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Wisconsin Basketball: Badgers Face Tough Schedule Down the Stretch

By Erik Buchinger

Jan 21, 2016; University Park, PA, USA; Wisconsin Badgers interim head coach Greg Gard reacts to a play from the bench against the Penn State Nittany Lions during the first half at the Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 21, 2016; University Park, PA, USA; Wisconsin Badgers interim head coach Greg Gard reacts to a play from the bench against the Penn State Nittany Lions during the first half at the Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /
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It’s a tough road ahead for the Wisconsin basketball team

The Wisconsin basketball team fought its way back into the NCAA tournament discussion with six consecutive victories, but the Wisconsin Badgers have plenty of work to do starting with Saturday night’s road contest against No. 2 Maryland.

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The Badgers will undergo the most difficult part of their regular-season schedule with five of their final seven games on the road, including against the Terrapins, No. 8 Michigan State, No. 4 Iowa and No. 18 Purdue all away from home. Also, Wisconsin will host Michigan as well. The combined records for these five teams are 99-25 overall and 43-17 in Big Ten play.

Mixed in with these tough games are easily-winnable contests against 11th-place Illinois at home and on the road against Minnesota, who has yet to win a conference game.

The Badgers’ six-game winning streak put their record at 15-9 overall and stand in sixth place at 7-4 in the Big Ten, which put them squarely on the bubble for the NCAA tournament.

Assuming Wisconsin takes care of the more winnable games against Illinois and Minnesota, the Badgers will probably need at least two wins against the five big games remaining. If Wisconsin wins four more games, that would put the Badgers’ record at 19-12 and 11-7 in the conference before the Big Ten Tournament.

Let’s take a look at some NCAA tournament numbers:

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    • Since the tourney expanded to 68 teams in 2011, seven teams received at-large bids with 19 wins, and just one made it 18 victories. In this five-year span, 14 teams made the tournament with 13 losses, and five teams were dancing with 14 losses. No team has made it with less than 18 wins or more than 14 losses since the field expanded.

    Among Big Ten teams, Iowa in 2013 and Illinois in 2015 were the only two teams to finish .500 in the conference and fail to reach the tournament since 2011. In 2013, Illinois and Minnesota made the big dance at 8-10 in Big Ten play.

    Each year is different, but if the Badgers can finish 4-3 in their final seven games, they would have put themselves in good position for an at-large bid.

    In Joe Lunardi’s most recent Bracketology, he has the Badgers among the “First Four Out.” Wisconsin has the numbers to make a case for a tournament team with a strength of schedule that ranks ninth in the country, which will only go up given the upcoming slate.

    Luckily for Wisconsin, the 2016 NCAA tournament might feature the softest bubble ever, which is also helped by Southern Methodist and Louisville, who would certainly be in the field if not for post-season bans.

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    The fact that the Badgers put themselves in position to win their way into the tournament as an at-large bid is impressive given what this team has gone through –  losing its home opener to Western Illinois, who sits in dead last in the Summit League, undergoing a sudden coaching change midseason and finding itself at 9-9 overall on Jan. 12 following its third straight loss.

    Fast forward one month, and Wisconsin has gelled together as a young team. The Badgers are on bubble watch at the moment and can seize an opportunity to control of their own destiny with some big wins coming up.

    It has become a Selection Sunday tradition for TV analysts to rip the committee for the teams they feel were snubbed following the big reveal, but with 68 teams in the tournament, there should not be any excuses. Each team has plenty of opportunities to make its case throughout the season.

    Wisconsin is on a roll right now eyeing a spot in the NCAA tournament, and with the difficult schedule coming up, the Badgers will have to earn it.

    Next: Badgers On The Cusp Of NCAA Tournament

    Stay tuned to Badger of Honor for more on the Wisconsin basketball team.

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