Wisconsin basketball missed the NCAA Tournament last season for just the second time since 1998. Coming off of an 11th-place finish in the Big Ten, the worst regular season finish ever under Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard, UW returns most of its contributors from its previous campaign. In a league as deep as the Big Ten, how does that experienced roster stack up?
Sports Illustrated: Wisconsin Basketball Outside Top 30 Teams in College Basketball
Sports Illustrated has released its preseason ranking of all 362 teams in Division 1 men’s college basketball. In last year’s iteration, SI picked Wisconsin as the ninth-best team in the Big Ten and 55th-best nationally. That preseason ranking was almost spot-on to how UW finished the season at 11th in its conference. In 2023, the Badgers finished ranked 59th in the country according to BartTorvik and 61st according to KenPom.
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This preseason, the Wisconsin Badgers check in at 31st nationally. Among Wisconsin’s Big Ten peers, it has the fifth-highest spot on the list. UW trails Purdue (3), Michigan State (5), Illinois (25), and Maryland (28).
How Do Others Rank Wisconsin Basketball Ahead of the 2023-24 Season?
SI does not rank Wisconsin much differently than other major preseason rankings. Overall, the Badgers rate as a fringe top-25 team. Despite an underwhelming finish to last season, its ranking is buoyed by what UW returns this season.
Other preseason rankings for the Wisconsin Badgers include:
- KenPom: 20th nationally; the fourth-highest ranking in the Big Ten
- BartTorvik: 31st nationally; the fifth-highest ranking in the Big Ten
- AP Top 25: unranked, but the team receiving the most votes among unranked teams; three Big Ten teams ranked in top-25
- Big Ten preseason media poll: fifth in the Big Ten
Wisconsin is among the top teams in returning production this season. Gard largely kept his roster together in the offseason, returning 92% of last year’s scoring, nine of the roster’s top ten scorers, and all five starters (Connor Essegian, Max Klesmit, Steven Crowl, Tyler Wahl, and Chucky Hepburn). Returning production should be a theme of next preseason as well, as graduate student forward Wahl is the sole member of this Badgers roster in his final year of eligibility.
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