The Wisconsin Badgers were among the few teams in the rankings this week that didn't lose a game. An incredible 75% of the AP Top 25 lost at least one game last week. The Badgers, on the other hand, beat Ohio State and then USC on the road. Those wins, and the losses around them propelled the Badgers up six spots in the AP Top 25 poll this week.
HUGE jump! https://t.co/8wNZIvsHZa
— Badger of Honor (@BadgerOfHonorFS) January 20, 2025
It's not super common for teams to jump that much without some big victories during the week. However, the Badgers did it without a ranked win, and both of their wins this week came from outside the NET top 30, with Ohio State currently at 36 while USC is at 75. This just shows that being a program that can simply continue to win will be helpful for a big rise as other programs around them grab losses.
Wisconsin fans took to social media to celebrate the continued success and the rise in the AP Poll this week.
This is supposed to be a bad year for us btw
— Badger Enthusiast (@Badger_szn) January 20, 2025
If you were to tell me one year ago today that 18 games into the season we would be ranked higher than UConn I’d call you crazy
— beck (@SportsBeebler) January 20, 2025
Wisconsin up to #18 in latest AP Top-25
— Zach Hanley (@ZachHanley2) January 20, 2025
Tuesday: at UCLA
Sunday: vs. Nebraska#Badgers have won 7-straight games
Any Wisconsin fan would tell you the rankings mean nothing unless you keep winning, and that's what the future needs to hold for the Badgers. They are still on the road in Los Angeles and have to take on a wild card of a team in the UCLA Bruins. A team that has big wins and big losses on their resume already this season. It's a team that can get hot, and they will want to be that way at home.
Then Wisconsin comes back home to take on Nebraska. Both are great opportunities to continue building the resume and climb higher in the AP Top 25.
They are also all the way up to fourth in the Big Ten standings and only two games outside of first, with Michigan State currently undefeated in the conference. Everything is still in front of them with plenty of opportunities in store.