"Are they scared to go on the road?", "That flat out sucks": Fans react as AJ Dybantsa's BYU set up neutral site matchup against Big 10 program

The BYU Cougars will be facing a familiar foe in the 2025-26 season but at a neutral venue. On Wednesday, college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein shared that the Cougars, who compete in the Big 12, will be matching up against a Big Ten conference program in the Wisconsin Badgers on Nov. 21 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Badgers' 2025 national tournament run was cut short by the Cougars in the second round. But this time, BYU's roster will be bolstered by the arrival of AJ Dybantsa, who is the consensus No.1-ranked recruit in the high school class of 2025.

College basketball fans are not too happy with the fact that the Cougars are still near their home arena for the matchup.

Other users on X are just glad to see another surefire matchup between BYU and Wisconsin.

BYU ended the 2024-25 season with an overall record of 26-10, 14-6 during Big 12 conference play earlier this year. Wisconsin concluded with a similar 27-10 overall record, finishing as the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten with a 13-7 record.

The BYU Cougars defeated the Wisconsin Badgers in the second round of the 2025 NCAA national tournament

The last time the BYU Cougars and the Wisconsin Badgers faced off was in the second round of this year's NCAA national tournament on March 22. In that game, coach Kevin Young's Cougars defeated coach Greg Gard's Badgers in a nip-and-tuck affair by just two points, 91-89.

The Cougars were paced by then-junior guard Richie Saunders, who scored 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, seven rebounds and an assist in 30 minutes. The Badgers were led by senior John Tonje's 37-point explosion.

BYU then ended up getting trounced out of the 2025 March Madness in the next round, the Sweet 16, after a lop-sided loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, 113-88, on March 27.

About the author

Koby del Rosario is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda who took up BS in Advertising Management at De La Salle University, one of the big "four" universities in the Philippines. Koby has over four years of experience with Complex PH, M2.0 Communications, The LaSallian, Daily Tribune, and Time Attack Manila.

Koby's favorite college team would have to be the North Carolina Tar Heels. Apart from being MJ's alma mater, Koby has always been fond of the Jordan silhouettes that release in the school's colors (being a sneakerhead himself).

His past favorite college players would have to be Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Markelle Fultz (Washington). With Russ, his 1-2 punch with Kevin Love during their UCLA days was something Koby marveled at as Russ became his favorite player to watch post-Kobe.

Besides playing basketball, Koby enjoys nightlife, collecting sneakers, and playing video games. Apart from hosting parties and taking pictures for parties/bars/clubs, Koby is learning to DJ as a hobby with all sorts of house and hip-hop as the main genres.

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