After defeating Maryland 74-70 Tuesday night, Wisconsin basketball has a much needed break. The Badgers will not take the court until Tuesday February 27 at Indiana. It’s been a tough stretch in the month of February. After starting conference play 8-1, Wisconsin basketball is now 10-6 and 18-9 overall. With a brief pause to get ready for the stretch run, here is what lies ahead of the Badgers.
Wisconsin Basketball Has 4 Regular Season Games Left
Wisconsin Basketball still has four games left in the regular season. After their road game against the Hoosiers, the Badgers host Illinois and Rutgers March 2 and 7 respectively. After those games, they will end the regular season at Purdue to try and avenge the home loss to the Boilermakers February 4.
I think Wisconsin should be favored in three of these four games. Indiana appears to be a mess and likely to miss the NCAA Tournament. The Badgers are half a game behind Illinois for second place in the Big Ten, but I think they can squeak out a win at the Kohl Center. They also should beat Rutgers to end the home schedule. Purdue will be a tough ask and I think they fall in that one.
Big Ten Tournament
Currently, Wisconsin basketball holds the three seed in the Big Ten Tournament if the season ended today. That would mean a double bye and not taking the court until late Friday night.
Outside of Purdue, who will get the number one seed, there is a lot to be sorted out with almost two weeks left in the regular season. The Badgers are half a game out of second place, but only one game separates them and currently sixth place Michigan State. The good news? They hold the tiebreaker over Michigan State and Northwestern, who also trails them by a game.
Right now, I think the Badgers get anywhere from the three seed to the five seed at the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis. They will avoid playing Wednesday, where they played last season. There’s still a lot of work to get taken care of. I think two wins will clinch a double bye.
NCAA Tournament
If you look at most bracketology predictions, Wisconsin basketball is seen as a four or five seed. As history tells us, sometimes those are the most vulnerable seeds. Every year we see a 12 seed beat a five seed. It’s not rare to see a 13 seed be a four too.
A few weeks ago, Wisconsin basketball was seen as a solid two seed. However, losing four of their last six games have dropped them out of the rankings and a top seed right now. The good news? There is still chances to get over the five line and into the four line. I don’t see the Badgers getting a three seed and my guess is they will be as low as a six seed, but that is if they go on another losing skid.
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