The Wisconsin Badgers sat at No. 24 in the AP Poll early last November, just days before the start of the 2025 season. Now, at the end of their regular season campaign, they rank just one spot ahead at No. 23 in the nation, finishing 22-9 and 14-6 in conference play. But over the course of the past four months, few teams have experienced the rollercoaster of a regular season that Wisconsin has. As March is officially in full swing, here are some moments to remember, or forget, as the Badgers work through the Big Ten Tournament and March Madness.
A dominant start
Each season, most Power Five teams begin with matchups against far inferior teams.
Across four games against teams such as Campbell, Northern Illinois, Ball State and SIU Edwardsville, the Badgers surpassed 90 points in three of them, averaging 93.3 while holding their opponents to just 65 points. Despite going just 9-for-31 from 3 against Northern Illinois, the Badgers shot the lights out in the other three games, draining 11, 14 and 15 deep balls on solid efficiency (38%).
Head coach Greg Gard established this year’s philosophy during this opening stretch: 3-point shooting. Everything else would fall in line. The Badgers were going to shoot from outside at a very high volume, and for the most part, it worked. When making 11 or more 3s, the Badgers were 17-2 on the year.
Thanksgiving scaries
Late November provided a unique opportunity for the Badgers: three straight games at a neutral location. Unfortunately for them, their first games away from the Kohl Center did not go as planned.
Badger-killer Richie Saunders scored 26 in Wisconsin’s rematch against BYU in Salt Lake City. With each of his five 3s, memories of BYU’s 91-89 victory in round two of March Madness last season rang through Badger fans’ heads, a game where Saunders scored 25 points. Offensively, Wisconsin made its second-fewest (tied) 3-pointers all year (seven) and shot just 38% from the field, the fifth-worst mark all year.
After five days' rest, the Badgers exploded for a season-high 104 points in the first game of the Rady Children’s Invitational against Providence. Nick Boyd dominated with 36 points, foreshadowing a marvelous season to come. Still, the win was immediately overshadowed by yet another offensive struggle against TCU just one day later. John Blackwell led the way with 30 points, but the rest of the team scored just 33 in total as the Horned Frogs’ defense overwhelmed the Badgers. 63 points were the second-fewest for Wisconsin this season. Concerns about tougher competition loomed.
The win of the year
No coach, analyst or player outside of the Badger program gave Wisconsin a chance in arguably their biggest game of the year. At 14-0, the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines looked unbeatable at the turn of the new year. Wisconsin, which put up little resistance against No. 5 Purdue a week prior, was not primed to hand Michigan its first defeat. But behind an explosive offensive performance, Wisconsin defeated the Wolverines 91-88, jumpstarting their season.
Trailing by as much as 14 in the first half, Blackwell engineered a response with a 7-0 run of his own. He scored 16 of his 26 points in the first and had the Badgers down just one at halftime. From there, Wisconsin drained 10 of their 17 second-half 3s, four coming from unlikely hero Aleksas Bieliauskas.
The win gave Wisconsin its highest-ranked regular-season opponent since a win over No. 2 Michigan in 2019 and a ton of momentum, winning the three following games. More importantly, the college basketball world saw that the Badgers could take down Goliath.
Border Battle II
Just over two weeks removed from the John Blackwell buzzer-beater win in Minnesota, the Golden Gophers trudged into Madison seeking revenge. Their vengeance looked successful, leading by 18 at the end of the half and holding Wisconsin to a season-low 17 points at the break.
The Kohl Center went silent. The Badgers made just five field goals (18%) and one 2-pointer. No rivalry game is supposed to be easy, but how could a team that beat Michigan fail to score 20 first-half points against a middle-of-the-road Big Ten team?
Thankfully, all concerns were voided by a second-half Badger barrage. Boyd pushed the pace, outrunning Minnesota the entire second half and finishing with 21 points. Blackwell aided the comeback as well, getting to the line 14 times and scoring 23. His deep 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining capped off an incredible comeback as the Badgers outscored Minnesota 50-28 in the second half.
Giant slayers
A brutal overtime loss against Indiana moved the Badgers to 16-7 with a two-game gauntlet ahead of them. First, Wisconsin traveled to Champaign to take on then-No. 8 Illinois. Once again, it was Blackwell (24 points) and Boyd (25 points) who pioneered another impressive comeback against a top-10 team.
Trailing by 12 with 8:10 to go, another painful loss was on the horizon. Yet, relentlessly, Blackwell, Boyd and Austin Rapp, the Australian big man benched for early-season struggles, scored all of Wisconsin’s 22 final regulation points. In overtime, despite only scoring four points, Nolan Winter hustled for an offensive rebound and called a clutch timeout before heading out of bounds. The extra possession was the difference in another electric 92-90 Quad 1 win.
Three days later, No. 10 Michigan State stood no chance in Madison. From start to finish, the Badgers outplayed the Spartans in a 92-71 statement victory. Blackwell and Boyd combined for 53 points, including nine 3s, establishing Wisconsin as a true contender for a deep run in March.
A perfect ending
Despite obliterating Maryland by 33 points on senior night, Wisconsin would be without Winter for its final game of the season against Purdue after he suffered a scary lower leg injury. But even without their leading rebounder, the Badgers found a way to compete.
In one of the most entertaining games of the year, the Boilermakers and Badgers went shot-for-shot in front of a jam-packed Mackey Arena. A season-high 18 3-pointers kept Wisconsin afloat all afternoon, but a late Purdue run put the game in jeopardy.
However, in crunch time, Boyd, like he has done all year, delivered. He took over the final five minutes, draining near-impossible shots while being swarmed in the paint. He scored 14 of the Badgers’ final 19 points, cementing an All-Big Ten second team selection. Wisconsin’s fourth top-15 win of the season spoiled Purdue’s senior night and yet again highlighted this team's persistence.
While full of ups and downs, the season was one of the most memorable in recent Badger history. Wisconsin lost games they were supposed to win and won the ones they were supposed to lose.
Now seeded fifth in the Big Ten, the Badgers look to make deep runs in both the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA tournament.
