Wisconsin men’s basketball to play home-and-home series vs Arizona in 2023, 2024

The Wisconsin Badgers announced that their men’s basketball program will play a home-and-home series against the Arizona Wildcats in 2023 and 2024.

The first matchup will take place in Tucson on December 9, 2023, and the second matchup will be back in Madison on November 15, 2024.

The Wildcats are the latest high-profile opponent on the 2023-24 schedule for the Badgers on a list including Tennessee, Marquette, and either Virginia, West Virginia, or SMU in the Fort Myers Tip-Off.

As many fans probably remember, the last time the Badgers and Wildcats played was back in 2015 in the Elite 8 where Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky led the Badgers past the Wildcats 85-78 en route to back-to-back Final Four appearances.

The Badgers also knocked the Wildcats out of the tournament in the previous season in the Elite 8 again.

Speaking on the home-and-home series, head coach Greg Gard alluded to the competitive matchups in recent years, sharing excitement for the non-conference set of games.

“We’re really excited to get this great home-and-home series with Arizona,” head coach Greg Gard said. “We’ve had some memorable matchups in recent years with the Wildcats, and we’re looking forward to adding on to what has been a great series.”

Additionally, Gard pointed to the importance of big-time games on the non-conference slate, a message he’s shared in the past, as a reason for the home-and-home matchup.

“Part of what makes college basketball so great is having big-time games in on-campus venues and I love that we can schedule these for the fans in Tucson and Madison,” Gard said. “We’ve always tried to challenge our team in the non-conference and facing a program like Arizona will certainly help prepare us for the rigorous Big Ten.”

Is it safe to say the Badgers have had the Wildcats number this past decade?

Arizona is coming off a 28-7 season where they qualified as the 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament, but failed to make it past the first round following a debacle against the 15-seeded Princeton Tigers.

Currently, the Wildcats are ranked as the No. 23 team in the country according to ESPN while the Badgers sit at No. 22 ahead of next season. It should be a great matchup in a likely bounce-back season for the Badgers.