The Badgers Will Not Make the 2016 NCAA Tournament | Which Big Ten Teams Will?

In this post, let's take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of each Big Ten team that has, at the very least, a reasonable chance of making the NCAA Tournament. I have six teams listed, and that means that I don't think that the Badgers will make the tournament this year. 

Indiana- The 17^th ranked Indiana Hoosiers are a mild surprise, sitting atop of the Big Ten at the moment tied for first place. This team's strength is guard play, especially from Big Ten player of the year candidate Yogi Ferrell. What concerns me the most is their interior size. The Hoosiers only have one play who is 6'10” or taller. The next biggest are several players tied at 6'8”. I know, I know, George Mason ran all the way to the Final Four without a player over 6'8” years ago. However, they took advantage of some major upsets in their very weak bracket and avoided playing anyone with serious size until they met Florida in the Final Four, and ran up against all those trees on the Gators roster.

Iowa- The Iowa Hawkeyes, currently ranked 3^rd in the AP poll, are tied with Indiana on top of the Big Ten standings. Their strength is the fact that they have an All-American candidate in senior forward Jarrod Utoff who can take over a game. The weakness is the fact that other than Utoff and his sidekick, junior guard Peter Jok, they don't have much else.

Maryland- The 8^th ranked Maryland Terrapins are a dangerous team lurking right below Iowa and Indiana in the standings. The Terrapins are one of the most balanced teams in the nation as they have five players averaging double figures in scoring. They also have really good size which, at the collegiate level at least, usually equates to good interior defense, and in this case, is. The problem I see with Maryland is the fact that they don't have that one player who can take over a game.

Michigan- The Wolverines are tied with the Terrapins right below Iowa and Indiana in the Big Ten standings. Michigan is a guard-oriented team, and have that player, in senior guard Caris LeVert, who can take over a game. The Wolverines also shoot 74% from the free throw line as a team, which is very good. What is going to be their downfall is their complete lack of size on the interior.

Purdue- The 21^st ranked Boilermakers, much like Maryland, are very balanced, with four players averaging double figures in scoring. Also like Michigan, Purdue shoots 74% from the free throw line as a team. They also have one of the most coveted aspects at the collegiate level, a pair of seven footers that are skilled and dominate the paint. So what is the problem with these Boilermakers? The concern is whether or not their guards can do enough as unit to change the outcome of a game.

Michigan State- The 12^th ranked Spartans have fallen on some tough times, having lost three in a row. Their biggest strength is they have one of the best players in the country in senior do-it-all guard Denzel Valentine, who can just take over a game with the best of them. The problem with this team is after Valentine, not much else, which could explain the three losses in a row.

Badgers gearing up for March

Head coach Bo Ryan has been in the business of college basketball for a long time. That’s why when a reporter tried to ask if he had any regrets about losing out on a share of the Big Ten regular season title, Ryan didn’t even let him finish the question.

“I’ve been around a little too long for that, I don’t do that woulda, coulda, shoulda stuff,” Ryan said. “I like my guys and I like what they did this year.”

Outsiders to the program might remind Ryan had it not been for two losses to a sub-par Iowa team then No. 15 Wisconsin would have won the conference title outright, which would have been his sixth title as head coach of Wisconsin. However, the headman of the Badgers sees this season’s conference campaign from a different perspective.

“You know how lucky we were to steal those games from Illinois, Purdue, and overtime at Minnesota?” Ryan said. “If we hadn’t won those games we would have finished in seventh or eighth place.”

There is also something to be said for the difficulty of the conference as three teams tied for a share of the conference title, one of which being No. 13 Michigan who won a Big Ten title in men’s basketball for the first time in school history since 1988. Between Michigan, No. 7 Ohio State and No. 8 Michigan State, Bo Ryan’s bunch only went a collective 1-4 against the champions of the conference. With close losses to Michigan State and Ohio State at home, it is more than fair to say that the Badgers finished where they deserved to in the final standings.

