Washington Vs Wisconsin rematch puts fans and players back on tournament time

Emerson Raymont

Published: March 12, 2026 4:19 PM ET

Washington Vs Wisconsin rematch puts fans and players back on tournament time

On Thursday in Chicago, the day starts early for Wisconsin fans who plan to follow the team before the first whistle. In the hours leading up to washington vs wisconsin at the United Center, there is a scheduled team sendoff at the Hilton Hotel and a pre-game pep rally at Kaiser Tiger, turning a postseason opener into a full-day itinerary. The game itself comes as Wisconsin begins its run as the No. 5 seed against No. 12 seed Washington.

Chicago fans follow Wisconsin from the Hilton Hotel to the United Center

Wisconsin listed two in-person events for Thursday that put supporters close to the team ahead of the tournament opener. A sendoff is set for 11: 15 a. m. CT at the Hilton Hotel, with the UW Band, UW Spirit Squad and Bucky Badger part of the gathering. A separate pep rally runs from 11 a. m. to 1 p. m. CT at Kaiser Tiger, described as a free event open to all Badger fans, with attendees responsible for their own food and beverage purchases and select giveaways available while supplies last.

Those plans sit alongside the central appointment: Wisconsin’s men’s basketball team tipping off the 2026 Big Ten Tournament presented by TIAA against Washington on Thursday at the United Center in Chicago around 1: 30 p. m. CT. Converted to Eastern Time, that places the fan sendoff at 12: 15 p. m. ET, the pep rally from 12: 00 p. m. to 2: 00 p. m. ET, and tipoff around 2: 30 p. m. ET.

For many, that sequencing captures what postseason basketball can feel like in practice: a day measured in short windows, from one gathering spot to the next, with the final destination inside an arena where the bracket advances or ends. Wisconsin arrives as the No. 5 seed after finishing 22-9 overall and 14-6 in Big Ten play.

washington vs wisconsin sets a Big Ten Tournament test at 2: 30 p. m. ET

The matchup carries the weight of a tournament stage and the familiarity of a rematch. Wisconsin faces Washington in the Big Ten tournament’s third round at the United Center, with tipoff listed at 1: 30 p. m. CT (2: 30 p. m. ET). Washington enters as the No. 12 seed, while Wisconsin is the No. 5 seed and has held that seed in each of the last two years, reaching the Big Ten title game both times.

Wisconsin also arrives with a recent marker of form: a 97-93 win at No. 15 Purdue on Saturday in Mackey Arena. The Badgers hit a season-high 18 three-pointers, including a school-record 12 three-pointers in the first half. John Blackwell scored a game-high 25 points and made five three-pointers, while Nick Boyd added 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting and recorded five assists. Boyd scored 10 of Wisconsin’s final 12 points, including the game-sealing free throw, and the win moved Wisconsin past Purdue for the No. 5 spot in the Big Ten Tournament.

Washington’s recent path into this round has been more crowded. In the second round of the Big Ten tournament, the Huskies beat USC 83-79 in overtime, their third win over USC this season. Washington forced overtime by mounting a double-digit second-half comeback, then leaned on a lead performance from Zoom Diallo, who posted 22 points and 11 assists. Guard Quimari Patterson added a season-high five three-pointers in that win.

Washington, Wisconsin and the pressure of tournament resumes

Both teams bring a set of facts that shape the tension inside a single-elimination game. Wisconsin’s season includes three wins over top 10 teams: at No. 2 Michigan, at No. 8 Illinois and against No. 10 Michigan State. The Badgers have also logged their fourth straight season with more than 20 wins, and they enter postseason play ranked No. 23 in the Poll and No. 23 in the KenPom rankings, identified as Wisconsin’s highest KenPom ranking since Thanksgiving. Since the calendar flipped to 2026, Wisconsin is listed as the No. 13 team in the country on BartTorvik. com, with the No. 3 offense in the country during that span and the nation’s second-lowest offensive turnover percentage.

Washington’s record points to a different kind of urgency. The Huskies finished the regular season 15-16 overall and 7-13 in conference play. Still, the team showed late-game range in the closing stretch: a 91-72 win over USC in Seattle on March 4 included a 51-point second half, while the regular-season finale ended in an 85-79 loss at Oregon after a comeback that briefly produced a late lead.

Individual production has also defined the Huskies’ late-season story. Diallo and Hannes Steinbach are described as Washington’s go-to players, with Diallo averaging 20. 6 points per game over the last three games and Steinbach averaging 19. 3 points in that same span, along with 16 rebounds per game. In the March 4 win over USC, Steinbach grabbed a career-high 24 rebounds.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, has its own historical target in front of it in Chicago: a fourth Big Ten tournament title, after championships in 2004, 2008 and 2015. The bracket begins with washington vs wisconsin, but the day around it carries its own structure. Fans start at the Hilton for the sendoff, then head to Kaiser Tiger for the pep rally, and the schedule eventually narrows to one time and one building—tipoff at 2: 30 p. m. ET at the United Center, where the next step in Wisconsin’s tournament run will be decided on the floor.