By: Chris Terlop
In what has been an up and down season, Bo’s Badgers find themselves in the thick of things for a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament as March quickly approaches. The Badgers sit in third for the Big Ten, but are fueled in the national rankings by the toughest out of conference schedule in the country, one in which they went 8-0. It also doesn’t hurt that there hasn’t been four teams to step up and take claim to the one seeds, in a year that any 20 teams could make their case for a trip to the Final Four.
Why should the Badgers get consideration after a 16-0 start, followed by a stretch if going 1-5, and back to the winning ways, currently on a six game winning streak? Sure this team hit a snag, but they carry a strong RPI (5th) in arguably the best conference in the country.
The Badgers are 8-3 against teams in the top 50 RPI, a tool I use, as these are the best of the best, the teams that will be in the tournament, other wins are just window dressing. With 11 games against the top 50, they have played more games against top competition than Syracuse, Arizona, Wichita State, Florida, Cincinnati, and Villanova and more wins then all of them outside of Arizona’s nine. The Badgers give the committee a large sample size with great success against the best the country has to offer.
Wisconsin has out of conference wins over Florida (3), St. Louis (12), Virginia (16), Green Bay (55), and St. Johns (63) to go along with their rough conference schedule. The only bad loss that Wisconsin has is to Northwestern at home, who will not be making the tournament. Losing to an Indiana team that will not make the Dance didn’t help, but considering it was on the road, that is a loss that the committee is likely to overlook.
The Badgers are at Penn State Saturday, take on Purdue at home, and then head to the last test of the season, at Nebraska. If the Badgers win out and win the Big Ten Tournament, they should get a one-seed. If they win out, and do not win in the Big Ten, I think a two-seed is where they wind up. Either way, they should be playing in Milwaukee in the first two rounds and give fans some real hope of a Final Four run.
You can hear Chris M-F on Sportsline and Saturdays at 8am. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisTerlop.
