Badger Basketball Season Preview

After two winnable games, the Badgers will be put to the test. They get the 17th ranked Xavier Musketeers in the Big East-Big Ten Gavitt Games.

Then it’s off to Kansas City, Mo. for the Hall of Fame Championship Round. Wisconsin draws Baylor and will see the winner or loser of Creighton and UCLA.

Last year, we all remember Creighton handling the Badgers during the Gavitt Games. That put the Bluejays on the National spotlight until Marcus Foster went down.

This year, the Badgers get another team that is led by a great scorer. Trevon Bluiett averaged 18.5 points per game for the Musketeers. He made over 90 three-pointers and shot 37% from behind-the-arc.

This is an even better Xavier team than the one we saw a few years ago in the second round and Bronson Koenig graduated. The Badgers will be over matched against a Xavier team that is more experienced.

If there’s any team in this stretch that I think the Badgers have a chance at, it’s against Baylor. The Bears ran through Jonathan Motley last year.

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. is expected to step up and be the next dominant big at Baylor. That very well could be, but I don’t think he’s going to be as great as Motley.

Happ has to be respected as one of the better players in the country. Give him some credit and trust that the others can knock down shots and Wisconsin should advance in the Hall of Fame Classic.