The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team will take part in the Gavitt Games for the second straight year.
For the second straight year, the Wisconsin Badgers will take part in the Gavitt Games, a cross-conference clash between the Big Ten and Big East that is advertised as one of the more prominent early season happenings.
The Badgers are 0-1 in the event, having not been selected in year one, and then losing on the road to highly ranked Creighton Bluejays in the second game of the year last season. Creighton finished the non-conference schedule undefeated before losing players to injury and entering into a spiral the rest of the season.
This year, the Badgers will get their game at home, welcoming in the Xavier Musketeers, a team that made it to the Elite Eight last year as a No. 11 seed.
Wisconsin will host Xavier in the 2017 Gavitt Games, per a source.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 20, 2017
The Musketeers and Badgers are not all that unfamiliar with each other. Just two seasons ago, the teams met in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the No. 2 vs. 7 matchup. Wisconsin, the underdog, stunned Xavier thanks in part to a Bronson Koenig three-pointer in the corner as time expired, sending them into the Sweet 16 and the Musketeers shocked and going home.
This will be the Musketeers’ second appearance in the Gavitt Games after taking last year off. Xavier knocked off Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2015 in the series finale to help tie up the series and avoid an overall conference loss to the Big Ten.
Just two years out, a lot of the players and personnel have changed for the two teams, but with both teams coming off very successful years, we could be in for another entertaining battle. Xavier’s top scorer Trevon Bluiett has declared for the NBA Draft, but has not signed an agent- meaning he has the option to return to school.
No time and TV broadcast has been announced yet, but the game will take place November 16 at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Both the Big Ten and Big East have not yet won the series, with both years ending in a 4-4 tie.