Villanova will face Wisconsin in the Philly Hoops Showdown on Dec. 12 at Xfinity Mobile Arena, and tickets went on sale Oct. 15 through Ticketmaster.
Tipoff is set for noon.
The neutral-site matchup marks the second straight year the programs have met away from their home courts. Villanova defeated Wisconsin in the Milwaukee Hoops Showdown at Fiserv Forum last December.
The Dec. 12 game will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two programs, according to Villanova athletics. The Wildcats won in 1995 and 2025, while Wisconsin earned an NCAA Tournament second-round victory over top-seeded Villanova in 2017.
The Wildcats enter the 2026-27 season coming off a 24-win campaign that ended with their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2022 in head coach Kevin Willard's first season leading the program. Villanova finished third in the Big East with 15 conference wins.
Returning starters Tyler Perkins and Matt Hodge anchor the roster. Perkins, a senior guard, led the team at 13.7 points per game last season and earned Big East Most Improved Player honors. He was named Preseason All-Big East First Team at the conference's media day, while transfers Kwame Evans Jr. and Devin Royal landed on the Preseason Second Team.
Evans Jr., a 6-10 forward from Oregon, averaged 13.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game last season. Royal, a 6-6 forward from Ohio State, contributed nearly 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Both started every game at their previous schools.
The newcomer group also includes Elijah Crawford from UIC, Darryl Simmons from St. Bonaventure and Jake Fiegen from Cornell. All five transfers were regular starters a season ago.
Royal already showed what he can bring. He scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Villanova's 77-75 exhibition win over Rutgers on Oct. 11. Perkins added 18 points in that game.
"Dev gives us experience and toughness," Willard said of Royal after the Oct. 11 Rutgers exhibition. "He played for three years in the Big 10 so he knows the physicality."
Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard enters his 12th season leading the Badgers, who posted 24 victories last season and finished No. 25 in the final Associated Press poll. Wisconsin returns big men Nolan Winter and Austin Rapp and added transfers Trey Autry from George Washington and Eian Elmer from Miami (OH).
Before the Philly Hoops Showdown, Villanova opens its regular season Nov. 1 against Notre Dame in Rome, with the men's game airing on FOX at 9:30 a.m. ET.
