Wisconsin Basketball: 3 reasons the Badgers will be better than Marquette in 2018-19
In-state rivals Marquette and Wisconsin Basketball are both looking to move on from very different 2017-18 seasons. Which school will have the better 2018-19 season?
The Wisconsin Badgers had an off-year by their standards and in-state rival Marquette reached the quarterfinals of the NIT. For Marquette this may be a make or break year for head coach Steve Wojciechowski and crew in terms of reaching the NCAA Tournament and Wisconsin had made four straight NCAA tournaments prior to last season, including a trip to the title game in 2015.
In the Big East last year, the Golden Eagles won 21 games and finished 7th in the conference with a 9-9 record and ironically their best non-league win came against Wisconsin, who they beat by 19 points in early December.
While in the Big Ten the Badgers finished below .500 for the first time since 1997-98. Head Coach Greg Gard’s team struggled to a 15-18 record and a 9th place finish in the conference with a 7-11 record. The injury-riddled Badgers struggled to a 7-6 start with their best win coming in a one-point win over Western Kentucky.
The official state motto of Wisconsin is “Forward”, which is fitting for both of these programs that are looking to move forward after last season. Both teams enter the 2018 season with increased expectations and with both conferences potentially top-heavy and parity in the middle, both squads could improve on their 2017 campaigns.
The question is which of them is going to have the better year? I believe that team will be the Wisconsin Badgers and here are three reasons why Gard and the Badgers will have a better season than Wojciechowski and Marquette.