The Wisconsin Badgers have more national attention than they’ve ever had, culminating with a No. 4 ranking in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll released on Thursday. However, in true Bo Ryan fashion, this team is emphasizing what will make it better and not how good everyone else thinks they are.
When asked about the increased attention at Big Ten media day on Thursday, Bo Ryan said this team has been and always will be about living in the moment.
“Well, it really doesn’t affect when we’re doing our transition defensive drills, I don’t think my guys are thinking about that,” said Ryan. “Our guys live in the moment, or at least we’re trying to — it appears that way.”
For a team with unusual national expectations and coming off a rare Final Four appearance, living in a the moment can be a good thing — as long as it means a dose of reality once and awhile.
That shouldn’t be an issue given Ryan is the head coach of this team, and he doesn’t care about what others think very much. He also isn’t going to change the way things are done just because his team had a little success in one season.
“I’ve always approached every season the same way, this being my 43rd in this profession,” Ryan said. “You can’t possibly think that I woke up this fall thinking, oh, wow, I’m going to do something different this year. We’re not. The coaching staff isn’t. The players are the ones that put a lot of time in in the off season. The returning players, they’re hoping that pays off, and that’s all you can do.”
Ryan being consistent in his approach is nothing new to Badger fans and those around the Badgers basketball program. However, he also isn’t afraid to let people know his ideas on changes he’d like to see t to the game.
He was one of the first coaches in the conference to advocate for a true round robin of 20 games back when there were just 11 teams in the league. Now that there are 14, Ryan’s stance on playing 20 league games had gained some momentum.
“Let’s play 26,” said Ryan. “Ernie Banks said let’s play two, didn’t he? No, 20 would be great. Scheduling is so hard nowadays. I’ve said this before, so I’m not going to beat a drum here about scheduling, but to play the RPI teams and to play where their RPIs will be at the time, to play 20 games in our league, I think it would be great for the league if we could squeeze it in, if we could do it.”
Whether it’s 26, 20 or the 18 Big Ten games that Wisconsin and the other 13 teams will play, this is the Big Ten and that means big time games every night come January through March.
For the No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers, it won’t just be those three months that matter. Wisconsin will have a target on its back all season long.
That’s nothing new for Ryan and his coaching staff to deal with, so don’t expect Wisconsin to change who it is or how it plays because of the increased attention.
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