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Wisconsin Badgers basketball just barely sneaks into AP Top 25 preseason poll

This marks the first time the Wisconsin Badgers have been ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 basketball poll since the 2020-21 season.
Lorin Cox|
Mar 16, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard watches play downcourt during the second half against the Michigan Wolverines during the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Mar 16, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard watches play downcourt during the second half against the Michigan Wolverines during the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

The Wisconsin Badgers are starting to build some expectations for the 2025-26 season.

The Associated Press released its official preseason Top 25 poll, and the Badgers just barely snuck in at No. 24.

This marks the first time Wisconsin has been ranked in the preseason AP poll since the 2020-21 season when they started the year at No. 7 with D'Mitrik Trice, Micah Potter and Brad Davison leading the way.

It's the Badgers' fourth preseason ranking since Greg Gard took over as head coach.

Related: Wisconsin Badgers basketball picked to finish outside Top 5 in Big Ten this season

Wisconsin finished last season as the No. 16 team in the polls, on their way to a Big Ten Championship final and a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The loss of breakout star John Tonje to the NBA brings them down a few spots from where they finished last year, but the Badgers are fully prepared for John Blackwell to take over as leading scorer, with transfer point guard Nick Boyd moving into the distributor role.

Wisconsin fans expect this team to punch above its ranking once again, with hopes of another deep Big Ten tournament run and a longer stay in March Madness this time around.

They'll face a tough slate of matchups to get there, with some major contenders on the calendar for both conference and non-conference games.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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