Methods and apparatus for providing soft and blind combining for PUSCH acknowledgement (ACK) processing. In an exemplary embodiment, a method includes soft-combining acknowledgement (ACK) bits received from a UE that are contained in a received sub-frame of symbols. The ACK bits are soft-combined using a plurality of scrambling sequences to generate a plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams. The method also includes receiving a parameter that identifies a selected scrambling sequence to be used. The method also includes decoding a selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream to generate a decoded ACK value, wherein the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream is selected from the plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams based on the parameter.