The path to March is now set for Wisconsin men's basketball.
With the release of UW's schedule, two themes become quite clear: the Badgers have few reservations about playing challenging opponents out of conference but the disheartening flaw of an unbalanced Big Ten schedule is still present.
The Badgers will face at least two top-20 teams before Christmas, Texas and Marquette. The Golden Eagles return their top three players in Jerel McNeal, Wes Matthews and Dominic James and will host Wisconsin in the first year A.C. (After Crean). D.J. Augustine has left Austin, but most of the Longhorn's elite eight team from last year returns.
The caliber of opponent in the Big Ten-ACC challenge, however, has fallen precipitously from last year. Where there was a trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium to play Duke last season, now sits a visit to play Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. The Hokies may have been one of the best teams on in the NCAA tournament last season, but the game lacks the pizzazz of welcoming the Blue Devils to the Kohl Center.
Beyond those, the non-conference slate is filled by a motley group of teams one would expect to find in the beginning of any major team's schedule. Teams like Long Beach State, UW-Whitewater and Idaho State, which should put up some resistance but really never threaten the Badgers at home. UW-Milwaukee under former Badger assistant Rob Jeter could become a hazard though they failed to finish above .500 a year ago.
The biggest key to the non-conference schedule will be Wisconsin's trip to paradise... or more precisely the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam Tournament.
There they could draw the UConn Huskies, a team that returns everyone from last season's 24-win team and is projected as a top-five team.
There is little to complain about with this non-conference schedule. The slate boasts up to three opponents which will likely be in the top-25 and a spattering of other decent teams. That is praiseworthy considering how some teams seem to draw exclusively from the bottom of D-I basketball for their whole schedule.
The Big Ten schedule however highlights an unfortunate fact. Each team will only play an 18-game schedule, meaning year in, year out they will play two opponents once.
Wisconsin is the defending conference champion, but they will be challenged by a rising Purdue team.
Last season, the Badgers were 6-0 in conference before they ventured to West Lafayette and took their first loss.
Purdue will be considered one of the favorites in the conference as it graduated no one from last season's second-place team and returns reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Robbie Hummel.
Wisconsin however will not face Michigan State at home or go to Ohio State. That duo represents two contenders for the Big Ten crown.
Is this really acceptable?
Bo Ryan has already come out in favor of going to a complete round-robin 20-game schedule and with over 30 games played in most season, the two game increase is not that big of a deal.
Now we have a situation where the difference in a Big Ten race could come down to a schedule that features one less against Northwestern compared to one less against Purdue. In a competitive Big Ten this could be the difference.
Wisconsin basketball deserves respect for its willingness to play games against top competition. Unfortunately, the release of the schedule serves as a reminder of the absurdity of playing an incomplete Big Ten's arrangement.
If you are already excited for the Badgers' rematches with Texas and Marquette e-mail Ben at breiner@wisc.edu.
