Badger Basketball Jumps Up into Top 25 After Big Win Against Arizona

After Wisconsin's upset victory over Arizona on Friday, they have jumped all the way up to No. 19 in the AP Top 25 Poll.

The Badgers began the year unranked, and not on a lot of people's radar. They received a few votes on preseason polls, but nothing to get excited about. But a 4-0 start, including a huge win over No. 9 Arizona, has catapulted Wisconsin all the way up into the teens on the AP's latest poll.

It's quite the meteoric rise, considering the team lost their two best players to the transfer portal this spring in AJ Storr and Chucky Hepburn. Head coach Greg Gard has fielded a strong team without them though, and new transfer John Tonje has already established himself as a potential player of the year candidate after dropping 41-points on Arizona. The Badgers are playing great basketball early in November, and still could have yet to reach their full potential.

The Badgers have won mainly by getting to the free throw line and not turning the ball over. They currently are the number one team in the country in free throw percentage and top 30 in turnovers per game. And while the defense still has some work to do, Wisconsin is -- quite unbelievably -- one of the best offensive teams in the nation, averaging nearly 90 points per game.

Wisconsin takes on UT-Rio Grande Valley tonight, followed by a matchup later in the week with the UCF Knights as part of the Greenbriar Classic.