The Wisconsin Badgers basketball schedule is slowly leaking out, and we are finding out more and more about who the Badgers will be playing next year. We know things like one of the non-conference opponents will be Auburn in Nashville. There's also Marquette and Villanova on the schedule. Recently, it was leaked that Wisconsin will play its first official game of the year against the Denver Pioneers. Now, we may know who Wisconsin will play in the exhibition game.
The exhibition game doesn't count, but it's a great time to check out a new roster of players and how they perform. This season, Wisconsin will be taking on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in the exhibition, according to Doug Gottlieb.
Breaking news from @GottliebShow on @wisportsradio ... Badger Basketball @BadgerMBB will play an exhibition versus UWGB @gbphoenixmbb at the Resch Center in Green Bay on Thursday, October 15th.
— EricTheRed (@RealEricTheRed) June 17, 2026
Wisconsin to face off against Green Bay in a preseason exhibition game according to Doug Gottlieb
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Even though the two schools are connected, they haven't faced off against each other since 2022. Wisconsin has only ever lost once to Green Bay back in 2009 in overtime. Yet, they have played each other 28 games dating all the way back to 1980.
A unique wrinkle about this exhibition game is that it will be hosted by Green Bay, and it's the first time the Badgers have played in Green Bay since 2013. The Badgers actually barely won that game 69-66, and it took a big run at the end to make it happen. Green Bay has been known for having decent basketball teams, though in the last few years, it's been less than stellar. Gottlieb was brought in to get it all going again, but there's debate on whether he actually made things worse.
Either way, Green Bay does a great job of bringing in talented players. Two seasons ago, Green Bay had Anthony Roy on the team, a talented guard who was leading the country in scoring through 11 games before he got hurt. He has since landed at Oklahoma State, where he was still electric and had nearly 17 points a game last season for the Cowboys.
This last season, Gottlieb's crew had four players who averaged double digits a game: CJ O'Hara, Marcus Hall, Justin Allen, and Preston Ruedinger. That squad ended the season just above .500 with an 18-15 record and third in the Horizon conference.
Wisconsin has a completely rebuilt team with only one starter returning, Nolan Winter. Austin Rapp was a big presence off the bench last season, and he started the year as a starter but eventually became a sixth man alongside Braeden Carrington. Rapp is returning and Winter, but basically all the other potentially important pieces are new or were depth pieces/freshmen last season.
This exhibition game will hold a lot of importance for Greg Gard's squad, and one that Wisconsin fans will want to see. Many will even travel into the game since it's in Green Bay to check out this newly rebuilt squad. There's a lot to learn from this exhibition and the expectations set for the season.
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