As the national hype surrounding Wisconsin continues to grow with UW's Brian Butch and Alando Tucker gracing the cover of the Sports Illustrated issue hitting stands today, the Badgers will find themselves in a decidedly local battle.

Wisconsin (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) will tip off its annual impromptu state tournament when UW-Green Bay (0-1, 0-0 Horizon) visits the Kohl Center Wednesday.

The Badgers have gone out of their way to schedule games against the other Division-I schools in the Dairy State — UWGB, UW-Milwaukee and Marquette — preaching it is beneficial for basketball in Wisconsin.

"I think it's good for basketball in the state," UW head coach Bo Ryan said. "I've said that for how many years now, said it when I was an assistant here."

"It's great for the state," UW-Madison assistant coach Howard Moore said. "The state wants to see these games played. … We embrace it, we really enjoy playing the state schools."

There's no question the Phoenix will come into the Kohl Center and play like they are on fire, as the energy opposing in-state schools bring to Madison is always top-notch since everybody wants to knock off the Badgers.

"These are the guys we see in the summer time, these are our friends, so anytime we see each other we want to be able to say, 'I got one up on you,'" Madison native and UW guard Michael Flowers said. "Everything's about bragging rights and pride and respect."

But the competitive fire is not one-sided at all, as Badger players can't help but get a little excited for the matchups.

"Any time we get an in-state rival in here, we play a little harder, play a little tougher," Flowers said.

"There's a lot of in-state guys, and the competitiveness and the energy that'll be expended in a game like this will be very similar to all the other [games against Wisconsin schools]," Ryan said.

UW-Green Bay was tabbed by many as a preseason favorite in the up-and-coming Horizon League, as the Phoenix bring back all five starters from the squad that finished third in the conference with an 8-8 record and 15-16 overall. More important for the Badgers, however, is the fact UWGB brings back all five starters from a team that gave them quite a fight a year ago.

In last year's meeting, UW-Green Bay took the lead very early in the second half, giving Wisconsin all it could handle up to that point, before Ryan's team regrouped and went on a 22-5 run en route to a 20-point victory.

"They were real scrappy," Flowers said. "They are experienced, they are talented and have some good players.

"They gave us a fight last year, no doubt," Moore said.

The Badgers will face the most dynamic player to date this season in UWGB guard Ryan Evanochko, who averaged 15.8 points and 5.2 assists last season and led the Phoenix in their season-opening loss to Oakland with 21 points.

"Green Bay's got inside, outside, a guard (Evanochko) that's as good as any in that conference and could play for a lot of Big Ten schools," Ryan said.

Sharing the backcourt with Evanochko is former Randolph High standout Ryan Tillema, who averaged 8.7 points and shot over 37 percent from beyond the arc. Tillema was a teammate of UW center Greg Stiemsma on Randolph's championship squads. The young guard hit a low point in Madison last year, however, when he was held scoreless and went 0-8 from the field.

"I played with him in high school, and we all know what he is capable of," Steimsma said. "He'll be ready."

"Tillema and Evanochko, they're good guards. They're experienced," Moore said. "They're going to bring their A-games."

As will the Phoenix as a whole, with the chance to knock off Wisconsin's premiere college basketball team.

"We'll take their best shot, for sure," Stiemsma said. "We take everyone's I think, but we'll need to be ready for them."