“Obviously there wasn’t just a dominant team this year that just dominated everyone else,” Ryan said. “The league is pretty tough and I think that was proven this year.”

If there are any regrets about the season Ryan certainly doesn’t want to hear it from anyone. Especially now that the Badgers are entering into the Big Ten Tournament, which marks the beginning of the wildest and most unpredictable month in sports affectionately known as “March Madness.” At this point in the year it is not always the most talented teams, but usually the team that is playing the best basketball that ends up taking home the hardware.

“How about you had gallons and gallons of Gatorade and every time someone said ‘hot’ you had to take a drink,” Ryan added. “Could you imagine how bloated you would be?”

Though “hot” tends to become an overused word when it comes to postseason play in college basketball, ultimately it is the only quality that matters in March. Even if Ryan doesn’t like to use the word, it may be exactly what describes his scrappy group as they head into March. The Badgers have won three straight and 12 of their last 15 games, one of which came on the road against then-No. 9 Ohio State which was the first time in decades that a Wisconsin men’s basketball team had beaten a top ten team away from Madison.

“Tell me something better? It’s still a great sport and a great game. At this time of [March Madness] is all people want to talk about. At all levels,” Ryan added.

Either way a person looks at it the time for second-guessing is over, as hesitation and dwelling on the past will only earn a team a one-way ticket back home. The do or die nature of college basketball in March is something that captivates the nation, and this year Bo Ryan just might have the team to make a deep run. In many ways this year’s group is the true embodiment of the word team, as the Badgers have been able to bridge talent with suffocating defense and impressive mental toughness.

“With how hard they’ve worked on defense and how much they’ve accomplished given what they had, this group is good,” Ryan said. “Anyone who doesn’t know that doesn’t know basketball, trust me.”

It would be awesome if the Badgers could win the Big Ten tournament.   GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

March Madness

The 2010-'11 men's basketball campaign has thus far stuck to the Bo Ryan script. Ryan took a team picked to finish in the middle of the Big Ten standings and wound up continuing his streak of now 10 seasons of top-four finishes top four in the conference.

Heading into the conference tournament in Indianapolis this weekend, the expectations are high for a Wisconsin team that carries the third seed in the tournament.

Despite coming into the postseason winning eight of the last 10, the Badgers know that regular season success does not guarantee  a tournament run. Take one look at the way the 2009-'10 campaign finished (second round loss to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament and second round loss to Cornell in the NCAA Tournament) and that fact should be fairly well established.

"Last year was a different year, a different team," freshman guard Josh Gasser said. "This is what we've worked toward, to win a Big Ten title and go to the Final Four."

Still, for every point of criticism that could be made against Ryan's program and its lack of a Final Four run, it is hard to argue with two conference tournament titles, four Big Ten championship game appearances and 12 NCAA Tournament victories, three more than the Wisconsin program had in the 96 years prior to hiring Ryan.

First team All-Big Ten selections Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer have combined for 37.1 points per game this season, second most in the Big Ten and sixth in the nation. Add in the fact that Taylor is currently on pace for an NCAA record with his 4.26 assist to turnover ratio, and it seems that the talent is certainly there for a postseason run.

As much as the blowout loss to Ohio State on Sunday brings back thoughts of the Cornell loss, it is difficult to compare last year's team with a Badger squad this season who is on pace to set NCAA records for free throw percentage (82.7 percent), turnovers per game (7.47) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.79), all while carrying the nation's second most efficient offense (1.19 points per possession) and ninth best scoring defense (59.1 points per game).

Simply put, the Wisconsin system is built for tournament play.

"It's what our system is predicated off of. Taking care of the ball and not giving the other team easy opportunities, easy run-outs and defensively just being sound," Leuer said. "Obviously you have to hit shots but if you play good defense and rebound, you're going to have a chance to win any game."

