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Wisconsin Basketball: Badgers to host Louisville in ACC/Big Ten Challenge

By Christian Borman

Mar 7, 2020; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Aleem Ford (2) celebrates a made three point basket in the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2020; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Aleem Ford (2) celebrates a made three point basket in the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Another opponent has been announced for the upcoming Wisconsin basketball season.

Just the other day, we learned that Wisconsin basketball would be going to Milwaukee to face Marquette this season. We now know the Badger’s second non-conference opponent for this upcoming season.

According to Jon Rothstein, the Badgers will host Louisville as a part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Per Rothstein, the games are slated to take place on December 8th and 9th. The Badgers will play Louisville on December 9th. I like that the Badgers will be playing a quality opponent in the challenge. Louisville is led by head coach Chris Mack, who you may remember, was the head coach of Xavier that stood uncomfortably close to Wisconsin guard Zak Showalter while he was shooting.

Wisconsin went on to beat Xavier on Bronson Koenig’s buzzer-beater to defeat the 2-seeded Musketeers.

Now the Badgers will get to see Chris Mack again when the Cardinals come to Madison at some point this fall to face the Badgers.

Mack was hired by Louisville in 2018. In two seasons, he led the Cards to a 44-21 record. Last year, Louisville finished the season with a 24-7 record and were ranked 14th in the AP Poll before the NCAA post-season was canceled. The Cards actually got to the top spot in the polls for a week, before losing three of their next five games and tumbling down to 13.

The Wisconsin basketball team will benefit tremendously from this draw. Having a team that will likely be highly ranked can only help their post-season resumé. Because there are fewer games this season, playing quality opponents may mean even more this season than seasons in the past. If the Badgers don’t end up playing Tennessee, playing a team like Louisville will definitely soften the blow.

So now we know two opponents for the 2020-2021 Wisconsin basketball season. Hopefully, the Badger’s schedule will be announced soon, because I think we could all use some good old fashioned Wisconsin basketball back in our lives.

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