Wisconsin men’s basketball: Maui Invitational first round matchup set

Details continue to trickle in about the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball non-conference schedule for the 2021-22 season and on Tuesday morning, the Badgers found out that they’ll be playing the Texas A&M Aggies in the first round of the Maui Invitational. The game will tip-off at 1 p.m. CT on Nov. 22 on ESPN2.

The Badgers will face either the Houston Cougars or Butler Bulldogs in the next round depending on who wins and loses each game. The other teams in this year’s tournament are hosts Chaminade, Notre Dame, Oregon and St. Mary’s.

According to UWBadgers.com, Wisconsin and A&M have only ever played one other time in their histories, a 71-69 win in Madison over the Aggies in 1984. Wisconsin last competed in the the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in 2016, earning wins over Tennessee and Georgetown before falling to North Carolina in the tournament’s title game. The Tar Heels went on to win the national championship that season.

Wisconsin has played in a non-conference November tournament in 13 of the last 15 seasons. UW owns a combined record of 29-12 (.707) in November tournaments since 2005. The Badgers have won the 2014 Battle 4 Atlantis, the 2013 Cancun Challenge, the 2011 Chicago Invitational and the 2005 Paradise Jam.

Going by Bart Torvik’s preseason projections, this is how each team ranks:

No. 14 Houston
No. 30 Notre Dame
No. 37 Saint Mary’s
No. 38 Oregon
No. 62 Wisconsin
No. 81 Butler
No. 133 Texas A&M
Chaminade is not ranked, but rest assured they would be the last place team.

This is not as stacked a tournament as it often is, but it does give a young Wisconsin team a chance to hopefully rack up a couple of wins against teams as good or better than them.