With a favorable matchup set for Friday (Wisconsin will face the winner of Thursday's Penn State-Indiana game), the stars are starting to align for what the Badgers hope is a long run into the postseason.

"We are going down there to win the thing," Leuer said. "We wanted to win the Big Ten regular season and obviously we didn't get a chance to do that but now we have a new opportunity in front of us."

It would be awesome if the Badgers could win the Big Ten Tournament.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers Looking Forward to Big Ten Tournament

Well, that certainly was not how Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan wanted his team to end the regular season.

The Badgers head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament this weekend, fresh off a 28-point shellacking compliments of No. 1 Ohio State on Sunday. The Badgers were helpless against the scalding Ohio State shooters, most notably senior Jon Diebler, who scored 27 points and made all but one of his eight three-point shots.

“He’s on fire, he’s really comfortable. He hit 10 against Penn State [earlier in the week]. We did a hell of a job, we held him to seven,” Ryan joked in his press conference Monday.

All kidding aside, Diebler led the Buckeyes to the best single-game three-point shooting percentage in NCAA history Sunday (minimum of 10 attempts), going 14 for 15 as a team. Ryan attributed their nearly flawless play to the lack of pressure the Buckeyes felt. Purdue, second in the Big Ten and nipping at the Buckeyes’ heels for the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, were upset by Iowa the day before, giving the Buckeyes sole possession of the regular season conference championship.

“They were like, ‘Hey, there won’t be any tie.’ They let it all hang out,” Ryan said.

If it’s looking for redemption, Wisconsin has a chance at a rubber match against Ohio State in this weekend’s Big Ten Tournament. If the Badgers and Buckeyes each win their first two games, they will play each other on Sunday for a third time this season, with the Big Ten Tournament Championship on the line.

Perhaps more importantly, the Badgers could improve their seeding in the NCAA tournament, which begins the following Thursday. The Badgers are projected by ESPN to earn either a 3-seed or a 4-seed in the field of 68, depending on the selection committee’s opinion of the team.

Ryan, however, does not like to play the guessing game that goes with seeding the tournament.

“I gave up a long time ago trying to figure out how those things are done,” Ryan said. “So I don’t know, to speculate probably wouldn’t do any good.”

The Badgers do know they have the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, due to their 13-5 conference record.

Wisconsin’s first game of the tournament will be Friday night at Conseco Fieldhouse, and the Badgers will play the winner of the game between Penn State and Indiana. The Badgers have played extremely well against both teams, winning 13 of the last 14 against the Nittany Lions and eight straight against the Hoosiers.

Ryan also talked about the upperclassman leadership for the Badgers, especially junior point guard Jordan Taylor, who has had a phenomenal season.

Taylor, who averaged over 20 points per game in Big Ten games and led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, is one of 11 finalists for the Cousy Award, which is given annually to the best point guard in the country.

Ryan had nothing but praise for his standout point guard, believing he deserved his all-first team Big Ten honors.

“You would hope a guy like that would be unanimous, because I don’t know if any guy in the league did more for their team than he did,” Ryan said. “We’re looking at assists. We’re looking at defense; he should be on the all-defensive team. He’s just had that kind of season where he’s made things happen for his teammates and himself. He put us where we are. He’s earned it.”

Let's hope that the Badgers can start a roll now that it is tournament time.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers Dominate Illini

