With the recent release of Wisconsin basketball’s non-conference schedule, Badger fans have a look at the entire picture for UW in 2020-2021. While 2020 may bring unexpected cancellations and scheduling, Wisconsin currently has a number of intriguing opponents on the 2020-2021 non-conference slate.
The Badgers are slated to take on Eastern Illinois on Wednesday, with games at Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Green Bay, Marquette, Louisville, and Northern Iowa rounding out the non-conference group. So, your first thought might be that Marquette or ACC opponent Louisville is the toughest game on this schedule. Let me make a case for a mid-major program that has been a constant postseason force for the past decade in college basketball.
Seeing Northern Iowa on the schedule likely looks like an easy buy game win to most casual college basketball fans. It will be anything but that when the Wisconsin welcomes the Panthers to Madison on December 16.
Northern Iowa is coming off of a tremendous 25-6 season in the Missouri Valley Conference, and would have been a force come March of last year. Better yet for head coach Ben Jacobson and the Panthers is that they return their three leading scorers in sharpshooter AJ Green, Trae Berhow, and Austin Phyfe. The trio combined for over 43 points per game a year ago and led the Panthers to a 14-4 conference record.
The matchup of a highly-efficient Panther offense and a Badger defense that is expected to be at the top of the country highlights this one. The Panthers shot 38.6% from distance a year ago, led by Pepperdine transfer Trae Berhow and a Green, who blossomed into one of the best scorers in the nation.
Phyfe can give Wisconsin’s bigs issues with his combination of size and skill, as he is a true playmaker at 6-foot-9, 235. Expect a three-point barrage at the Kohl Center that could turn Madison into upset city.
Wisconsin tips off the season this Wednesday against Eastern Illinois at 9 PM central in Madison.