It's the start of the men's basketball season! The Wisconsin Badger Take on the Holy Cross Crusaders tonight at the Kohl Center at 7 p.m. The Badgers enter the season opener as 25.5-point favorites.

Last season, Wisconsin finished the 2023-24 season with another appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but fell to the James Madison Dukes 72-61 in the first round at Barclays Center. It was the final game for veteran Badgers forward Tyler Wahl, who now plays basketball professionally in Croatia.

What should Badgers fans know about Holy Cross?

Preview the opponent

Holy Cross is entering its second season under the leadership of former Bucknell and George Mason coach Dave Paulson. The Crusaders are looking to improve on their overall record of 10-23 last season, when they finished 6-12 in conference play. According to the Patriot League preseason poll, the Crusaders were picked to finish next to last in the conference.

The Crusaders return Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Caleb Kenney, who led Holy Cross with 6.5 rebounds and over two blocks per game. Kenney was named to the All-Patriot League Second Team last year and earned Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year honors in the 2024-25 preseason. He is expected to take on further leadership roles for the Crusaders this season.

One of the questions for Holy Cross will be who will take over the guard duties. Leading scorer and All-Patriot League Third Team honoree Joe Octave is now at Stony Brook and guard Bo Montgomery, who started nineteen games, transferred to UNC-Wilmington this offseason. Junior Will Batchelder returns to one of the guard positions for the Crusaders. Batchelder finished last season in 30 of 31 games, scoring 8.6 PPG. Left-hander Joe Nugent, who can play as a defenseman and forward, was their top three-pointer at 40.3% and made 56 three-pointers.

According to BadgerExtra's Michael McCleary, the Holy Cross Crusaders ranked low in the KenPom rankings for both offensive and defensive efficiency. Last season, Holy Cross ranked 322nd in adjusted offensive efficiency and 356th in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Outcome prediction

The exhibition game against UW-River Falls was worrisome, but the Badgers were able to calm down and ultimately prevail against their Division III opponents. Wisconsin has won 25 of its last 26 home openers of the men's basketball season and scored over 100 points in last year's opener against Arkansas State. I expect the home opener success to continue with a dominant home win against a team coming off a 10-win season.

Forecast: Wisconsin 89-60.