Foul trouble? Who cares about that?Senior guard Trevon Hughes and junior forward Jon Leuer worked in and out of foul trouble all game but still got the job done offensively and helped the Badgers defeat Illinois, 72-57.
Hughes sat out a great portion of the first half because of fouls but managed to record his first double-double in his final regular-season game at Wisconsin. Hughes finished the contest with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Leuer also danced around foul trouble Sunday, picking up a third foul in the opening minutes of the second half. Then, after only a two-minute stint on the bench, he came in and promptly picked up his fourth. But the forward, who did not play in the first meeting between the two teams, was a force offensively, scoring 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field.
“They get in foul trouble, which they never seem to get in foul trouble,” Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said. “And we couldn’t take advantage of it.”
When Hughes was on the bench, sophomore guard Jordan Taylor handled the offensive reins and matched Leuer’s offensive output with 20 points. Taylor shot 8-of-17 from the field, including 3-of-6 from long distance, and added eight rebounds and three assists to ensure the Badgers did not miss a beat when Hughes, their starting point guard, was relegated to the bench.
Of Hughes’ and Taylor’s 19 rebounds, 10 were on the offensive side of the ball. Junior forward Keaton Nankivil added five offensive rebounds.
“The thing we said could make a difference in the game were loose balls, rebounds, and they were able to get them,” Weber said.
Illini junior guard Demetri McCamey, who torched the Badgers for 27 in the teams’ first meeting, never got going like he did in Madison, scoring 11 points Sunday on 2-of-8 shooting. Junior center Mike Tisdale led all Illini with 16 points on Illinois’ Senior Day.
The No. 16 Badgers (13-5 Big Ten, 23-7 overall) will now close the book on the regular season and focus on the Big Ten Tournament beginning Friday, which rematches the Badgers against the Illini.
Illinois (10-8, 18-13) now sits in a precarious position in terms of its NCAA Tournament prospects. If the Badgers believed they were facing a desperate team today, Friday will be against a team ultimately in a must-win situation.
“We got one last chance to make the season a positive one, but we’ve got to play smarter and we’ve got to get better effort on both sides of the court,” Weber said.
Tisdale echoed the same sentiment as Weber, knowing this could be the team’s final chance to somehow get back into the NCAA Tournament picture.
“It’s do or die,” Tisdale said.
It is great to see the Badgers turn it up in March. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time For March Madness

March Madness kicks off this weekend and, as a delicious appetizer, the Badgers begin their Big Ten tournament Friday against Ohio State.
Just two years ago, Wisconsin and Ohio State found themselves battling in the Big Ten title game. Now the Badgers head into the tournament as the fourth seed and Ohio State follows as the fifth. The Big Ten enjoyed a significant increase in competitiveness from top to bottom over the last couple months, and every team, especially this year, has a shot at the championship.
The Badgers’ 85-61 victory over Indiana last Sunday showed a surprising outburst of offense, which could prove useful against the Buckeyes. In their only meeting this season, Wisconsin crawled to a 24-23 lead over Ohio State at half and managed to hold them off in the second half, winning 55-50.
Although Wisconsin allowed Ohio State to shoot 55 percent from the field, they managed to keep the Buckeyes’ scoring down. A key to the game for the Badgers was forcing 19 turnovers. Assistant coach Gary Close said they don’t focus on creating turnovers, but heads-up interior defense can put pressure on the other team.

I sure hope Bucky can pull it off on Friday so I have a reason to go to a bar at noon on Saturday. That would make my weekend. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers Beat Michigan

The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team added an important game to its postseason résumé yesterday afternoon in a 60-55 home win against the Michigan Wolverines.
Going into the game, the Badgers were just one game ahead of the Wolverines (8-8 Big Ten, 18-11 overall) in the Big Ten standings with a record of 8-7 in conference play and 17-10 overall. With their win over Michigan, Wisconsin pulled into a tie with Penn State, whom they have swept this year, for the number four spot in the conference.
Despite getting the big win, the Badgers are not thinking about the postseason but solely concentrating on their next opponent, who happens to be Minnesota. If the Badgers can win their final 2 games of the regular season I believe they will secure a bid to the NCAA tournament. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUCKY WINS AGAIN

After going on a six-game losing streak, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team has finally battled their way back to .500 in the Big Ten with a win over Iowa last night, 69-52.
While the Hawkeyes were able to shoot 50 percent from the floor, the Wisconsin defense held Iowa to just 38 total shots while forcing 14 turnovers. They also scored 29 points off those turnovers — an average of about two points per turnover. The Badgers only had six turnovers on the night.

