Experience Will Decide the Game For Either Side on Saturday Afternoon
In what is likely one of the best games in the round of 32 the 8th seeded Badgers will take on the #1 overall seed Villanova Wildcats. In the beginning of the season one would’ve thought this match up would be something you’d be seeing in the Elite Eight or Final Four, not the round of 32. However in the end one team lived up to their normal expectations, while the other struggled at times and in turn fell deeper and deeper in the seeding. However nobody expected the eight seed, and in turn the Badgers will get a real test right away in one of the nations top teams. While Villanova may be annoyed to play such a tough 2nd round game, the Badgers are thriving at the opportunity to prove themselves.
There is no doubt the Badgers pose one of the biggest test in the first round, but Villanova is still the top dog in the tournament. They’ve been arguably the nations top team throughout the season and they return to the tournament coming off a National Championship a season ago. There aren’t many teams who are as experienced and battled tested as Wisconsin Basketball, but Villanova is one of them. Each game in the tournament last year for the Wildcats was a grind, and in turn the team rose to the occasion each and every time. They have one of the nations top players in Josh Hart, who has lived in the spotlight during his time there. If that isn’t enough, the Badgers will have to try and stop a guy like Jalen Brunson a somewhat impossible test.
In the end, the highly anticipated 2nd round match-up is going to be a slug fest. It’s going to slow, methodical, like two fighters feeling each other out. Each possession is going to feel like punches going back and fourth, until one team takes a tumble. If you are Wisconsin, that tumble can’t be a long scoreless stretch like we’ve seen in almost every game this season. The Badgers will have to use their experience in these tough games that these seniors have played over their past four years and try and take advantage where they can. If Wisconsin is able to withstand the big blows, and give a few of their own in turn, the Badgers should be more than able to be the one standing when the final bell rings.