With the Badgers out to their first 8-0 start in 20 years, let’s take a look back at the last five years and see how the first eight games played out.
2012-13 (5-3) – Last year started with a pretty difficult schedule and Wisconsin just wasn’t quite ready for it. An absolute dismantling at Florida along with frustrating losses to Creighton on a neutral court and at home against Virginia overshadowed wins over California and Arkansas.
2011-12 (6-2) – Wisconsin started out 6-0 this season, but the only challenge was a neutral site game against BYU, and even that was a 17 point win. This set-up a top 10 matchup at North Carolina in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in which the Badgers only lost by three. That followed a bad home loss to a good Marquette team.
2010-11 (6-2) – This season included a road loss to UNLV and then a couple good games in the Old Spice Tournament. The Badgers were able to take down Manhattan and Boston College before blowing a big lead to Notre Dame in the championship game. At the time, it seemed like a bad loss, but Notre Dame went on to have a great season. Wisconsin also absolutely embarrassed North Carolina State at home, beating them by 39.
2009-10 (6-2) – Bo finally got a big school at home in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, and he took advantage as the Badgers beat Duke by four in a thriller. The Badgers also racked up two impressive wins and a loss in the Maui Invitational as they finished third. An opening round win over Arizona led to a Gonzaga loss that was never really that close. Wisconsin bounced back to beat Maryland in the third place game. The other loss came in overtime at UW-Green Bay, which as we saw this year, is a tough venue for Wisconsin as Green Bay is a good team that would love to knock off the big state school.
2008-09 (6-2) – The tournament this year was the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. The Badgers started by beating Iona in a game that was much closer than it should have been, with the Badgers only winning by two in overtime. They then handled San Diego before being blown out by number two UConn. Wisconsin also had a nice win at Virginia Tech, but couldn’t pull off a win at Marquette as it lost 61-58.
As you can see, the Badgers have been facing a decently strong schedule early in the season, but this year they are taking better advantage of it. Historically, Bo’s teams start to come around during the conference schedule, so if he can get that production…look out.
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