Three Possible Outcomes for Badger Basketball in 2024-25

Badger basketball will face a lot of uncertainty this season after seeing tons of roster turnover. Let's take a look at the three most likely scenarios for 2024 and how they might affect the future of the Badgers. We'll assume 32 games for the season for now until the full schedule is released.

1. Worst Case Scenario (15-17)

The Badgers will be trying to get that bad taste of last season's tournament loss out of their mouths with a very different looking roster in 2024. There will be at least three new starters considering the only surefire returning starter is center Steven Crowl. So say the team doesn't gel and the transfers and freshman have trouble adjusting to Big Ten play, what happens next?

Anything short of an NCAA Tournament win and I think Greg Gard's seat gets pretty warm. There's also definitely a possibility the Badgers are a 15-win team this year and fail to even make the Big Dance in which case Gard probably gets ousted. New faces can bring excitement, but they can also bring fear. This season largely depends on the ability of Camren Hunter, John Tonje, Xavier Amos and Daniel Freitag to hit the ground running. But so many minutes from players who have never played a second for Wisconsin brings up some uneasy feelings.

2. Status Quo (21-11)

Wisconsin won 22 games last season and enjoyed a nice little run in the Big Ten Tournament. They made the NCAA Tournament as a 5 seed but were quickly eliminated by James Madison. Would Badger fans accept a similar season this year?

The answer is probably no. A 20+ win season is commendable in the Big Ten, but back to back opening round NCAA Tournament losses would be enough for a lot fans to want a different direction for the team. Despite losing AJ Storr and Chucky Hepburn, the expectations remain high for the team, and another carbon copy of 2023 just seems like the program is content just making the Dance, something fans won't tolerate as the standard.

3. Best Case Scenario (24-8)

If Wisconsin wins a few more games this year and has at least one NCAA tournament victory, all will be good in Badgerland.

I don't think that with this roster the Badgers can run away with the Big Ten, and fans know that. There is a ceiling to this team, but there is also a scenario where everything clicks and the team can make a postseason impression. A deep-run again in the Big Ten Tournament and one or two victories in the NCAA Tournament and all jobs will be safe without question. This is probably the least likely scenario of the three, but the Badgers are also very good at getting the most out of under-recruited players.