Wisconsin Basketball: NCAA Tournament Run Came a Year Early

The Wisconsin basketball team’s tourney run came a year early

Wisconsin basketball fans mourning the Badgers loss to Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 can take some solace in the fact that this young Badgers team was never expected to perform as well as they did this season.

Of course, it won’t be easy to let this one slide. The Badgers had the game locked up, and were within shouting distance – hell, whispering distance – of a third straight Elite Eight appearance.

All the Badgers needed to do as they led by one with the final seconds ticking away was get the ball up the court and take a foul. Instead, a turnover resulted immediately in a Notre Dame basket and a lead for the Irish, and another turnover sealed the Badgers fate.

The heartbreaking loss ended a truly remarkable run for a Wisconsin basketball team that wasn’t expected to do much this season.

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After a trip to the National Championship last season, Wisconsin lost the majority of its rotation, including National Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker, Josh Gasser, Traevon Jackson and Duje Dukan.

Only Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig returned among Badgers players who averaged double-digit minutes in 2014-15, and only Zak Showalter and Vitto Brown returned among other players who saw any type of run at all.

Wisconsin’s 2015-16 squad was set to be built around a bevy of young players, but even that depth was cut short when Andy Van Vliet was ruled ineligible.

So Wisconsin entered the season with a lineup featuring its four most experienced players and redshirt freshman Ethan Happ, with inexperienced players – mostly freshmen – rounding out the rotation.

After little pre-season hype, the Badgers got off to a terrible start, and found themselves at a low point in the season when Bo Ryan stepped down from a program facing a 7-5 record days away from the Big Ten season opener.

Wisconsin slid further in its first few games under interim coach Greg Gard, but after struggling to open the conference season, went on the run that led them to a NCAA Tournament berth.

As tough as their exit against Notre Dame was, this Badgers squad wasn’t expected to be anywhere near the tournament to begin with, and the tough out this year will only help a young group get stronger in the future.

Think about what the Badgers will look like next season. In theory, the only differences will be the additions of Van Vliet and the red-shirted Brevin Pritzl.

Everyone will be back unless Hayes decides to head to the NBA, which at this point seems like a long shot.

Wisconsin will have guys like Happ and Jordan Hill, important young contributors, back with another year of experience. The bench full of freshmen – from Khalil Iverson and Charlie Thomas to Alex Illikainen – will be another year older and have another year in the system under their belts.

Everyone thought this group would need a year to figure things out anyway. Turns out they did, but managed to figure it out on the way to a Sweet 16 run.

Next: Badgers Go From 9-9 to the Sweet 16

This Wisconsin group will be one to watch in 2016-17.

So take your time to get over the tough loss to Notre Dame, but keep in mind that this Badgers group did something remarkable on its way to the Sweet 16, and know that they are headed for even bigger things in the year to come.

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