The record book shows that the Marquette–Wisconsin men’s basketball rivalry has been played in every year since 1958.
But if you look at the dates a little closer, you will see that there was no game in the 1984-85 season. There were matchups in February 1984 and November 1985, but there was a full season between those two games.
Why? Well, like a lot of the history between the schools, frustration just boiled over.
Fortunately for hoops fans in the state, that was a one-season blip and both sides have been fully committed to the rivalry since.
“I don’t think it gets enough credit nationally for the rivalry that it is,” MU assistant athletic director Mike Broeker said. “I’m always amazed when people produce these top-10 rivalry lists and this one might go missing. I’ve been here 21 years and I can’t remember when a game hasn’t lived up to the expectation.
“It’s two good teams and two good coaches … the coaches have changed but those teams, whether it’s us or them, are always ready to play. Means a great deal to our fans. Means a great deal to their fans. It’s a win-win all the way around.”
Rick Majerus and Steve Yoder didn’t agree on date for 1984-85
There wasn’t a big blowup about scheduling the game for the 1984-85 season.
Well, former UW coach Steve Yoder was steamed about something from the previous season, but it wasn’t exactly MU’s fault.
Marquette was an independent school back then, so it needed to schedule some opponents during their conference seasons.
UW and MU sometimes even played in March. That led to interesting games, like in the 1981-82 seaon finale. UW coach Bill Cofield had just announced his resignation, and the Badgers put up a listless performance in a 94-64 loss to the then-Warriors at the Arena in Milwaukee.
Yoder replaced Cofield and lost his first MU matchup in the 1982-83 season.
Yoder must have been mad about that, but he was really upset the next season.
MU athletic director Hank Raymonds and UW assistant AD Otto Breitenbach agreed to play on Feb. 16, 1984. The fans certainly were excited as the game at the Arena sold out all 11,052 seats by November.
That was all good up until the Big Ten moved a UW-Minnesota matchup at the Field House in Madison because of a request from the Metro Sports TV production company.
The date that worked for Metro Sports and ESPN was … Feb. 15.
MU couldn’t move the UW game to any dates that worked for both schools, so for UW there would be a rare college back-to-back outside of tournaments.
Yoder was even more peeved when UW lost to Minnesota on a buzzer-beating jumper from Roland Brooks.
“Our players are concentrating on the conference season, and everybody wants to make a big deal out of this game,” Yoder said after the Minnesota loss. “It’s almost impossible for us to be emotionally ready for Marquette. It would be a big-time game to everyone if it were played on equal terms.”
So for the 1984-85 season, Yoder wanted the MU-UW game to be the season opener, as far away as possible from the Big Ten grind.
Rick Majerus, who was elevated to MU’s head coach in 1983, wanted more time for his team to get in rhythm before such an intense game, so the opener was out.
What about the season finale? MU’s suggestion was met with icy silence from UW’s side, so the teams just went ahead and built schedules that didn’t include the rivalry game for the first time in 27 years.
Rick Olson and J.J. Weber revel in their first rivalry win
Reason prevailed for the 1985-86 season, and the game was set for Nov. 30 at the Field House.
“We wanted to get it on the schedule,” Majerus told reporters. “Our fans like the game. Their fans like the game. People in the state like the game.”
As a state native and assistant coach under Al McGuire and Raymonds for 12 seasons, Majerus undoubtedly understood the intensity of the game. But as head coach, Majerus wasn’t adding any fuel to the fire.
“It’s important to win any game,” he said. “But we aren’t putting any more emphasis on this game than Northeast Louisiana, Louisville, Syracuse or anybody else we’ve played.”
Yoder played it the same way.
“When you’ve got good competition an hour-and-a-half from you, you should play,” the UW coach said. “Marquette has a good, established program. And I know Marquette and Wisconsin have played some good games in the past. Playing each other is good for both schools. We’re just looking to play good basketball.”
The players didn’t hold back their feelings. UW won 75-74, ending a four-game skid in the series. Those with state ties like Madison La Follette’s Rick Olson and Kettle Moraine’s J.J. Weber reveled in beating MU for the first time.
“If there was one game I would have died to win, it would be this one,” Weber said after the game. “Especially as an in-state kid, I’ve been watching Marquette since I was 6 or 7.”
Marquette and Wisconsin work with two-year deals
Broeker was hired by MU’s athletic department in 2003 and eventually started putting together the Golden Eagles’ schedule with input from the coaches.
“There’s more to it than people realize,” Broeker said. “There’s a rhyme and rhythm to it. It’s a little art and a little science.
“And ultimately coaches decide who they want to play. We’ve just been lucky that we’ve had coaches here that, maybe there is some differences on the margins at how they look at it, but their commitment has always been the same: Let’s prepare ourselves in the nonconference to do the things we want to do long-term for the whole season.”
Scheduling the UW game with his counterpart, Badgers basketball chief of staff Marc VandeWettering, has become routine.
“Now Marc and I work on a series of two-year deals and games,” Broeker said. “We don’t even have to talk much about calendars. We know when they like to play down there and they know when we like to play here.”
Even when the Big Ten and the Big East went to 20-game conference schedules or when the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the 2020-21 season, there was a will to get the game scheduled, even if it meant playing in November for the first time in 22 years in 2019.
“Those years speak to how valuable the sides see the series,” Broeker said. “Moving it up early in the year was something neither one of us had to do, but we both see great value in the series.
“Not just for the competitiveness of the games, but when you think about your (NCAA) Tournament resume, you know you’re adding the potential of a high-quality opponent on your schedule. And you are doing it for your fans.”
That’s why another interruption in the rivalry is highly unlikely.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin, Marquette missed rivalry men’s basketball game in 1984-85
