Word began to circulate earlier today that the Wisconsin Badgers and the BYU Cougars would be scheduling a game in November in Salt Lake City. The initial reaction from Wisconsin fans was one of frustration as the "neutral" site of the game was not very neutral at all.
Salt Lake City is very much in BYU territory, and many Wisconsin fans remember the "neutral site" round of 32 game against BYU in the NCAA Tournament, which had a hostile crowd towards Wisconsin. However, there's much more to the story, and some of it is very good news for the Wisconsin Badgers and fans.
Wisconsin and BYU will be splitting neutral sites in Salt Lake City and Milwuakee back to back years
Jon Rothstein's social media post was the only information originally released, and the immediate reaction was outrage. Wisconsin fans still feel like the Badgers got ripped off by having to play an NCAA Tournament game in Denver against BYU, and some still quote that as the reason the Badgers lost.
However, there was a second reporter that had another wrinkle to the story. That it's actually going to be a two-game series. One "neutral" site game in Salt Lake City in 2025 and another "neutral" site game in Milwaukee in 2026. If that's the case, that's actually a very good thing for both programs.
Sure, the ideal would be that the first of the two games would be in Milwaukee, as Wisconsin fans still have a bitter taste in their mouths about being in Denver against BYU just a few months ago. However, the two-game series is going to be good for both programs, especially with how good both programs project to be. Win or lose in both, the chances of both being Quad-1 games will be very high.
There may be some frustrations about starting in Salt Lake City, but playing BYU in back-to-back years will be good for the Badgers overall.