Wisconsin men’s basketball’s Big Ten schedule will begin its conference slate at home.
The Badgers’ conference opener will be Dec. 3 vs. Northwestern, as revealed Sept. 18 in a hour-long Big Ten Network schedule release show. The other early conference game will be Dec. 10 at Nebraska.
The last home game of the season (and presumably UW’s senior night) will be on Wednesday, March 4, against the Buzz Williams-led Maryland Terrapins.
Here are some other takeaways from the Badgers’ Big Ten slate:
Home sweet home in January
Six of Wisconsin’s nine Big Ten games in January will be in Madison. That includes home games against a pair of 2025 NCAA tournament teams before students return on campus — Jan. 3 against Purdue and Jan. 6 against UCLA.
Later in the month, the Badgers will play host to Rutgers on Jan. 17, USC on Jan. 25, Minnesota on Jan. 28 and Ohio State on Jan. 31.
The only Big Ten road games in January will be Jan. 10 at Michigan, Jan. 13 at Minnesota and Jan. 22 at Penn State.
Road stretch to end regular season
On the flip side, Greg Gard’s group will finish the regular season with six of its last nine games on the road.
That includes a trip out west at Oregon on Feb. 25 and Washington on Feb. 28. Earlier in the month, the Badgers will visit Indiana on Feb. 7, Illinois on Feb. 10 and Ohio State on Feb. 17.
The two February home games are on Feb. 13 against reigning Big Ten regular-season champion Michigan State and Feb. 22 against Iowa, which will be in its first season with ex-Drake coach Ben McCollum.
Six weekend home games for Badgers
Having UW’s senior night on a Wednesday is not necessarily ideal for the Badgers as seniors’ families travel across the country to Madison.
But Wisconsin’s fan base will benefit from mostly weekend games during the Big Ten schedule. Six of UW’s 10 home games will be either on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
The only weeknight home games will be against Northwestern on a Wednesday, UCLA on a Tuesday, Minnesota on a Wednesday and Maryland on a Wednesday.
Other notes
The Jan. 6 game against UCLA will be the Bruins’ first trip to Madison since 1962. USC, meanwhile, will make its first trip to Madison since 1946.
Tipoff times and TV assignments will be announced at a later date.
Wisconsin’s Big Ten slate follows a nonconference schedule that includes high-major opponents such as BYU, Providence, Marquette, Villanova and either TCU or Florida.
Wisconsin men’s basketball’s full 2025-26 schedule
Big Ten regular-season games are in bold:
This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 3 takeaways from Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball’s full 2025-26 Big Ten schedule
Reporting by John Steppe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
