Wisconsin Basketball: Where do Badgers fall in best of Big Ten since 2010?
By Zac Pestine
3. University of Wisconsin, 2013-2014
This Wisconsin team differs from all of the other teams on this list in that it wasn’t supposed to be here. Up until this season, Wisconsin’s M.O. was play slow, fundamental basketball, win some games they shouldn’t win, lose some games they shouldn’t lose, go 23-10, earn a 4 or 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and be proud of but unsatisfied with a Sweet Sixteen exit.
Wisconsin entered the year ranked No. 20 in the AP, but a 16-0 start catapulted them to a top 4 rank, where they would remain until January 20th. Imagine a time where most Badger fans didn’t know who Frank Kaminsky was. That was only back in the 2013-2014 preseason. Little did anyone know that Frank the Tank would become a national household name or that Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig would become key contributors as freshmen.
These Badgers unraveled in the middle of the season, but Coach Bo Ryan had them playing top-notch basketball again in February and March. Wisconsin would earn a two seed in the NCAA Tournament and fell the mighty Arizona in an epic Elite Eight matchup. If not for a lucky Aaron Harrison shot in the waning seconds of the Final Four, this team might have been the last team standing.