The Big Ten Conference's quest to put more women's basketball games on national TV this coming season has generated an interesting "sneak preview" experiment.

On Dec. 6, after the football season has concluded and before men's basketball kicks into high gear, the University of Wisconsin will participate in a quadrupleheader of women's basketball games on the Big Ten Network, with the Badgers facing defending league champion Ohio State in Columbus.

That marks the earliest conference opener for UW since the Big Ten began sanctioning women's basketball in the 1982-83 season, and is roughly three weeks earlier than the customary start date.

Following the matchup with the Buckeyes, the Badgers will play three nonconference games before their Big Ten home opener Dec. 28 against Michigan State at the Kohl Center.

In all, the Badgers will have four games on BTN this season, with the other three held in Madison: a nonconference tilt against UW-Green Bay on Nov. 24, and league contests against Purdue on Jan. 7 and Northwestern on Jan. 31.

Because of the Big Ten's unbalanced 18-game schedule, Wisconsin plays Minnesota and Northwestern only once for the second straight year.

The nonconference portion of the slate was released previously.

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