The preseason AP Poll was revealed on Monday, just three weeks ahead of the season opener, and the Wisconsin Badgers found themselves inside the rankings at No. 24.
The Badgers ended last year at No. 13 ahead of the final week of the season, but have a completely new team this season with nine new faces joining the returners.
Wisconsin added guard Nick Boyd, wing Andrew Rohde, and forward Austin Rapp in the transfer portal to complement returners John Blackwell and Nolan Winter. They also added guard Braeden
Carrington and forward Elijah Gray as depth, while signing a four-man freshman class with Zach Kinziger, Hayden Jones, Aleksas Bieliauskas, and Will Garlock.
At No. 24, Wisconsin is the sixth-highest team in the Big Ten behind Purdue (No. 1), Michigan (No. 7), Illinois (No. 12), Illinois (No. 17), and Michigan State (No. 22). Other teams receiving votes included Oregon (98 votes), Ohio State (23 votes), USC (10 votes), Washington (7 votes), Iowa (6 votes), and Indiana (1 vote).
The Big Ten is expected to be a deep conference yet again, with some strong teams at the top and a number of others that should make a push for a tournament spot in 2025-26.
In the Big Ten preseason media poll, Wisconsin came in at No. 7 behind the six teams ranked ahead of them in the AP preseason poll and Oregon. So, both are fairly in accordance.
Wisconsin will have some early chances to improve its ranking with a road contest at No. 8 BYU in late November, which is followed by games against Providence and either TCU or Florida at the Rady Children’s Invitational the week after.
But first, they have the Red-White scrimmage this upcoming weekend, followed by an exhibition contest against the Oklahoma Sooners later this month.
Should Wisconsin be ranked to start the season? Are they properly ranked? Let us know in the comments below.
