[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]

Though not exactly the warm environment in which early
season tournaments are typically held, the Kohl Center will play host to the
America's Youth Classic this weekend.

Savannah State, Florida A&M and Colorado will travel to
Madison to take part in the three-day, three-game affair along with the
Wisconsin's men's basketball team.

Last season, the Badgers traveled to South Padre Island,
Texas, for an early season tournament. Even with the cold, the team is pleased
to be staying at home this season.

"You realize how nice it is to be at home," senior forward
Brain Butch said. "Even though we don't get to go to a sunny place, it's nice
to be at home."

Wisconsin (1-0) was able to overcome a slow start to win
83-55 Sunday in its season opener against Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne.

Playing against the three opponents in consecutive days will
pose an altogether different challenge to the Badgers early on in the season,
as it will test the team's conditioning and scouting abilities.

UW will need to be able to stay energized and recover
quickly from each game in order to be at full-strength over the course of the
weekend.

"You got to take care of your body and find the way for
yourself to recover," junior forward Marcus Landry said. "Recovery is a big
part of playing those back-to-back games."

Additionally, playing teams the Badgers don't regularly face
— Wisconsin has never played Colorado or Savannah and only played Florida
A&M once in 1983 — this early in the season makes scouting difficult. It
will be different from past years where the Badgers either did not know who'd
they be facing or were already familiar with the teams.

"I've never coached in a scenario like this," head coach Bo
Ryan said of the tournament setup. "We've spent a lot of time with the staff
talking about how were going to present the scouting reports.

"It's early in the year, so we really don't have anything on
the other teams," Ryan said.

Florida A&M (1-0)
and Colorado (0-1) will face off Thursday night before Wisconsin plays Savannah
State (2-1), presenting an opportunity for the Badgers to do some last minute
prep-work.

"Our guys are pretty good basketball IQ guys [and] see what
other teams are doing," Ryan said. "I'm hoping they'll get something from
watching the game."

On the flip side, all three of Wisconsin's games, two
exhibitions and the season opener against IPFW have been televised, giving its
opponents plenty of material to scout the team.

"One thing about the Big Ten Network is everybody has
everything on us," Ryan said.

Following Thursday's game, Wisconsin will play Florida
A&M Friday and Colorado Saturday.

The three consecutive games will offer the team's younger
players a chance to see what later postseason play will be like, albeit in a
less pressure-packed atmosphere.

"For [the younger players] it will be a learning
experience," Landry said. "It helps us in the long run when we have to go to
the Big Ten tournament and play three games back-to-back-to-back."

Aside from Wisconsin, Florida A&M is the only team in
the tournament who finished last season with a winning record. The Rattlers
went 21-14 last season in the MEAC conference while Independent Savannah
finished just 12-18 and Colorado, a Big XII team, finished 7-20. The Buffaloes
do have a new coach in Jeff Bzdelik, formerly of Air Force where he led the
Falcons to a 26-9 season last year.

Despite the records, though, Wisconsin, especially in the
wake of two of last season's opponents — Gardner Webb and Mercer — pulling of
big upsets, will not take any of the three teams lightly.

"We're just going to take one game at time, you can't look
ahead," sophomore Jason Bohannon said. "We just have to know that every team is
capable of beating another team, you can't go into the game just expecting to
win.

"You have to come ready to play every night."