Wisconsin Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Badgers

Schedule outlook

Wisconsin has some puffs in its non-conference schedule, like all major teams inevitably do. But the Badgers also have a lot of difficult games on tap, in addition to one of the toughest annual MTEs.

Wisconsin starts the season with UW-Whitewater on October 29, followed by St. Francis-Brooklyn and Green Bay. All of those games are at home and the Badgers should have no problem starting 3-0.

Things get immensely more difficult from there. The Badgers host Providence in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. Then, they play in the Maui (comma, Las Vegas) Invitational, where they’re guaranteed Texas A&M, either Butler or Houston, and then potentially Oregon, Notre Dame, or St. Mary’s. The next two games are at Georgia Tech and against new-look Marquette before two early conference games against Indiana and at Ohio State. Just exhausting.

The Big Ten is always a difficult conference and this season should be no different. The toughest stretch arguably begins February 8 with a road tilt at Michigan State, followed by a home game with Rutgers, a road game at Indiana and a home game against Michigan, the team’s only contest against the Wolverines in the regular season.

Wisconsin’s most opportune chance to score some conference wins comes directly before its hardest part of the schedule. The Badgers play at Nebraska on January 25, followed by a home game against a rebuilding Minnesota squad, a road game at Illinois, and a home game against Penn State. A 3-1 record in those games seems viable.