Wisconsin basketball officially reveals 2025-26 non-conference schedule
Following several reports throughout the offseason, the Badgers confirmed their slate of matchups for their non-Big Ten bouts, including the dates for each contest. In total, Wisconsin will face 13 teams from Oct. 24 to Dec. 30, with two of those contests being exhibitions before the official start of the regular season.
While the program has yet to receive specific dates for its conference tilts, UW will host Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Northwestern, Rutgers, UCLA and USC, travel to Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State and Washington, then face Minnesota, Ohio State and Purdue both home and away.
The Badgers will begin their non-conference journey with exhibitions against the Oklahoma Sooners at Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum on Oct. 24 before hosting UW-Plateville in another exhibition on Oct. 29.
The Campbell Fighting Camels will make the trek to Madison for Wisconsin's first regular season game on Nov. 3, followed by a trio of bouts against Northern Illinois (Nov. 7), Ball State (Nov. 11) and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (Nov. 17).
Gard's group will then transition to its most difficult stretch of the non-conference season, beginning with a test against future lottery pick A.J. Dybantsa and the BYU Cougars. The contest, set to take place in Salt Lake City on Nov. 21, will be a rematch of the Badgers' loss to the Cougars in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
That high-profile meeting comes just six days before UW ventures to San Diego, California, for the Rady Children's Invitational, where it will face Providence and the winner of TCU/Florida on Nov. 27 and Nov. 28, respectively.
UW will then wrap its pre-Big Ten portion of the season with its I-94 battle against Marquette on Dec. 6, a showdown vs. Villanova in the Milwaukee Hoops Showdown at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 19, a Dec. 22 game against Central Michigan and an in-state tune-up vs. UW-Milwaukee on Dec. 30.
Fresh off a 27-10 output a season ago, Wisconsin will look to returning starters John Blackwell and Nolan Winter, plus transfers Nick Boyd, Andrew Rohde and Austin Rapp, to make the most significant impacts on both ends of the floor this season. In a crowded 18-team Big Ten, a strong performance against non-conference foes will prove beneficial as the postseason rolls around.
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