Breaking Down Wisconsin Men's Basketball Conference Schedule

It's been one month since the Badgers' non-conference schedule was released. The lengthy wait ended Thursday, as the Big 10 revealed its full conference schedule.

You can check out the Badgers 2024-25 schedule in its entirety here.

With the conference expanding to 18, Wisconsin will only see three opponents on multiple occasions. The Badgers will have a home-and-away series with Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota in 2024-25 which, all things considered, is a stroke of good fortune.

Illinois figures to be the toughest of the trio despite losing Terrence Shannon Jr. (NBA), Marcus Domask (Graduated) and Coleman Hawkins (Transfer Portal). The Illini retooled their roster with talented transfers like Kylan Boswell, Carey Booth and Tre White while adding some international talent with guard Kasparas Jakucionis of Lithuania and seven-footer Tomislav Ivisic of Croatia. The Fighting Illini should be toward the top of the Big 10 this season but a mixture of youth and roster turnover could keep them from reaching their full potential in 2024-25.

Iowa also lost some key pieces in Ben Krikke, Patrick McCaffery and Tony Perkins. Like Illinois, the Hawkeyes turned to the transfer portal for assistance. Drew Thelwell of Morehead State and Seydou Traore of Manhattan College highlight the class. Despite the new adds, Iowa figures to be middle of the road in the Big 10 once again.

Minnesota lost two key players in Elijah Hawkins and Cam Christie, along with role players Pharell Payne, Braeden Carrington and Josh Ola-Joseph. However, they brought in five from the transfer portal to fill those holes. With all the moving parts, it's unclear how well the Golden Golphers will fare in 2024-25. However, they aren't Purdue, Indiana or Michigan, which is good for Wisconsin.

Travel was a prominent concern with the Big 10 expanding to the West Coast. The Badgers play only two games out West, merely three days apart. Wisconsin plays at USC on Jan.18 and UCLA on Jan. 21, a trip short enough to require merely one flight there and one flight back.

While the Badgers won't have to travel out West multiple times, they have their fair share of difficult road games.

Wisconsin visits three of the hardest places to play in the conference in Assembly Hall (Indiana), Mackey Arena (Purdue) and the Breslin Center (Michigan State). In addition, Badger fans won't get to watch Rutgers' freshman phenoms Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, who were mocked to be selected 2nd and 3rd overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by Bleacher Report.

All in all, it's a very favorable conference schedule for Greg Gard's Badgers, which paired with a light non-conference slate, could mean plenty of victories for Wisconsin.