We are inching closer to the Wisconsin Badgers opening the regular season against Holy Cross. Leading up to that matchup, though, the Badgers hit the floor against UW-River Falls, but things didn't quite go the way fans were hoping for.
The Badgers captured a 78-62 victory, but this game was much closer than what the final score showcased. Following the game, Wisconsin fans have been reacting the way you might have imagined, posting on social media that it's going to be a long season for this squad.
Last year, people were calling for Gard to get fired, but the team reached the Big Ten title game and made the tourney for the sixth time in the past eight campaigns. However, the season couldn't have ended worse, with a loss to James Madison in the first round being posted.
With all of that said, Wisconsin supporters are losing patience with Gard, which is easy to understand. However, ESPN's Jeff Borzello came out with a recent piece previewing coaches on the hot season for this season, but he doesn't anticipate Gard being let go in the near future.
Wisconsin fans are starting to lose patience with head coach Greg Gard
"There was some speculation regarding Wisconsin's Greg Gard toward the end of last season, but the Badgers made a run to the Big Ten title game and earned a 5-seed in the NCAA tournament; Gard has now guided Wisconsin to six of the past eight NCAA tournaments. A first-round upset loss to James Madison -- which means the Badgers have now failed to reach the second weekend since 2017 -- and the transfers of starters AJ Storr and Chucky Hepburn don't help, but Gard would need a disastrous campaign to force a change in Madison."Jeff Borzello
There's a new look for the Wisconsin starting five, so there are going to be some bumps early on in the campaign. In the win over UW-River Falls, the team attempted a mind-blowing 32 3-pointers, but they couldn't get into a rhythm shooting the ball. The hope is this team can start off the year hot and keep things that way, but fans aren't feeling overly optimistic about this campaign.