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The Big Ten finally released their 2016-17 conference basketball schedule, and with that the Wisconsin Badgers also released their season schedule.
One thing was clear with both releases — this schedule is certainly going to challenge the notion of UW as a national contender. That’s because two strings of games in Big Ten play are about as brutal as they come.
After opening up Big Ten play by hosting Rutgers, Wisconsin faces a daunting four-game stretch that features road trips to Indiana and Purdue along with a return to the Kohl Center to face Ohio State and Michigan.
If that doesn’t wet your whistle, then try five of the final six Big Ten games on the schedule — at Michigan, vs. Maryland, at Ohio State, at Michigan State and vs. Iowa — all in a row mind you.
The only thing stopping the end of the season from a pure guantlet for the Badgers is a nice end-of-season home contest against Minnesota. At least the folks at the B1G offices were nice enough to finally allow the Badgers to end the season at home for once.
Still, it is hard to imagine the Big Ten coming up with a more difficult slate than the one the Badgers face. That’s especially true given the teams they are scheduled to play just one time and how that all shook out.
I mean, seriously, what are the odds that Purdue and Illinois weren’t switched around on the road schedule and that Maryland’s visit to the Kohl Center just so happens to be sandwiched right in between trips to Michigan and Ohio State?
Another way to think about it? Wisconsin will have just seven of its 18 conference games against teams expected to finish in the bottom half of the league heading in to this offseason.
UW’s conference schedule is a rough road ahead to be sure, but that’s just one half of the equation and the other half isn’t exactly a cake-walk either.
With non-conference games against Tennessee, Oklahoma, Creighton and Syracuse to name but a few things sure won’t be easy before Big Ten play either. UW also has the winner or loser (depending on what happens in the first round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational) of the Oregon-Georgetown matchup and a potential date with North Carolina depending on how things happen in that same tournament.
That’s a whole lot of firepower to deal with, not to mention a game against in-state NCAA tourney team Green Bay, who has given UW a lot ot handle at times and whose fast pace style could be an interesting matchup to handle.
It all adds up to a schedule in which the Badgers clearly have set themsevles up to be really good come NCAA tournament time or to have nothing left in the tank. There won’t be a middle ground for the Badgers in the 2016-17 season.
Here is the full 2016-17 Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball schedule:
The post 2016-17 Badgers basketball schedule won’t be an easy one to navigate appeared first on Madtown Badgers.
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