The Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Michigan State Spartans 77-74 to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship. Before the game even tipped off, Spartans head coach may have tipped what he saw coming, Wisconsin proving that they are the best team in the Big Ten. Now that the Badgers are headed to the championship game against the Michigan Wolverines, Izzo may end up being right, which should only get Wisconsin fans excited for the NCAA Tournament.
"We thought going in that [Wisconsin] was the best team in the league, two weeks ago. I haven't changed my opinion."
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 15, 2025
Ahead of their clash with the Badgers in the @bigten semifinals today, Tom Izzo caught up with @tracywolfson pic.twitter.com/dQsC00qocD
Tom Izzo calls the Wisconsin Badgers the best team in the Big Ten ahead of big matchup
The first thing Tom Izzo notes when he references how good the Badgers are is that Max Klesmit didn't play against them the first time. He then talks about how the Spartans did a "decent job" defending Wisconsin's three-point shooting but missed open ones in the first matchup. The final thing he said is what catches the headlines:
""We thought going in [Wisconsin] was the best team in the league, two weeks ago, and I haven't changed my opinion. If you look depth, if you look at guard play, if you look at bigs, they have five guys that can shoot it, we've got our work cut out. "Tom Izzo
It ended up being a bit of a preview to the game for Izzo and maybe some would say didn't age well. Michigan State, which won the Big Ten regular season title, was beaten on a neutral court by the Wisconsin Badgers to advance to the Big Ten Tournament Championship. Now, the Badgers have a chance to prove Izzo right that they are the league's best.
Wisconsin will take on the Michigan Wolverines on Sunday, March 16th, at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS. The Badgers have really gotten hot as they head into the NCAA Tournament, and there's no better time to get going than now.