The Wisconsin Badgers are 10-3 this season overall and 0-2 in BIG10 Conference play. Wisconsin will not be back in action until Friday, January 3 against the Iowa Hawkeyes. At some point, the Badgers will have to start stringing some wins together in conference play.
There is probably no excuse for the Wisconsin Badgers to miss out on the NCAA Tournament in 2025. A season ago, Wisconsin was the fifth seed in the NCAA Tournament before flaming out against the James Madison Dukes in the first round.
CBS Sports Jon Rothstein Thinks That the Wisconsin Badgers Could Be One of 10 Teams In the BIG10 Conference Who Can Make the NCAA Tournament This Season
CBS Sports Jon Rothstein is one of the best college basketball insiders in all of the sport. He is already diving into each conference in who could potentially make the NCAA Tournament in 2025. The Wisconsin Badgers could be one of several teams in the conference who can make it this season. Jon Rothstein said on his Twitter page Thursday morning:
“Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Northwestern, & Penn St all were NOT picked in the Top 10 of the Big Ten Preseason Poll. All 5 are capable basketball teams with STAR POWER. The SEC is historic, but the Big Ten’s ability to put 10-plus teams in March Madness is another MAJOR story.”
It will be interesting to see how the Wisconsin Badgers and head coach Greg Gard will do for the rest of the season. John Tonje, Nolan Winter, and Max Klesmit will need to play very well for them to have a chance to make it to the big dance.
Joe Lunardi of ESPN currently has 10 teams from the BIG10 Conference in the NCAA Tournament. He currently has the Wisconsin Badgers as an 8th seed in the East Region and he would have them facing the Arkansas Razorbacks of the SEC Conference as the 9th seed. Wisconsin still has to either improve its seeding or fall out of the picture completely.
Fans React
Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
There’s not a lot of talk this season about the Big 12. Ken Pom shows 7 Big 12 teams in the Top 25. Are the other conferences catching up or has everyone gotten tired of talking about the Big 12 setting a standard?
— Steve Wilson🇺🇸🦅 (@SteveWilson107) December 26, 2024
Nobody is scared of “Iowa” and “Nebraska” man lmao
— Mikey (@MMcC_86) December 26, 2024
I believe 72% of the SEC’s top minutes’ played guys this year are seniors. I think Aub is awesome. Starters’ age as of 2-1: 25,24,23,23,22. KY 7 5th years. TN I think 5 srs. A&M 9 srs. Only really good young teams Cinc, Duke, Ill. PU had 3 frosh on the flr vs Auburn.
— Anthony B. Lennen (@abl57) December 26, 2024
Lol no. Big ten sucks man and i hate to say it cause ive rooted for it for years
— Will Walker (@Hoosiers530) December 26, 2024
Big Ten favoritism. They get ranked just because of the conference they are in. Happens every year
— MNtoSD (@gducklow) December 26, 2024
It would be a surprise to see 10 BIG10 conference teams make the NCAA Tournament this season. Having 10 teams from the SEC Conference make it this season could be a reality. With the Pac-12 dwindling over the last year, there will be more at-large bids this season. At some point, the Wisconsin Badgers will need to separate themselves from the bottom feeders in the conference. Eight teams feel like the max this conference will have to make it.
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