Badgers Might Make NCAA Tournament in 2016

Four weeks ago the Wisconsin Badgers were 1-4 in Big Ten Conference play, 9-9 overall, nowhere near the NCAA Tournament, and pretty much left for dead. That was four weeks ago. Since then the Badgers have rattled off five solid wins in row.  Is this the "turn around" for Wisconsin? We think so.

The first one was the big eye opener, when they stunned Michigan State in the final seconds to upset the highly ranked Spartans 77-76. Junior guard Bronson Koenig had 27 points and four assists. Junior forward Nigel Hayes had 25 points and seven rebounds. Four days later the Badgers traveled to Penn State and defeated a very improved Nittany Lions team 66-60. This time the star was freshman forward Ethan Happ, who finished the game with 20 points and 11 rebounds. The following Tuesday the Badgers once again stunned the nation when they defeated 19th ranked Indiana 82-79 in overtime despite 30 points and 7 rebounds from Indiana's superstar guard Yogi Ferrell. Nigel Hayes answered Ferrell's 30 with 31 points of his own. Ethan Happ had another strong performance, this time with 25 points and 8 rebounds. The following Sunday, the Badgers traveled to Illinois and had another solid defensive performance, holding the Illini to just 55 points. For the Badgers, Hayes had 17 points and Koenig had 11 in a 63-55 victory. Last Thursday, the Badgers put together another strong performance, this time at home against Ohio State, winning 79-68. Four starters reached double figures in scoring, led by Nigel Hayes with 21 points.

Despite the five game winning streak, the Badgers haven't done nearly enough. They need to do more. Fortunately for them, they will have a chance to do more. Following their home game on Wednesday against Nebraska, in which the tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the  Big Ten Network has the broadcast, the Badgers have crucial back to back games on the road against fourth ranked Maryland and 10th ranked Michigan State. The Saturday game against Maryland is set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off and ESPN has the broadcast. The game the following Thursday against Michigan State is set for an 8 p.m. tip-off and once again, ESPN has the broadcast. Following that Thursday match-up against the Spartans, the Badgers come home to take on Illinois. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. Three days later the Badgers travel to Iowa to take on the 5^th ranked Hawkeyes and Wooden Award candidate Jarrod Uthoff. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. Following the game against Iowa, the Badgers have a home game on February 28th against Michigan. The Badgers then finish the regular season on Sunday, March 2nd, at home against Minnesota. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

As I put my analyzing cap on now, in my opinion, the Badgers need to, not it would help, need to, as MUST win one of those three road games against ranked opponents if they want to make the NCAA Tournament as an at large without needing to run the table in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. They also can't afford to slip against the other three opponents either. Their best shot would be against Iowa.

Badgers Basketball Team Heads To Miller Park

The Wisconsin Badgers Men's basketball team is coming back to Milwaukee. Just a month after the team kicked-off the NCAA Tournament against American University at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, the Brewers are going to welcome Bo Ryan and the 2013 class to Miller Park on May 9^th. General Manager Doug Melvin released a statement last week announcing the ceremony, which he says will recognize the team for their outstanding trip to the Final Four and the positive representation they held of Wisconsin throughout the season.

A former shortstop in his younger days, Ryan responded with excitement and gratitude to the Melvin's invitation. The veteran head coach thanked the Brewers for their hospitality, and even hinted that he would be the one to toss out the ceremonial first pitch.

The Brewers also welcome the New York Yankees to Miller Park on May 9^th, with the game scheduled to start at 7:10PM. It will be the pair's first series of the season. As of the end of April, both teams hold the top position in their respective divisions; the Brewers with the best record in baseball. The pregame ceremony will begin at 6:50PM, as the UW Marching Band plays the National Anthem. The band will also be playing outside of the Home Plate Gate before the ceremony begins.

In the week leading up to the May 9^th - 11^th series, Milwaukee takes on the Reds in Cincinnati then Arizona back at home starting next Monday. The team will get a one day break, on Thursday, before hosting New York. 

Hopefully, welcoming the Badgers into Miller Park will only aid the Brewers continued success. Wisconsin's trip to the 2014 Final Four was the program's first in 14 years, and a regular season record of 30-8 was the best since 2007.

Badgers Push Through Barrier And Make It To The Final Four In 2014

Ever since Bo Ryan became the head coach at Wisconsin back in 2001, the same things have been said about his Badgers teams on a yearly basis. “Oh they are a solid team, but their style will never translate well come tournament time”. “Will this be the year they finally make a deep run in the NCAA tournament?” “Bo Ryan’s system will not allow them to ever get very far in the tournament until his staff starts recruiting better athletes”. These are just some examples of the various statements made about Bo Ryan’s Wisconsin Badgers teams. I’ll bet he is as tired of listening to them as we all are of saying them. Well Bo, if you are tired of listening to them, then do something about it. It took over a decade, but for the first time ever, he finally did something about it.

The Wisconsin Badgers will be making their first ever trip to the Final Four this weekend under Bo Ryan when they travel to Dallas along with Connecticut, Kentucky, and Florida. I for one had Connecticut losing in the first round. Oops.

I could sit here for the 48^th time and tell you the strengths and weaknesses of this team- strength: best starting five in America, weakness: Absolutely no bench to speak of. But that would be a waste of time as you know that already. I will say this. Yes Wisconsin does deserve credit for making this run, but they also got very, very lucky. They were placed as a two seed in what was by far the weakest of the four regions. The number one in that region, Arizona, was going in reverse towards the end of the season. Yet again on Saturday, they will get lucky. They will get an inconsistent Kentucky team instead of say Wichita State, Louisville, Duke, or Michigan.

