Wisconsin basketball finalizes another notable nonconference opponent
Wisconsin basketball will begin the Rady Children's Invitational against the Providence Friars, according to CBSSports' Jon Rothstein.
The Badgers are part of a four-team field at the 2025 'Feast Week' event in San Diego, California, along with Providence, TCU and defending national champion Florida. The tournament will take place on Nov. 27 and 28, with the semifinal games on the 27th and the championship and third place game on the 28th.
Wisconsin will face a Providence team that went 12-20 (6-14 Big East) in 2024-25 and finished ranked No. 96 in KenPom. The program has struggled in its first two years under Kim English, following an impressive 12-year run under Ed Cooley. However, CBSSports believes it could be primed for a resurgent 2025-26 campaign after a transfer-heavy offseason.
The Badgers' matchups against Providence and either TCU or Florida, depending on the semifinal results, add to a loaded nonconference schedule. The team will begin with an exhibition against Oklahoma in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in late October. It will then travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, in mid-November for a high-profile rematch against BYU, a projected national title contender entering the season. That game precedes the Rady Children's Invitational, as well as the annual matchup against in-state rival Marquette (date is to-be-determined) and a mid-December contest against Villanova at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
Wisconsin's full nonconference schedule has yet to be finalized. But the team already has five high-profile contests, not including the exhibition against the Sooners.
Wisconsin's new-look starting lineup, led by returning starters John Blackwell and Nolan Winter, plus high-profile transfer additions Nick Boyd, Andrew Rohde and Austin Rapp, will be tested from the first game of the season. The team's nonconference schedule should accurately preview what to expect when Big Ten play picks up in January 2026.
If the team performs against the listed gauntlet nonconference slate like it did against then-No. 9 Arizona to start the 2024-25 season, a win that was led by a dominant 41 points from future All-American wing John Tonje, Badgers fans could brace for a special season.
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