Wisconsin Basketball: Badgers Bracketology Breakdown
By Tyler Hunt
Breaking down the Badgers current sitting in Bracketology
As the Wisconsin Basketball season continues to roll on the Badgers are now getting deeper and deeper into Big Ten play. While Head Coach Greg Gard says the team’s only focus is winning a Big Ten title, there are some of us who tend to peak a look at what things might look like in March. I mean c’mon, its human nature? While we still have a long way to go in the Big Ten season, things are starting to pan out in the national landscape of college basketball. Teams are beginning to establish themselves as contenders or pretenders, and thankfully for the Badgers they fall in the first category. As the week’s role on, we will take a look at where the Badgers fall each week and break down whether its a fair or foul as the season roles on.
The Badgers began the season on the #3 line in the first week installment of ESPN’s Joe Lundari’s bracketology and they have not wavered to far from that the rest of the way. In this week’s release, the Badgers continue to sit firmly on the #5 line, which is the highest of the eight Big Ten teams, which is second most behind the ACC as basketball’s toughest conference appears they will bring an astounding 10 teams to the dance come March. A large part of where the Badgers fall is because of the depth that comes with the conference.
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The Badgers currently sit tied for first in Big Ten play with Maryland, but both Purdue and Northwestern sit just a game out, while Indiana and Michigan State remain in striking distance a game and a half out. Lunardi’s ranking is because the Big Ten is one of the weaker Power 5 conferences, and there hasn’t been a lot of separation between any of the teams at the top. Someone will have to take that step in the Big Ten to climb the lines, and there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be Wisconsin if they take care of business this week.
The Badgers took care of business last week against Michigan despite playing poorly, and won a tough game on the road at Minnesota in one of the most hostile environments in college basketball. This week is much easier with just Penn State and last place Rutgers on the schedule, so if the Badgers take care of those two, they could hop up to the 4 line as Virginia who is spots ahead of them has Notre Dame and top ranked Villanova in their next two, so movement will be likely at the four line.