The Milwaukee Brewers have done what many thought was impossible earlier this season, taking down the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wisconsin has Brew Crew fever and is overly eager to watch Milwaukee in the World Series since 1982. Yet, over here at this Wisconsin Badger site, what we are thinking about is Greg Gard and his desire to build a team like the Brewers.
Before this Brewers vs. Dodgers series even got started, Gard took to the podium and spoke about all sorts of things, but his quote on the Brewers stuck out, especially now that Milwaukee has knocked off Los Angeles. Gard told reporters he's building a team that's struggling to keep up with teams like the Yankees and Dodgers in payroll, but has the heart and ability to knock them off anyway.
"We have to be really strategic and really intentional; a great example is what our Brewers are doing right now. The smallest market in baseball," Gard said. "I'm not saying we have the smallest market in basketball, but we are not the Yankees or the Dodgers. We have to find a way to compete with the Yankees and the Dodgers. We've done it, and we will continue to do it."
Wisconsin basketball under Greg Gard has yet to really make a splash in the NCAA Tournament
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The Brewers not only found a way to compete with the Dodgers but swept the Dodgers in the NLCS. It was an incredible performance, and the final nail in the coffin came in front of Los Angeles fans at Dodger Stadium.
This was their Kentucky win
— Scary Alvarez (@barryisthedon) October 16, 2026
Now they need to beat whoever Duke is in the World Series https://t.co/MofhEnJWqH
For Gard, he knows that he's working against Duke, North Carolina, and Kentucky. But even some in his own conference, like Michigan, Illinois, and Michigan State. So, he needs to build it like the Brewers: lower payroll but a special team that fits together, plays hard, and battles to beat every single team they face.
Gard has done a lot of this in his career, but he's yet to do what the Brewers have done this year. Gard has gotten team after team into the NCAA Tournament, but he still can't seem to find his way through it. He can take down the "giants" during the season, but come Tournament time, it's a crash and burn.
The "giants" of the basketball world are not the ones knocking Wisconsin out. Last year it was High Point of all schools. BYU beat them the year before (a bigger NIL power but not quite a giant); throw in James Madison from before that.
It hasn't been the giants that take down the Badgers in the NCAA Tournament lately, but often even the Cinderellas. Maybe this is the year that Greg Gard can get a rag-tag group of players and somehow turn them into champions. That's what is happening with the Brewers; if Greg Gard truly wants to be like Milwaukee, it's time to take the Badgers to the National Championship.
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