Wisconsin basketball deserves a Top 25 spot, but Greg Gard is disrespected again

The preseason AP poll was officially released ahead of the 2026-27 college basketball season, and unsurprisingly, the Wisconsin Badgers were left off. It doesn’t stop there, either, as not only was Wisconsin not listed in the top 25, but the Badgers were absent from any single voter’s ballot.

A bit of a punch in the mouth.

It has seemingly become a yearly cycle, as Wisconsin often enters the year underrated, with people claiming the roster is underwhelming and lacks high-end talent. Only a couple of players emerge, and the Greg Gard system prevails, resulting in the Badgers finding a comfortable spot in the NCAA Tournament.

How to right a wrong

This past offseason in particular, things became a bit murky, as Wisconsin lost its two leading scorers from a season ago in Nick Boyd and John Blackwell, along with not being able to bring in anyone who could match the name value of that duo.

That said, Gard and his staff still did their due diligence in going out and acquiring talent, along with putting an emphasis on developing what they had in-house. The prized acquisitions of the offseason were Australian guard Owen Foxwell, along with Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer.

While it is unlikely that either ends up producing at the same level as Blackwell or Boyd, it isn’t unrealistic to think that those two, along with the help of Nolan Winter and Austin Rapp, can front yet another high-caliber offense.

Along with that, the combination of size and perimeter defensive talent projects to make this Wisconsin team one of the better defensive teams of the modern Gard era. Winter can hold down the middle like nobody’s business, along with providing versatile pick-and-roll coverage, while Foxwell, Elmer and many others lock down their matchups.

In other words, this is a top-25-caliber team. It just doesn’t have the same kind of name power that makes it such in the preseason. Polls made before games are even played often weigh factors such as big recruiting classes and top returning talent heavily, rather than team construction.

Because of that, every year, teams like Wisconsin — which don’t have firepower on paper — rise, while other programs that focus heavily on bringing in as much talent as possible dwindle, failing to mesh the right group together.

Nonetheless, the poll is meaningless, all things considered, and shouldn’t affect what should be yet another solid hoops year in Madison.

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