The Badgers have one final non-conference game of the season before entering fully into Big Ten play. It's also their final game of 2025. January is coming quickly, and they have quite the blitz of games coming. There are nine games in January. As of now (as NET scores are constantly changing), Wisconsin will face two Quad-1, four Quad-2, two Quad-3, and one Quad-1 game.
Here's a brief look at their schedule in January:
Jan. 3 - Purdue, Quad-1
Jan. 6 - UCLA, Quad-2
Jan. 9 - Michigan (away), Quad-1
Jan. 12 - Minnesota (away), Quad-2
Jan. 16 - Rutgers, Quad-4
Jan. 22 - Penn State (away), Quad-3
Jan. 25 - USC, Quad-2
Jan. 27 - Minnesota, Quad-3
Jan. 30 - Ohio State, Quad-2
Now, if we want to isolate the most important three games, it's not as simple as just taking the biggest matchups and saying win those. For that would be to say some of the 2-4 quads don't matter, which isn't true; losing a quad-4 game would be brutal.
However, for the sake of the exercise, we need to assume that Wisconsin can do what it did in the non-conference and win the quad-3 and 4 matchups. This narrows the list of the most important games down to just quad-1 and 2.
1. Wisconsin vs. Purdue
If we can steal one of those quad-1 games, which one would be better? Either would be huge as both are top-10 in the NET with Purdue at 7 and Michigan at 1. Thus, if we are choosing the better one to grab, that would keep on the resume the best; it would have to be Michigan, not often do you get a chance to take on the NET 1 team.
However, for the sake of winning at home and in front of recruits, we need to say that beating Purdue is more important.
2. Wisconsin at Minnesota
Let's dig into the second set of games and see what is important. UCLA, Minnesota, USC, and Ohio State are the four quad-2 games. All of those will feel like must-wins when we get to them, but there's no more fun win on that list than beating Minnesota at the barn. That's the second most important game in January.
3. Wisconsin vs. UCLA
By tournament time, we need to think about the resume, out of the other three quad-2 games: Ohio State, USC, and UCLA. The Bruins are currently the highest in NET, but also look like the best of those three. That could change over the course of the season, but for now, beating UCLA looks like it could age the best.
You may not agree with this list, so feel free to message @BadgerOfHonorFS on X and say which three games you feel are the most important in January.