Badgers release 2017-18 Big Ten schedule

MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin's 2017-18 Big Ten basketball schedule is out, and the Badgers will be taking on a few Big Ten foes a little earlier than normal this year.

UW's conference schedule features two Big Ten games in early December, when the Badgers will welcome Ohio State to the Kohl Center on Dec. 2 before heading to State College for a road game against Penn State two days later on Dec. 4.

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The Badgers will then switch gears and play six more non-conference games, including two against in-state rivals Marquette (Dec. 12) and UW-Green Bay (Dec. 23) before going back to conference play for the rest of the season starting in early January, when they'll host Indiana at the Kohl Center on Jan. 2.

The conference schedule will present a tough challenge for a young Wisconsin team early on in the season, when they'll play just three Big Ten home games in January against the Hoosiers, Illinois (Jan. 19) and Nebraska (Jan. 29), with road trips to Rutgers (Jan. 5), Nebraska (Jan. 9), Purdue (Jan. 16), Iowa (Jan. 23) and Michigan State (Jan. 26).

They do get to flip the script in February, with five home games and just three road games to close out the regular season. Northwestern (Feb. 1), Michigan (Feb. 11), Purdue (Feb. 15), Minnesota (Feb. 19), and Michigan State (Feb. 25) will all come to Madison in February, with the Badgers set to travel to Maryland (Feb. 4), Illinois (Feb. 8), and Northwestern (Feb. 22).

The conference schedule was moved up in part because of the Big Ten Tournament, which will be held a week earlier this year at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which will also host the Big East Tournament the following week - with the championship game scheduled for Selection Sunday.