2025–26 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team
| 2025–26 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Record | 7–4 (1–1 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
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| Associate head coach | Joe Krabbenhoft (10th season) |
| Assistant coaches |
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| Home arena | Kohl Center (capacity 16,838) |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 Nebraska | 2 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 11 | – | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Michigan | 2 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 10 | – | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 Michigan State | 2 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 10 | – | 1 | .909 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 6 Purdue | 2 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 10 | – | 1 | .909 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCLA | 2 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 8 | – | 3 | .727 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 11 | – | 1 | .917 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 9 | – | 2 | .818 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 8 | – | 2 | .800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18 Illinois | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 8 | – | 3 | .727 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 8 | – | 3 | .727 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 7 | – | 3 | .700 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 7 | – | 3 | .700 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 6 | – | 5 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Penn State | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 8 | – | 3 | .727 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 7 | – | 4 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 6 | – | 5 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 6 | – | 5 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rutgers | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 5 | – | 6 | .455 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Big Ten tournament winner As of December 17, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2025–26 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Badgers are led by 11th-year head coach Greg Gard and play their home games at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin as members of the Big Ten Conference.
Previous season
The Badgers finished the 2024–25 season 27–10, 13–7 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place.[1] As the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Northwestern,[2] UCLA,[3] and Michigan State[4] to advance to the championship of the for a second consecutive year where they lost to Michigan.[5] They received an at–large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 3 seed in the East region.[6] They defeated Montana in the first round[7] before losing to BYU in the second round.[8]
Offseason
Departures
All players listed as "graduated" are tentative departures unless otherwise noted.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cam Hunter | 3 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Junior | Bryant, AR | Transferred to Central Arkansas[9] |
| Kamari McGee | 4 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Senior | Racine, WI | Graduated |
| Daniel Freitag | 5 | G | 6'3" | 195 | Freshman | Bloomington, MN | Transferred to Buffalo[10] |
| Carter Gilmore | 7 | F | 6'7" | 232 | Graduate Student | Hartland, WI | Graduated |
| John Tonje | 9 | G | 6'6" | 215 | Graduate Student | North Omaha, NE | Graduated/2025 NBA Draft; Selected 53th overall by Utah Jazz[11] |
| Max Klesmit | 11 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Graduate Student | Neenah, WI | Graduated |
| Xavier Amos | 13 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Junior | Chicago, IL | Transferred to Loyola Chicago[12] |
| Aidan Konop | 14 | G | 6'2" | 195 | Freshman | Sussex, WI | Walk-on; Transferred/Not retained |
| Chris Hodges | 21 | F | 6'9" | 250 | Junior | Schaumburg, IL | Transferred to Montana State[13] |
