MADISON, Wis. — It's long been established that you don't compete with the Green Bay Packers in The Land of Cheese, and the University of Wisconsin athletic department would rather not even try — to the point the Badgers felt the need to almost apologize Tuesday for having a basketball game scheduled at the same time as the Packers this weekend.
"Despite exhaustive efforts from the Wisconsin Athletic Department and the Big Ten Conference, the University of Wisconsin is unable to alter the time of its men's basketball game on Jan. 15 against Nebraska," the department said in a statement. "The Badgers and Cornhuskers are scheduled to play this Sunday at 5 p.m. (CT) at the Kohl Center, which falls in conflict with the Green Bay Packers' 3:30 p.m. NFL playoff game against the New York Giants. UW officials have discussed all possible options with the Big Ten office but regrettably could not find a viable solution."
Associate athletic director Justin Doherty gave even more detail in the statement:
"We made a very legitimate effort to move our game off the window of the Packers game. But changing the time of our game would have affected the travel, timing and schedules of up to half the schools in our conference, either on the men's or women's side. This would have required the approval of all those schools. The conference office tried to help facilitate a move, but logistically it was just not feasible."
So now it's Badgers vs. Packers, with the Badgers sporting their first three-game Big Ten losing streak since 2008-09 and the Packers having won 15 of 16 games this season in the pursuit of a second straight Super Bowl title. Basketball may just have to wait until Aaron Rodgers has done his last Discount Double Check.
