The UW men's basketball team starts the 2008-09 season Sunday afternoon, with their first non-conference game at home against Long Beach St. (3 pm start time).
The Badgers enter the season ranked in both the AP (#25) and the Coaches (#21) polls. There are 2 other Big Ten teams in the top 25 - Michigan St. is #6 in the AP and Purdue is #11.
Last year UW only lost to three teams before the NCAA Tournament, and two of those were during the non-conference schedule. The Badgers lost to Duke and Marquette early in the season, and then lost twice to Purdue during the Big Ten schedule. But those losses didn't prevent UW from winning the Big Ten regular season title outright, which they followed up with a Big Ten Tournament title.
There are a few teams that will provide the Badgers with tough tests before the Big Ten season begins. From November 21 to 24 UW will participate in the Paradise Jam Tournament, where they could play Valparaiso, Miami, and Connecticut (ranked #2 in both preseason polls). On December 1 the Badgers will travel to Virginia Tech for the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. UW then travels to Marquette (#16) on December 6. Last year the Golden Eagles beat the Badgers at the Kohl Center 81-76. On December 23 the Badgers will play host to #7 Texas. Last year UW went down to Austin and beat Texas 67-66 when Michael Flowers made a game-winning three-pointer with seconds left in the game.
Here are a few final notes before tomorrow's game:
-The UW got two national letters of intent signed this past Wednesday.
-Freshman Ryan Evans has decided to redshirt this year. That leaves 4 true freshmen still available to come off the bench for Bo Ryan.
-The Badgers have lost just 1 season opener during the Bo Ryan-era. That was his first opener, back in 2001, at UNLV.
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