| Steven Crowl | 22 | C | 7'0" | 247 | Graduate Student | Eagan, MN | Graduated |
| Markus Ilver | 35 | F | 6'9" | 225 | Senior | Tallinn, Estonia | Graduated |
Incoming transfers
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braeden Carrington | 0 | G | 6'5" | 197 | Senior | Brooklyn Park, MN | Tulsa[14] |
| Nick Boyd | 2 | G | 6'3" | 177 | Senior | Garnerville, NY | San Diego State[15] |
| Andrew Rohde | 7 | G | 6'6" | 197 | Senior | Brookfield, WI | Virginia[16] |
| Austin Rapp | 22 | F | 6'10" | 238 | Sophomore | Melbourne, Australia | Portland[17] |
On July 1, 2025, the team signed Temple transfer Elijah Gray.[18] However, on October 28, 2025, Gray was dismissed from the team for "events preceding his enrollment at UW-Madison."[19]
Recruiting class
| Name | Hometown | School | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zach Kizinger G |
De Pere, WI | De Pere High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Aug 4, 2024 | |
| Recruit ratings: 247Sports: On3: ESPN: (83) | ||||||
| Will Garlock C |
Middleton, WI | Middleton High School (WI) | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Jun 8, 2024 | |
| Recruit ratings: 247Sports: On3: ESPN: (75) | ||||||
| Hayden Jones G |
Nelson, New Zealand | Nelson Giants | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Jul 25, 2024 | |
| Recruit ratings: 247Sports: On3: (NR) | ||||||
| Aleksas Bieliauskas F |
Kaunas, Lithuania | BC Žalgiris-2 | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Apr 25, 2025 | |
| Recruit ratings: 247Sports: (NR) | ||||||
| Overall recruit ranking: Rivals: 59 247Sports: 51 | ||||||
Sources:
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Roster
| 2025–26 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule and results
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exhibition | |||||||||||
| October 24, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+ |
No. 24 | vs. Oklahoma The Bad Boy Mowers Series - Milwaukee |
L 83–84 | – |
20 – Blackwell | 6 – Tied | 4 – Rohde | Fiserv Forum (2,344) Milwaukee, WI | |||
| October 29, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+ |
No. 24 | UW–Platteville | W 69–53 | – |
17 – Winter | 11 – Winter | 3 – Winter | Kohl Center (14,014) Madison, WI | |||
| Regular season | |||||||||||
| November 3, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+ |
No. 24 | Campbell | W 96–64 | 1–0 |
31 – Blackwell | 12 – Winter | 4 – Tied | Kohl Center (13,695) Madison, WI | |||
| November 7, 2025* 7:30 p.m., BTN |
No. 24 | Northern Illinois | W 97–72 | 2–0 |
25 – Boyd | 7 – Winter | 3 – Tied | Kohl Center (15,222) Madison, WI | |||
| November 11, 2025* 7:30 p.m., BTN |
No. 24 | Ball State | W 86–55 | 3–0 |
19 – Winter | 10 – Winter | 5 – Blackwell | Kohl Center (13,909) Madison, WI | |||
| November 17, 2025* 7:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 23 | SIU Edwardsville | W 94–69 | 4–0 |
24 – Blackwell | 8 – Tied | 5 – Boyd | Kohl Center (13,797) Madison, WI | |||
| November 21, 2025* 3:00 p.m., Peacock/NBCSN |
No. 23 | vs. No. 9 BYU The Bad Boy Mowers Series - Salt Lake City |
L 70–98 | 4–1 |
16 – Boyd | 14 – Winter | 2 – Tied | Delta Center (8,987) Salt Lake City, UT | |||
| November 27, 2025* 4:30 p.m., FS1 |
vs. Providence Rady Children's Invitational Semifinal |
W 104–83 | 5–1 |
36 – Boyd | 10 – Winter | 7 – Boyd | Jenny Craig Pavilion (4,955) San Diego, CA | ||||
| November 28, 2025* 4:30 p.m., FOX |
vs. TCU Rady Children's Invitational Championship |
L 63–74 | 5–2 |
30 – Blackwell | 10 – Winter | 3 – Tied | Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,008) San Diego, CA | ||||
| December 3, 2025 8:00 p.m., BTN |
Northwestern | W 85–73 | 6–2 (1–0) |
26 – Blackwell | 11 – Blackwell | 9 – Rohde | Kohl Center (14,345) Madison, WI | ||||
| December 6, 2025* 1:00 p.m., FS1 |
Marquette Rivalry |
W 96–76 | 7–2 |
30 – Blackwell | 13 – Winter | 4 – Tied | Kohl Center (16,838) Madison, WI | ||||
| December 10, 2025 8:00 p.m., BTN |
at No. 23 Nebraska | L 60–90 | 7–3 (1–1) |
20 – Boyd | 6 – Winter | 4 – Tied | Pinnacle Bank Arena (13,831) Lincoln, NE | ||||
| December 19, 2025* 7:00 p.m., FOX |
vs. Villanova Milwaukee Hoops Showdown |
L 66–76 OT | 7–4 |
