Wisconsin Basketball: Badgers host N.C. State in 2018-19
Wisconsin basketball will play host to the N.C. State Wolfpack int he 2018 Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
The Big Ten/ACC Challenge is something Wisconsin basketball fans have become very familiar with over the years. In past years, Wisconsin has faced opponents like Duke, Syracuse and Virginia as part of the challenge and have generally well in those games.
Wisconsin will host NC State in the 2018 ACC/Big Ten Challenge, per a source.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 31, 2018
The challenge attempts to match up teams for ratings purposes more than anything, since ESPN, the broadcast rights holder, was part of the creation of the challenge in 1999. Wisconsin has usually drawn higher profile opponents for this reason. In 2018 the Badgers will take on N.C. State. The Wolfpack made the tournament in 2017-18 under first-year coach Kevin Keatts with a record of 21-12.
Wisconsin is coming off one of its worst years in a long time. The Badgers missed the tournament for the first time since the 90’s. Wisconsin returns pretty much everybody of importance from last year’s team, including Ethan Happ, and will add even more through recruiting and players returning from injury. Expectations are that the Badgers will bounce back and should contend for a spot in the NCAA tournament once again.
The Wolfpack will be a formidable non-conference opponent for Wisconsin as they look to make a run for the tournament themselves. Keatts is one of the better young coaches in the country and he proved it by taking the Wolfpack to the tournament in his first season. He should have a better team in 2018-19. If the Badgers can pull off the win it would certainly be a quality win for their resume come March.
Keatts will have his team play pressure defense and look to push the pace. Against the Badgers, it’ll be even more of a focus than usual. The two conflicting styles of play likely won’t be able to coexist. One style will win out in the end, and that’ll be the team that wins the game. The Badgers should be fine when it comes to pace though. It’s usually easier to slow a team down than it is to speed a team up. Wisconsin should be able to add a tally in the W column for the Big Ten in 2018.
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The ACC won the challenge last year 11-3 and holds the overall series lead 12-5-2.