3 Big Takeaways From the Wisconsin Basketball Non-Conference Schedule

When your team is on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament, every game matters. In the age of conference membership expansion, programs have fewer games to control directly. However, high-major programs, like the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team, still have a lot of say over a third of their schedule.

After adding Washington, USC, UCLA, and Oregon, the Big Ten kept its 20-game league schedule. The Southeastern Conference is the only high-major conference in which teams play fewer than 20 games. According to Jon Rothstein , the SEC is discussing expanding its schedule from 18 to 20 games beginning in 2025-26.

With an NCAA-imposed limit of 31 regular season games, filling the remaining third of a college basketball schedule feels increasingly consequential. Wisconsin basketball is at the mercy of no program other than itself when scheduling its non-con games. The same cannot be said for roughly 300 Division I teams that might rely on a Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, or SEC program to come to them with the opportunity to play a buy-game and fund its program for a year.

So, if your favorite high-major program is on the bubble on Selection Sunday, do not let its coach who scheduled a mediocre non-con slate off the hook.

Related: Wisconsin Badgers Men's Basketball Reveals Non-Conference Schedule

Stay in the loop with all things Wisconsin Badgers by visiting AllBadgers.com for more updates. Ready to join the community? Follow Athlon Sports on YouTube , Facebook , and X to join in on the conversation. You can also follow Kedrick Stumbris at @KedrickStumbris on X.