A two-game nonconference road trip and a New Year's Eve Big Ten opener in Ann Arbor, Mich., are some of the interesting twists in the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team's 2008-09 schedule that was announced Wednesday.

The young Badgers, who will include five freshmen and six sophomores on their roster, could face as many as seven teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last season and three others that played in the NIT.

They are assured of playing 28 of their 32 games on national television, including as many as four by CBS and as many as 13 by the ESPN group. They also are playing as many as six home games on Saturdays, and three of those games promise either a late morning or afternoon tipoff.

"Our schedule has us playing a lot of teams that are high in the RPI, and we're looking forward to the challenge, especially with a young team This schedule will be a test for our group," UW coach Bo Ryan said in a statement released by the program.

The Badgers open their regular season with an afternoon game Nov. 16 against Long Beach State at the Kohl Center. They play Southern Illinois-Edwardsville two days later at the Kohl Center before heading into the meat of their nonconference campaign.

They'll head to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, for the three-game Paradise Jam tournament Nov. 21-24. The Badgers will face Iona in a first-round game and could face Connecticut, La Salle, Valparaiso, San Diego, Southern Mississippi or Miami (Fla.) in second- and third-round games.

After returning home to face UW-Milwaukee on Nov. 29 at the Kohl Center, the Badgers head to the road to face Virginia Tech in the opening game of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Dec. 1. Tipoff for that game is 6:30, and it will be broadcast on ESPN. The Badgers then play at Marquette on Dec. 6 at the Bradley Center. Tipoff is 8:30 p.m. for the game that will be broadcast on ESPNU.

Wisconsin finishes the nonconference season with four straight home games highlighted with a date with UW-Green Bay on Dec. 13 and Texas on Dec. 23. The latter game will be broadcast by ESPN2.

The Big Ten Conference season will span more than one year for the first time in over a decade when the Badgers travel to play Michigan in a New Year's Eve game at Crisler Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. It marks the second straight season that the Badgers are opening the conference season at Michigan. Last season they defeated the Wolverines, 70-54, on Jan. 2.

Assistant head coach Greg Gard said the start of the Big Ten schedule was moved to late December so teams can better handle the 18-game schedule. "This way you don't have to squeeze during the year and you keep your two bye weeks," he said.

The early part of the conference schedule is highlighted with a game at Purdue on Jan. 11 that will be broadcast by CBS. The Badgers also will embark on their second of three two-game road trips of the season with games at Iowa on Jan. 21 and at Illinois on Jan. 24.

As the conference season winds down, the Badgers face their final two-game road trip games at Indiana on Feb. 19 and at Michigan State on Feb. 22. The Spartans and Ohio State are the two conference opponents they play just once during the season. Ohio State plays at the Kohl Center on Feb. 14.