MADISON – Outside expectations have officially increased for the University of Wisconsin.

Fresh off beating Texas A&M, Houston, and St. Mary’s to win the Maui Invitational in Las Vegas last week, the Badgers made their first appearance in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, debuting at No.23 on Monday.

There’s been a lot of “firsts” for the program since winning the Maui. Wisconsin knocked off its first ranked opponent since Christmas Day 2020 (No.12 Michigan State), appeared in ESPN’s latest Bracketology projections as No.10 seed after not being listed throughout the offseason, while sophomore Johnny Davis – the tournament MVP – was named the conference player of the week after averaging 23.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in three days.

After six games, Wisconsin is one of just seven teams with a pair of wins over KenPom top-40 teams (No.5 Houston, No.37. St. Mary’s).

“You want to keep a mindset that we haven’t accomplished anything yet,” head coach Greg Gard said Monday. “We still have a long ways to go. We have to improve on a lot of areas.”

One area that appears ahead of the curve is team defense, something Wisconsin (5-1) leaned on to win its first preseason tournament since 2014. The Badgers allowed just 58.7 points over three games, allowing them to overcome double-digit deficits against the Aggies in the quarterfinals and the Gaels in the finals, the latter performance helping them erase a 10-point deficit with 15:58 remaining.

“They take their work very seriously,” Gard said. “We haven’t had a bad practice. That’s where it starts. The team is only going to be as good as you practice. They understand the value that we need out of practice every day.”

Much of practice the next two days will be focused on Georgia Tech (5-1) – Wisconsin’s opponent in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge Wednesday (8:15 p.m./ESPN2) – and a Princeton offense that will be mostly foreign to UW’s young roster.

The Yellow Jackets are ranked 82nd in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rankings (two spots ahead of St. Mary’s) but have one of the best guards in the ACC in senior Michael Devoe. Leading the team in scoring (23.9 ppg) and 3-point shooting (62.1), Devoe overcame flu symptoms to score a game-high 26 points to go with five rebounds, five assists, and two steals in the Yellow Jackets’ 61-59 win over Georgia Southern Friday.

Devoe and guard Jordan Usher (15.4 ppg) are key returning pieces from Georgia Tech’s ACC Tournament championship team of last season.

“(The Princeton offense is) going to challenge a lot of our defensive discipline, following rules, all those types of things,” said Gard, adding Tech likes to mix up its defense between a traditional 1-3-1 and man-to-man. “We as a staff have coached against it and implemented sprinkles of it in what we do. That will be the one big challenge.”

Wisconsin is 11-11 all-time in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, equaling the most wins among Big Ten schools in the event. The Badgers last faced the Yellow Jackets in the 2001 event, losing 62-61 in Atlanta during Bo Ryan’s first season.

It will be the first true road game of the season for the Badgers, who are getting closer to full strength. After missing the last four games with a lower-body injury, junior guard Jahcobi Neath practiced in a limited role Sunday. He’s slated to ramp up his practice work Monday and will likely be a game-time decision Wednesday.

“It’s trending the right way,” Gard said.

Teased by the Wisconsin Basketball Twitter account on Thanksgiving, the Badgers unveiled new alternative uniforms Monday. Designed by Under Armour, the white uniforms feature the letters “UW” and the number outlined in red, red and white checkering around the collar that harkens back to the late 70s era, and an old-school Bucky Badger on the shorts and behind the neck.

Approached by Under Armour about creating new alternative uniforms over a year ago, Gard put the majority in the hands of his veterans – Brad Davison, Johnny, and Jordan Davis, and Tyler Wahl – and underclassmen Ben Carlson and Lorne Bowman.

“Hopefully we play well in them,” Gard said. “That’s all I’m really concerned about.”

Gard added he did not know when Wisconsin would debut the uniforms.

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