In my blog yesterday, I had my say about how UW men's basketball season ticket holders are frustrated by the remarkably weak opponents filling the Badgers' early home schedule. I see the blog provoked spirited debate in the comment section.

Associate Athletic Director Justin Doherty responded today with a fuller explanation of UW's thinking. In the spirit of fairness, here is his whole note:

As you know, the NCAA sets a 28-game maximum for men's basketball. Here at UW, we require the men's basketball program to play 18 home games, nine of which are Big Ten games.

We remain one of the few schools in the country to play all the other Division I basketball-playing institutions in its state (Green Bay, Milwaukee and Marquette) and one of those is always on the road. We also annually play an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game, sometimes at home and sometimes on the road.

This leaves us with four or five home games left to schedule. UNLV, which as you mentioned in your story, just defeated the No. 1 team in the country, is one of those home games this year. We usually play a couple 'true' road games each year (this year at Milwaukee and at North Carolina). It is very unlikely that a top-25 level program would come to Madison without expecting us to play them at their home facility.

We have plans to bring "BCS level" programs to the Kohl Center in the near future, but we will also need to return to play in their home facilities. It is a constant balancing act to make sure we have enough home games, play a couple road games, (and) remain committed to playing the in-state schools and balance the ACC/Big Ten Challenge game with a potential tournament, as well.

Lastly, and most importantly, our team needs to attend class and take exams. Basketball games are not scheduled just on the weekends but, rather, are often played during the week. That is another factor.

Doherty closes by pointing me to the Michigan State schedule. While the Spartans played North Carolina and Duke, neither game was in East Lansing. "I think you'll find Michigan State's home schedule this year to be similar to ours," Doherty wrote. He has a point. They too host University of Missouri-Kansas City.