Can Wisconsin Basketball Live Up To The Hype?
In normal years, we would be tipping off college basketball this week or the week prior. There would be some fun games in the first week of the season as well as some mind-numbing upsets. But this isn’t a normal year. We all know that. College basketball will kick off at the end of November right around Thanksgiving. It will be a ‘Feast Week’ unlike any other adding college basketball to the mix. Wisconsin Badgers will be one of the top teams to start the season. With the Badgers returning almost of their entire roster, they begin the year ranked number seven. It is the second-highest preseason ranking for Wisconsin behind the 2014-2015 team. Can they live up to the expectations?
1962-63 — No. 10
2006-07 — No. 9
2014-15 — No. 3
2016-17 — No. 92020-21 — No. 7
This marks the fifth time the Badgers begin the season ranked Top 10 in the AP Preseason Top 25
This is the second-highest preseason ranking in program history pic.twitter.com/0uBsLnkCwI
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) November 9, 2020
This Wisconsin team was really good down the stretch last season. Remember they were teetering on being a tournament team in late January when Kobe King left the program. Whether it was King or the Badgers changing their attitude, they went on an incredible run in February and March. They won the Big Ten title and looked like they would be a sneaky Final Four pick. That didn’t happen obviously because of COVID-19. My assumption is you will hear a lot about unfinished business for Wisconsin this year. They have the talent to be a top team with Micah Potter, Nathan Reuvers, D’Mitrik Trice, and others plus some talented freshmen.
The only two things that I would caution for Wisconsin fans are this. One, this team is used to being a ‘back against the wall’ team. They haven’t played the role of favorite. That can be hard for teams to adjust to that newfound respect. Second, what does their schedule look like? It’s hard for me to even give a full take when Wisconsin has three games on their schedule. We are 15 days away from college basketball. You would think the Big Ten planned to release their schedule sometime soon. There are six Big Ten teams in the Top 25 with Illinois and Iowa joining Wisconsin in the Top 15. Like most years, the Big Ten is not an easy conference.
Wisconsin is part of the big boys’ table to start the year. The last time that happened they went all the way to the National Championship. Let’s see what happens this year.