Wisconsin’s 2026-27 nonconference slate is starting to take shape, and one of the biggest dates now has a place on the calendar.
The Badgers will meet Villanova on Dec. 12 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, the school announced July 15 on social media. Wisconsin did not list a tipoff time.
The matchup is the back half of a two-game agreement between the programs. Villanova took the first meeting in overtime at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee during the 2025-26 season.
The game will be run by Intersport and is being marketed as the “Philly Hoops Showdown,” though it is officially listed as a neutral-site contest.
Villanova went 24-9 overall and 15-5 in the Big East in 2025-26, Kevin Willard’s first season leading the program. The Wildcats earned a No. 8 seed in March Madness before falling to Utah State in the opening round.
Wisconsin already has several other nonconference dates on the board. The Badgers will play at Marquette on Dec. 5 and face Auburn on Dec. 19 at a neutral site in Nashville. Doug Gottlieb, the coach at UW-Green Bay, has said Wisconsin will head to Green Bay for an Oct. 15 exhibition, and CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein has reported the Badgers will also take part in the Baha Mar Hoops Championship in the Bahamas.
UW has denied an open-records request for additional men’s basketball game contracts, and university public records officials have not yet answered follow-up questions about that denial.
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