Wisconsin basketball has been quite the rollercoaster this season. When they win, they've often won big, and when they've lost, they've been blown out. As Greg Gard said in his last press conference, "When we choose to be bad, we're really bad." That badness has caused ESPN's lead bracketologist Joe Lunardi to consider Wisconsin a team that may not actually make the tournament.
This morning, Lunardi posted his latest bracketology on his social media. It hasn't even been officially updated yet on the website, and Wisconsin fans won't love to see that the Badgers are in the "Last Four In" category. This means the Badgers are barely making it and are in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament entirely.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) December 13, 2025
Wisconsin listed as one of the "Last Four In" for the NCAA Tournament by Joe Lunardi
Related: Frustrated Greg Gard says he may end up benching players in effort to find defense
Wisconsin, in the previous update, was a No. 9 seed, and since their loss to Nebraska by 30 points, they fell all the way to a No. 11 and potentially out of the projections altogether. It's not a great spot to be, and yet, it's deserving.
Greg Gard has nine days to figure out what to do with this flailing team. They can score, but they can't play defense; they can get hot and drop threes, but can also go cold and rely only on the three. The Badgers feel like a moody teenager, never knowing what you are going to get from them, especially on defense.
Wisconsin is now 0-2 in Quad 1 games and 1-1 in Quad 2 games. They haven't been their best when it's mattered the most, but they do have another opportunity against Villanova on Friday, December 19. The Wildcats are a Quad 1 team on a neutral site, so this is another chance for the Badgers to get things right. They certainly have the capabilities to be a top team, but they have yet to prove it consistently.