After the Wisconsin Badgers dismantled the Nebraska Cornhuskers at home in the Kohl Center, 83-55, head coach Greg Gard was asked about their upcoming games. Six of the next eight games for the Badgers are on the road. This is normally an opportunity for a coach to complain about the schedule or the time zones, or the wear of traveling on their basketball team. This wasn't the case for Gard, who said there are lots of worse things in life than changing time zones to play basketball.
The #Badgers are in a stretch where they play six of their eight games on the road. Greg Gard doesn’t mind it.
— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) January 26, 2025
“There’s much more difficult things in life that you could be doing than changing time zones playing basketball.” pic.twitter.com/CrxkdkZ5CW
Wisconsin fans react to Greg Gard's comment about road trips in basketball, comparing them to Mick Cronin's complaints
Five of the eight comments to that above video said something about UCLA's head coach, Mick Cronin. Why? Well, these words directly contrast Cronin's comments last week about how hard it is to play in the Big Ten with travel schedules. He said, "Oh, a Big 10 team has to come to LA, where it's 70 degrees, once. You're asking me to feel sorry because Iowa had to come to LA for a few days? We've seen the Statue of Liberty twice in 3 weeks!"
Compare that to Gard's full comment, "We're getting on a plane, and going somewhere to play basketball. There are a lot more difficult things out there in life than where you have to play. I don't make a big deal out of it because I don't think it's a big deal. Tell us where to play, and we'll be there."
Gard > Cronin
— Badger of Honor (@BadgerOfHonorFS) January 26, 2025
This doesn't mean that Gard thinks playing on the road is easy, but he understands everyone has to do it and that it's not worth complaining about. The Badgers are currently 2-3 on the road with their two road wins this season coming against Rutgers and USC. They've lost to Marquette, Illinois, and UCLA on the road. The game against Maryland on Wednesday will be another good road test and a chance to get back to .500 in away games.