23 – Winter | 11 – Winter | 4 – Boyd | Fiserv Forum (7,328) Milwaukee, WI | ||||
| December 22, 2025* 7:00 p.m., BTN |
Central Michigan | Kohl Center Madison, WI | |||||||||
| December 30, 2025* 6:00 p.m., BTN |
Milwaukee | Kohl Center Madison, WI | |||||||||
| January 3, 2026 7:00 p.m., FOX |
Purdue | Kohl Center Madison, WI | |||||||||
| January 6, 2026 8:00 p.m., Peacock |
UCLA | Kohl Center Madison, WI | |||||||||
| January 10, 2026 12:00 p.m./1:00 p.m., CBS |
at Michigan | Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI | |||||||||
| January 13, 2026 6:00 p.m., BTN |
at Minnesota | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN | |||||||||
| January 17, 2026 1:00 p.m., BTN |
Rutgers | Kohl Center Madison, WI | |||||||||
| January 22, 2026 6:00 p.m., FS1 |
at Penn State | Rec Hall University Park, PA | |||||||||
| January 25, 2026 3:00 p.m., Peacock |
USC | Kohl Center Madison, WI | |||||||||
| January 28, 2026 8:00 p.m., BTN |
Minnesota | Kohl Center Madison, WI | |||||||||
| January 31, 2026 1:00 p.m., FOX |
Ohio State | Kohl Center Madison, WI | |||||||||
| February 7, 2026 11:00 a.m., FOX |
at Indiana | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN | |||||||||
| February 10, 2026 7:00 p.m., Peacock |
at Illinois | State Farm Center Champaign, IL | |||||||||
| February 13, 2026 7:00 p.m., FOX |
Michigan State | Kohl Center Madison, WI | |||||||||
| February 17, 2026 7:30 p.m., FS1 |
at Ohio State | Value City Arena Columbus, OH | |||||||||
| February 22, 2026 3:00 p.m., FS1 |
Iowa | Kohl Center Madison, WI | |||||||||
| February 25, 2026 10:00 p.m., BTN |
at Oregon | Matthew Knight Arena Eugene, OR | |||||||||
| February 28, 2026 3:00 p.m., FS1 |
at Washington | Alaska Airlines Arena Seattle, WA | |||||||||
| March 4, 2026 7:00 p.m., FS1 |
Maryland | Kohl Center Madison, WI | |||||||||
| March 7, 2026 3:00 p.m., CBS |
at Purdue | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN | |||||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time. | |||||||||||
Source[20]
Rankings
| Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 24 | 24 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | RV | ||||||||||||||
| Coaches | 24 | 22 | 21 | RV | RV | RV | RV | ||||||||||||||
References
- ^ "2024-25 Wisconsin Badgers Men's Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "Wisconsin 70-63 Northwestern (Mar 13, 2025) Game Recap". ESPN. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "Wisconsin 86-70 UCLA (Mar 14, 2025) Game Recap". ESPN. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "MSU basketball falls to Wisconsin 77-74 in back-and-forth battle, exits Big Ten Tournament". The State News. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ Garcia, Tony. "Michigan basketball outlasts Wisconsin to take Big Ten tournament title game". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "Wisconsin Earns a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament". 247Sports. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "Wisconsin 85-66 Montana (Mar 20, 2025) Game Recap". ESPN. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "BYU 91-89 Wisconsin (Mar 22, 2025) Game Recap". ESPN. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "HUNTER RETURNING TO UCA FOR FINAL SEASON". ucasports.com. April 7, 2025.
- ^ "Men's Basketball Adds Daniel Freitag to the 2025-26 Roster". ubbulls.com. April 22, 2025.
- ^ Graff, Dillon. "Utah Jazz select John Tonje with the No. 53 pick in 2025 NBA Draft". www.badgernotes.com. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "Valentine Adds Five Transfers for 2025-26". loyolaramblers.com. May 12, 2025.
- ^ "Chris Hodges Signs With Bobcat Men's Basketball". msubobcats.com. April 29, 2025.
- ^ "Carrington to join Badgers". uwbadgers.com. April 30, 2025.
- ^ "Nick Boyd signs with Badgers". uwbadgers.com. April 8, 2025.
- ^ "Andrew Rohde signs with Badgers". uwbadgers.com. April 6, 2025.
- ^ "Austin Rapp to join Badgers". uwbadgers.com. April 5, 2025.
- ^ "Badgers add Temple transfer Elijah Gray". uwbadgers.com. July 1, 2025.
- ^ "Wisconsin Men's Basketball Announces Roster Change". uwbadgers.com. October 28, 2025.
- ^ "2025-26 Wisconsin Badgers Men's Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 4, 2025.