It feels like the Badgers may be starting to peak at the right time. Let's hope they can keep it going when it comes to tournament time. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Typical NCAA

It's not like Bret Bielema has been chained to his desk on the eighth floor of Camp Randall Stadium the last month, although it's probably felt that way at times for the University of Wisconsin football coach.
A new NCAA rule has grounded Bielema and other head coaches during the important spring evaluation period, which runs from April 15 to May 31. Assistant coaches are still allowed to visit high schools and evaluate prospects.
It's been quite a change for Bielema, who spent all but a handful of days on the road during last year's spring evaluation period. At this time a year ago, he was likely either watching a spring football practice in Florida or Texas, a track and field meet in Cleveland or a baseball game in Illinois.
More importantly, the time on the road offered Bielema the chance to build -- or strengthen -- relationships with high school coaches around the country. And while he couldn't speak with recruits on these trips, there's a pretty good chance he left an impression on them. It's hard not to notice a tall guy with a red Wisconsin polo shirt watching your every move.
Bielema said he liked the rule change at first "because it put everybody on the same playing field." The more he thought about it, however, the more he realized it handicapped coaches like himself who actually like to be on the road recruiting in April and May. It is sad that college coaches can't be trusted to have contact with potential recruits. I hope it doesn't continue to get worse. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers Basketball Season Tainted by Defeat

For the second straight season the UW men’s basketball team exited the NCAA Tournament prematurely after losing to a lower-seeded team. But all that this team accomplished this season was not lost in the disappointed and depressed UW locker room at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.
From game-winning shots, to bank shots, to Big Ten titles, here’s a look back on the winningest season in Wisconsin basketball history:
Questions from the start
The obvious question before the season was how the Badgers were going to replace departed seniors Alando Tucker, Kammron Taylor and Jason Chappell, who accounted for 52 percent of the team’s scoring the year before. The question no one was expecting to answer early in the year was: Will senior Michael Flowers play?
Flowers, UW’s top returning defender, took a mysterious leave of absence at the beginning of the season and there was no indication whether or not he would return to the team. But he returned just as mysteriously as he left, appearing at practice before the team’s season opener against IPFW. He came off the bench in UW’s first seven games before returning to the starting lineup permanently against Marquette on Dec. 8.
Hughes hot early
No one really knew who the team’s leading scorer would be entering this season, but sophomore Trevon Hughes tried to be the answer to that question in the season opener against IPFW Nov. 11, scoring 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
He followed that up with 21 points against Savannah State, 15 against Florida A&M and 18 against Colorado, and was named tournament MVP in the America’s Youth Classic hosted by UW in November.
Duked by the Blue Devils
Badger fans saw the first indication that Hughes was not going to be an instant star when Wisconsin traveled to Duke and suffered a 82-58 loss. The sophomore still managed 12 points but made only 4-of-13 shots and turned the ball over three times in 26 minutes of play.
It was a wake-up call for a team that cruised to a 5-0 start before the trip to Durham.
Shot of the year
After a setback at home to Marquette Dec. 8 and three more wins, UW traveled to Texas to finish off the non-conference schedule. The unranked Badgers were going up against the No. 9 Longhorns and, to make matters worse, they lost Hughes to an ankle injury the night before the game.
Little did they know that this Saturday matinée was going to be the defining game in a season no one was expecting. Trailing by three in the final minute, Marcus Landry hit a turnaround jumper on the baseline to cut the deficit to one. After A.J. Abrams made 1-of-2 free throws, Flowers came off a Brian Butch screen and hit a 3-pointer that jumpstarted an unlikely, record-breaking season.
Did he call it?
If Flowers jumpstarted the season, then Butch probably saved it—at least from a Big Ten title standpoint. Just days after falling to Purdue for the second time on the year, UW traveled to Indiana Feb. 13 needing a win badly to salvage its chances at a conference title.
Down 66-65 with 12 seconds left, Butch found himself with the ball after UW inbounded it. He briefly looked to pass and then threw up a deep three from the left wing that kissed off the glass and fell in. When Jamarcus Ellis’ three at the buzzer fell short, the Badgers found themselves right back in the middle of the Big Ten race and Indiana found itself in the middle of a recruiting scandal that cost head coach Kelvin Sampson his job, and the Hoosiers its season. Butch might not have called “glass” but his shot sent two teams in two different directions.
Senior night and so much more
The Indiana win turned out to be the first of five in a row as Wisconsin played its last game of the season in the Kohl Center against Penn State on Senior Night Feb. 5. With Ohio State’s upset over Purdue the night before, the Badgers knew that a win over the Nittany Lions meant at least a share of the Big Ten title.
They showed absolutely no signs of jitters and crushed Penn State 77-41 as the students rushed the court to celebrate UW’s first conference title since 2003. All four seniors were hoisted on the shoulders of the mob and the Badgers made it an outright title just three days later, beating Northwestern 65-52 in Evanston, Ill.
An up-and-down finish
Wisconsin took its seven-game win streak to Indianapolis and made it a 10-game streak as it won the Big Ten Tournament. The weekend included a 12-point comeback against Michigan State in the semi-finals before topping Illinois in the championship.
Expecting to be rewarded with a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Wisconsin was stuck with a No. 3 seed and knew that it would face either USC’s O.J. Mayo or Kansas State’s Michael Beasley in the second round. It turned out to be Beasley, but in one of the team’s best performances of the year, the Badgers dispatched the Wildcats easily with a 72-55 win.
With Davidson upsetting Georgetown a day later, it looked like UW’s road to the Final Four got a little bit easier, but in the most surprising loss of the season Davidson outscored Wisconsin 37-20 in the second half en-route to a 73-56 win. It was the first time the Badgers were outplayed that badly since the Duke loss in the November. The loss was disappointing but the reality is that the 2007-’08 Badgers won 31-games, a school record, a Big Ten title and a Big Ten Tournament title.

