The Wisconsin Badgers are ranked 69th in the NET after the first NET rankings of the basketball season were released. This is about 50 rankings away from where many thought they would be at the beginning of the season. However, a blowout loss to BYU (13) and a frustrating loss to TCU (54). The holes for Wisconsin were completely revealed.
The season is still young, and the Badgers do not have a bad loss. Losing to a NET 54 is not a resume killer at all. In fact, TCU is trending in a direction where they could be a top 25 team before too long, and that loss may actually not implicate Wisconsin at all.
Yet, the problem for Wisconsin is that they do not have a good win yet. They've only beaten Quad 3 and 4 opponents this season. They've lost both tries to anyone ranked higher than 60. Which puts them in a category of "A Lot to Prove."
Wisconsin vs. Northwestern is now a big opportunity for the Badgers to get a quality win on their resume
Related: John Blackwell's post game evaluation after frustrating loss to TCU says it all
The proving can start very soon as Wisconsin is taking on a tough Northwestern team on Wednesday, December 3rd. They are currently a Quad 2 opponent ranked 48 in the NET. If the game were on the road, it would be a Quad 1, which shows the opportunity for the Badgers to get a quality win on their resume.
You'd think they would have another chance on Saturday against Marquette, but the Golden Eagles are a NET 167 to start the year, which is in a similar category as SIU-Edwardsville (188) right now. That's rough, but Marquette will want to beat Wisconsin really badly, as they treat the Badgers like their Super Bowl.
It's after Marquette that Wisconsin will have their next Quad 1 opportunity, taking on Nebraska (28) on the road, December 10. If the Badgers are 3-0 over the next three games, they will be soaring up the NET rankings and proving they should never have been as low as 69. If they lose any of those three, they will only prove the rankings right.