ESPN: Wisconsin basketball among top 25 teams for 2025-26 season
Wisconsin basketball landed at No. 20 in ESPN's latest list of college basketball's top 25 teams for the 2025-26 season on Tuesday.
The list, which focuses on one non-conference game to watch for each program included in the hierarchy, sandwiched the Badgers between the Gonzaga Bulldogs (No. 19) and the Kansas Jayhawks (No. 21). ESPN's Jeff Borzello circled UW's No. 21 bout against the BYU Cougars as the organization's most significant non-conference bout.
Here's what Borzello highlighted ahead of the matchup:
"Wisconsin's improvement, and change in style, on the offensive end was one of the more positive Big Ten storylines of last season. Without John Tonje, though, what will the Badgers look like at that end? There's no better test of firepower than going away from home to face what should be one of the most explosive offenses in the country."
While Tonje, starting center Steven Crowl and starting guard Max Klesmit will no longer suit up for the Badgers, UW addressed voids in its starting unit via the transfer portal this offseason. San Diego State guard Nick Boyd, Virginia guard Andrew Rhode and Portland forward Austin Rapp project to lace up alongside returners John Blackwell and Nolan Winter this fall to create one of the more potent offenses in the Big Ten.
In a rematch of UW's 2025 NCAA Tournament Round of 32 loss to the Cougars, Wisconsin's new trio will look to make a national introduction in Salt Lake City. BYU now rosters A.J. Dybantsa, a projected 2026 NBA draft lottery pick with superstar upside.
Wisconsin's newcomers combined for nearly 40 points per game a season ago. As fantastic as the Badgers' offense performed during the 2024-25 campaign, UW fans could see an even more versatile half-court attack this fall.
The Badgers will begin the journey in an exhibition vs. the Oklahoma Sooners on Oct. 24.
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