The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball program released its tip times and TV schedule yesterday. There's not a ton of notable things, but there is one element to the TV schedule that has Wisconsin fans celebrating. There are only four games on the streaming-only subscription service Peacock. This is a significant drop from last season of 10 Peacock games.
There are many Wisconsin fans who don't have Peacock and are frustrated when the game is removed from one of the common channels. Most fans feel like paying for the Big Ten Network and even Big Ten+ is enough, adding Peacock is an extra frustration.
Badgers have 4 games on Peacock, compared to a whopping 10 last season. https://t.co/gSV5LRfgi3
— EricTheRed (@RealEricTheRed) October 7, 2025
The lack of too many Peacock games says something bigger about Wisconsin basketball that's important
All the Big Ten teams find themselves on Peacock a few times during the season, but the best teams are on there the least. Therefore, the lack of inclusion on the channel, except for a limited number of games, suggests that the Big Ten and the networks covering the conference consider the Badgers as one of the better teams or at least one of the higher-watched teams.
Money follows fanbases and winning. The Badgers have a combination of both, boasting one of the best fan bases in the country that will pack out the Kohl Center and have consistently produced a good product to watch on the court.
Greg Gard has the Badgers in a good spot, and the TV schedule actually helps indicate this. One more proof is that Wisconsin has a lot of primetime spots (even if it's on the Big Ten Network). Including only one West Coast tip time, when the Badgers play Oregon. This will be a "need to drink coffee at night" sort of game as it tips off at 10 pm CT. The Washington game on the same trip is a 3 pm CT tip on a Saturday.
There are many good things going for the Badgers on this schedule, but now they need to run through it.