Marquette and Wisconsin basketball will still face off this year.
Wisconsin basketball still doesn’t have a schedule set, even though the NCAA basketball season is set to tip-off November 25. The pandemic has made scheduling very difficult for college basketball teams. The Badgers were set to compete in the Fort Meyers Tip-Off, but have since pulled out. In the same report, it was mentioned that Wisconsin basketball would attempt to host their own “multi-team event.”
Whether that happens remains to be seen.
Wisconsin’s schedule is still relatively unknown to this point. The number of games has been scaled back from the normal 31 games. Right now, it feels like the ACC/Big Ten Challenge will still be able to work, but the season-opening game scheduled with Tennessee is in doubt. Ken Lay, a Volswire writer, says head coach Rick Barnes is not expecting a game with Wisconsin at a neutral site.
There is some good news though. The game against in-state rival Marquette has been announced! Marquette has announced their schedule through Christmas. Wisconsin basketball will travel to Fiserv Forum to take on the Golden Eagles on December 4th.
IT'S HERE! #mubb announced updated 2020-21 schedule through Christmas. @Theojohn123 @jamalcain24 @TheTrueOne1_ RELEASE: https://t.co/DSF6TGWc0o pic.twitter.com/wFF2AOfqC8
— Marquette Basketball (@MarquetteMBB) October 28, 2020
The state of Wisconsin rivalry will continue, even in the middle of a pandemic. Last season, the Badgers defeated Marquette 77-61 at the Kohl Center behind Brad Davison’s 15 points. In that game, six Badgers scored in the double digits.
The Golden Eagles will be gunning to knock the Badgers off, especially because the Badgers will likely be a highly-ranked team. They will also have a transfer guard from Ohio State, D.J. Carton. That name may sound familiar to some Badger fans if you follow Wisconsin basketball recruiting. Carton was a player the Badgers were very high on. For a while in his recruitment, it sounded like Wisconsin was the team to beat.
Then out of nowhere he committed to Ohio State. After a short stint at Ohio State, he decided to transfer and he committed to Marquette. So not only did this highly-touted recruit not pick Wisconsin but has now transferred to their biggest non-conference rival.
Wisconsin-Marquette games are always fun. Marquette no longer has their star guard Markus Howard, so they will be looking for some new players to step up. The Badgers, on the other hand, will be returning almost all of their scoring and players from a season ago.
It’s going to be a strange basketball season, but at least we can still enjoy this rivalry.