Big Ten Tournament Time

Now that the Badgers have accomplished their first goal in winning the regular season Big Ten crown the next goal is on the horizon, which is of course the Big Ten Tournament. In fact I myself am contemplating a road trip this weekend to Indianapolis. I have been there before and the downtown is awesome to party, and a five hour drive from Madison doesn't sound too bad. The next question is what to do about tickets for the game. I was checking out prices online and they seem pretty reasonable. And if anyone does make it to Indy and would like a big piece of charred meat, St. Elmo's is highly recommended.

Badgers Close Regular Season Ranked Sixth

After winning the 17th Big Ten Title in school history, the Wisconsin men’s basketball team (26-4, 16-2 Big Ten) finished the regular season ranked No. 6 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll. Last week the Badgers beat Penn State 77-41 on Senior Night to clinch a share of the 2008 Big Ten Championship then took down Northwestern 65-52 to claim the outright title.

This accomplishment says so much about the Badger Basketball team and so much more about their Coach Bo Ryan. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bucky Claims The Big Ten Championship

Needing a win to claim sole possession of the Big Ten’s regular season title, the Badgers handed the Wildcats a 65-52 loss to eliminate the possibility of sharing the title with Indiana and Purdue.
“When someone says, ‘Who was the Big Ten champs this year?’ they won’t say Wisconsin, Indiana and Purdue; they’ll just say Wisconsin,” junior Marcus Landry said. “For us to have that we had to come out there, contribute and play our hearts out.”
The Badgers had claimed partial possession with a win over Penn State last Wednesday, but the weekend win sealed it up.
“To win it outright is nice because then it eliminates some of the conversation about this part of the season,” Badger coach Bo Ryan said.

I am looking forward to the Big Ten Tournament this weekend in Indianapolis. I hope the Badgers can pull it off and possibly have a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. GO BUCKY!!!!