Let’s not dwell on that though. Right now, Bo Ryan should enjoy this moment. This moment is pure vindication for a man who has done something he has been told for over a decade he could not do, and for that, I say congratulations, you proved me and everyone else who said that to be wrong. Well done.

Badgers Find A Way To Win | Will They Make It To The Tournament?

As the Badgers entered Big Ten Conference play in January, there were serious doubts as to whether this team would play in any sort of postseason tournament, much less the NCAA tournament, They had a pedestrian 9-4 record, with no notable wins. What made it worse was that the only four teams that were any good that the Badgers had played at that point- Florida, Creighton, Virginia, and Marquette, they lost, three of them by double digits.

Badgers Dig Themselves Out

All of a sudden though, and seemingly out of nowhere, the Badgers sprung to life. They opened up conference play with a couple of so-so wins against Penn State and Nebraska. It was on January 12^th that they stunned America when they jack-hammered then 12^th ranked Illinois by 23 at home. They followed that up with five point win against Indiana that basically righted all of their wrongs the first two months of the season. Since then the Badgers have put together a nice resume, one that is deserving of an NCAA tournament bid. While others might point to defense, or even specifically in this case, rebounding, as the Badgers rebounding has improved the last couple of months, it was at this point though that something else began to happen that might better explain the success of these Badgers this season. They began to get lucky. Very, very lucky.

Yes they beat Indiana by five. However, The Hoosiers shot just 37% that night. The shots were there, they just didn't fall. Two weeks later they escaped the Gophers by one point, and needed Minnesota to miss shots, much like Indiana had done 11 days before. Wisconsin then beat Iowa by four in double overtime, and then beat Michigan by three in overtime just three days later. Yes they did beat Ohio State by 22 after that, but that doesn't discount the close wins. Honestly, I don't know what the answer is right now. Is this team actually good, such as the games against Illinois and Ohio State would suggest, or are they just plain lucky?

Badgers Basketball Team Comes To Life | NCAA Tournament Still In Sight

As the calendar turned to 2013, the Wisconsin Badgers wereleft for dead. Their season was pretty much toast and they were given no chance to make the NCAA tournament. It's not like the season was being considered a disappointment either. Many thought this was Bo Ryan's worst team ever during his tenure in Madison and the preseason loss of point guard Josh Gasser really hurt. At that point, any chances they had of making the tournament yet again this season had been thrown out the window. Something unusual, and this is what makes sports so darn awesome happened after New Year's- all of a sudden the Badgers gained some traction and their season sprung to life.

The Badgers began Big Ten Conference play with several okay wins, at home against Penn State and on the road against Nebraska. Alright then, couple of so-so wins. It’s nothing to get excited about. It's what happened after the Nebraska that caught everyone's attention. Illinois came into the Kohl Center on January 12^th feeling confident and left, well, not so much, losing 74-51. The Badgers went on the road three days later and pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of the college basketball season, defeating preseason number one and currently ranked number two Indiana 49-47. Wisconsin came down to earth in the next two games and I thought that the Badgers had peaked and were on their way down. They proceeded to come home and beat 12^th ranked Minnesota on a last second shot.

Some of this has been luck though. Indiana couldn't hit a shot to save their life that night and the Badgers needed to Gophers to have their worst game of the season offensively. But still, a win is a win is a win. The Badgers travel to Columbus tonight to take on Ohio State. How long can the magic last though? Well, let's wait and see, shall we?

Badgers Basketball 2012-2013 Season Preview

The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team will begin to the season as one of five national ranked teams in the Big Ten Conference. Indiana checks in at #1 nationally in almost every preseason poll. Ohio State will begin the season ranked #4 nationally in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. Next up is Michigan and they check in at #5 nationally in both the AP and Coaches polls. It's very rare that the Big Ten has three teams in the top five to begin the season, especially when one of those team's is not Michigan State who ironically are next up checking in at number 14 in both the AP and coaches polls. Finally, last, but certainly not least, are our Wisconsin Badgers, who check in at #23 in the AP and #21 in the Coaches poll. Sporting News believes the Badgers are a little better than this, as they have the Badgers ranked at #17 nationally. Basically, simple math tells us that the Badgers are picked to finish 5^th in the Big Ten this year.

Josh Gasser Out For The Season

Before the season even begins, the Badgers got some devastating news. Junior guard Josh Gasser, who was going to be the team's starting point guard this season, has suffered a torn ACL and is out for the year, he will become an assistant coach which in all likelihood leads us to believe his playing days have officially come to an end. Two players to look for now at the point guard position will be redshirt freshman George Marshall and sophomore Traevon Jackson, who have talent, but are raw and unproven.

This means the Badgers will have to rely on their always good front-court more than ever. Luckily they have two really good talents up front in senior wingman Ryan Evans and Senior center Jared Berggren. Evans is a second-team preseason All-Big Ten selection and Berggren is a fourth-team preseason All-Big Ten selection. How far the Badgers go this year will largely depend on the play of these two. 

So how does this all add up? Well, they should be able to make the NCAA tournament but the lack of stability at the point guard position may prevent them from going anywhere once the reach the dance.