The Wisconsin Badgers probably don't deserve to be ranked this week after dropping a quad-2 game to Oregon earlier in the week. However, there's a strong chance they do get ranked or at least are in the mix, and it has more to do with the rest of the field than the Badgers themselves. Many of the bottom of the AP Top-25 are floundering and creating lots of openings.
It also helps that AP voters are starting to see Wisconsin as a 6-seed in the latest projected brackets and one of the top teams in the Big Ten. Here's the case for why the Badgers should be ranked and the main reason they shouldn't, with maybe a bonus preference.
The reason Wisconsin should be ranked:
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Wisconsin is one of the top basketball teams in the country, and whether the Badgers get ranked or not doesn't really change that. Wisconsin will be in the mix, top-30 is easy. However, the main reason the Badgers will get ranked is because of the bottom dropping out in the AP Top 25.
No. 19 BYU - two losses this last week and three of the last four. The two this week, one was a quad-2 and one was a quad-1.
No. 22 Tennessee - two losses this week, both to quad-1 foes, but still a double loss week when they were already flirting with the bottom of the rankings.
No. 24 Louisville - two losses this week to Clemson and North Carolina. Not bad losses by themselves, but similar to Tennessee, a double whammy.
No. 25 Vanderbilt - reeling. Lost once this week, but three of their last four.
This isn't to mention Saint Louis who lost to Dayton or some of the other missteps in the top 25. Looks like there might be some room for Wisconsin to slide in.
The reason Wisconsin won't be ranked this week (again)
Honestly, the biggest reason is that this team doesn't deserve to be rewarded for losing to Oregon. If they had lost to Washington, it would have been more understandable, as Washington is hovering around the 60 in NET. The Ducks are at 109. Look at the above losses in that list above; losing to Oregon was the worst of the bunch. Sure, Wisconsin didn't compound their week by losing twice but still...
Also, Wisconsin loves to be the hunter, not the hunted. It seems as if every time the Badgers start to sniff greatness, they start to believe in their own hype, and they come out that next game flat. So, maybe leave them unranked.