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Wisconsin Badgers win over No. 2 Michigan is biggest upset of college basketball season so far

The Wisconsin Badgers win over the undefeated Michigan Wolverines wasn't just huge for Greg Gard, but it was the biggest upset any team has pulled off this season.
Lorin Cox|
Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau (3) defends Wisconsin Badgers guard Nick Boyd (2) during the first half at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.
Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau (3) defends Wisconsin Badgers guard Nick Boyd (2) during the first half at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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It's hard to overstate how huge the Wisconsin Badgers win over the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines was Sunday afternoon.

The win might have saved the Badgers season and NCAA tournament hopes, but moreover, it was the biggest upset of the college basketball season so far.

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Wisconsin had looked like it was starting to figure things out in recent weeks, with stabilizing wins over Central Michigan and UW-Milwaukee.

But that came crashing back down to Earth in their 89-73 loss to No. 5 Purdue last Saturday.

Even with the Badgers' win over UCLA on Tuesday, no one saw them as a major threat to upset an undefeated Michigan team that had been rolling.

Knocked off a dominant Michigan team

The Wolverines had dominated the ranked teams they faced on their schedule so far, beating No. 21 Auburn by 30 and No. 12 Gonzaga by 40 in non-conference play.

They've won all of their home games by a margin of at least 25 points.

Even last week, they blew out No. 24 USC by 30 points. Penn State put a late scare into Michigan on Tuesday, but they were expected to bounce back against Wisconsin, not stumble even more.

When you compare the Wolverines' defeat to the other losses by Top 10 teams, none of them are as drastic as what the Badgers pulled off.

No. 4 UConn's one loss this season came against then-No. 4 Arizona, which now ranks No. 1.

No. 5 Purdue loss to an Iowa State team that was ranked 10th at the time and is now set to take over the No. 2 spot after Michigan's loss.

All of the other one-loss teams who are currently ranked in the Top 10 have all lost to other ranked opponents.

Wisconsin Badgers guard Nick Boyd (2) put up 22 points and six assists in the upset win over No. 2 Michigan.
Wisconsin Badgers guard Nick Boyd (2) put up 22 points and six assists in the upset win over No. 2 Michigan. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

The next closest upset this season in magnitude might have been last Saturday, when unranked SMU upset a North Carolina team that was ranked No. 12 at the time.

The Tarheels already had a loss on the season to Michigan State, though, and they were nowhere near as dominant as Michigan has been this year.

This truly is a signature win for Wisconsin and gives them a critical piece to their NCAA Tournament resume that no other team can match, so far.

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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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