Throughout the week we’ve given you reasons why the Badgers will win the national title, and here we are…the finale on the countdown (I know, sad day). While Vegas sees the Badgers as a 1.5 point underdog, they don’t know the things this team has been through all season long.
So, as we close out our countdown, the No. 1 reason the Badgers will win the national championship is the fact that this team has experienced just about everything a team could in one season. Whether it’s facing five conference champions in the non-conference season or going through a rough six game stretch in late January-early February, or seeing a parade of teams that were bigger, stronger and more athletic than UW—the Badgers are battle tested to say the least.
Clearly, they’ve also come out of the battles stronger for the experience because they’re in Arlington, Texas and 60 other teams that wanted to be there are going to be at home watching.
Wisconsin ran the gauntlet that became their non-conference schedule with a perfect 13-0 mark, taking down the likes of Florida, St. Louis, Virginia, Green Bay and Marquette in the process. It helped give the Badgers a Top 10 non-conference SOS and the No. 2 SOS in the country heading in to the Final Four, according to CBSSports.com.
It wasn’t just the names Wisconsin played, but the variety of styles UW faced that matters. Whether it was the run-and-gun, press defense of Florida or the hard-nosed man-to-man defense of Virginia or the high-flying attack of Green Bay, the Badgers saw just about every different version of offense out there in it’s non-conference schedule.
That’s to speak nothing of playing in the Big Ten, which ranked as the No. 2 conference in the country according to the conference RPI ratings. Earning the No. 2 spot in the Big Ten was no easy task, with the Badgers fighting through a tough six-game stretch in which they lost five of those six contests.
However, Wisconsin fought back and ended the regular season with eight wins in nine games. They come in to this weekend with a 13-3 record since the calendar flipped to the month of February. Compare that to Kentucky’s 13-5 record and UConn’s roll of 13-4, and the Badgers are the best of the rest. After all, Florida is on a ridiculous streak of 30-0 since a December 2nd loss to UConn.
KenPom also says Wisconsin has faced some of it’s stiffest competition in years, especially on the defensive end of the court. According to KenPom, Wisconsin as faced the toughest defense in the country, ranking No. 1 in OppD. In fact, the Badgers are just one of four teams with an OppD of below the 100 mark, which is a testament to the defensive prowess of the opposition UW has faced this season.
Does it mean the Badgers are going to win because they are relatively hot over the last few months or that they have played some tough defenses? No, but it does give us another example of how battle tested Wisconsin is.
Thanks to all it has seen, done and been through as a team, this Badger squad won’t be phased by anything it sees thrown at them in the Final Four. It will have a memory bank full of moments in the season to draw from. Look for that to be an advantage for the Badgers.
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