Wisconsin vs. Syracuse College Basketball Preview, TV Schedule, Prediction

TV Schedule: Wednesday, Dec. 2, 6:15 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Stadium: Carrier Dome

Entering the 2015-16 college basketball season, the Wisconsin Badgers — despite losing so much talent during the offseason — were expected to compete for a Big Ten title. The Syracuse Orange entered the year with plenty of question marks. Now look at the two.

Wisconsin is 4-3 and Syracuse is a perfect 6-0. The Orange are also ranked in the top 25, which certainly adds a little bit of spice to this Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup.

Although Bo Ryan-coached teams are expected to compete for Big Ten titles on a yearly basis, it is so hard to rebound when a team loses talents like Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker (hence the three losses already).

Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes are going to have to come up big if they plan on winning one for the Big Ten in this challenge. Meanwhile, Michael Gbinije has been a scoring machine for the Orange and he certainly isn’t the only Syracuse player who can do some scoring.

Making things very simple: The Orange have already taken down two ranked opponents (at the time) and Wisconsin lost to the Western Illinois Leathernecks, which could end up being one of the bigger surprise upsets of the entire season. Syracuse is just a wee bit more talented than Western Illinois. It has put the off-the-court issues behind it. To put the giant cherry on top, the Orange get this challenge clash at home.

Wisconsin fans, things are not looking good. Hopefully the Badgers get things figured out by the time conference play is at the door.

PREDICTION: Badgers 59, Orange 71

Trevor Lowry is a Content Associate at www.RantSports.com. If you’re a tweeter feel free to follow him @TheTrevorLowry, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.