Coming off its first Final Four appearance under coach Bo Ryan, Wisconsin loses only one regular and was projected as the No. 4 team for the 2014-15 season by Sporting News.
Following a 26-win season that surprisingly ended in the NCAA Tournament round of 64, Duke adds the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class and was projected as No. 5.
The Blue Devils and Badgers represent the marquee matchup of the 14-game Challenge series, which has been played since 1999 and expanded this season as the result of the Big Ten growing to 14 members for the 2014-15 academic year.
Among the other top games in this year’s event:
Iowa (an NCAA Tournament First Four participant) will visit North Carolina (which lost in the NCAA round of 32).
Virginia (reigning ACC regular-season and tournament champion) will travel to former league partner Maryland (still without an NCAA trip under coach Mark Turgeon).
Ohio State (moving on without point guard Aaron Craft) visits Louisville (moving on without All-American Russ Smith).
Syracuse (reloading after losing Jerami Grant and Tyler Ennis to NBA Draft early entry) plays at Michigan (reloading after losing Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson and Mitch McGary to early entry).
The entire schedule:
Monday, Dec. 1:
Nebraska at Florida State Rutgers at Clemson
Tuesday, Dec. 2:
Illinois at Miami Minnesota at Wake Forest N.C. State at Purdue Ohio State at Louisville Pitt at Indiana Syracuse at Michigan
Wednesday, Dec. 3:
Duke at Wisconsin Georgia Tech at Northwestern Virginia Tech at Penn State Iowa at North Carolina Michigan State at Notre Dame Virginia at Maryland
