least 10 games in five of the six years leading up to the contract being signed.

The Badgers have won 7.6 games a year in the non-COVID seasons that followed. They’re in the Mayo/Guaranteed Rate/ReliaQuest bowl crowd now.

They’ll arrive Saturday with a 2-0 record with uninspiring wins over Western Michigan (24-14) and FCS-level South Dakota (27-13). For context, the same Western Michigan that led the Badgers 14-13 in the fourth quarter took a 56-0 beating at Ohio State last week.

What was supposed to be a non-conference sweetener to influence playoff committee decisions won’t likely have the same bump. In the four-team playoff structure last year, Alabama’s September match against Texas was certainly a factor in the Crimson Tide making the cut.

Not that Alabama’s looking to take another early-season loss but there’s not as much juice to squeeze if this is a payday-loan bowl team.

Not trying to be a downer here because I look forward to seeing all that Madison has to offer this weekend. The weather looks nice, very pre-fall Wisconsin, unlike the only other time Alabama made the trip to Camp Randall.

The 15-0 loss to Wisconsin a mere 96 years ago came as Denny Stadium (now known as Bryant-Denny) was still under construction. And they played on Nov. 3. Can you imagine an SEC team voluntarily traveling to Big Ten country in November?

Anyway, those who make the trip Saturday will get to see the wonder of concrete structural integrity before they Jump Around after the third quarter.

There will be enough beer to drown a few elephants.

Genuinely, it should be a good time. It just doesn’t have the same shine as five years ago

So, thank the TV execs and the Badgers for slipping into the Big Ten midpack if this week is more of a bummer than once expected.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.