Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball: 5 questions facing the conference for 2018-19

By Lukas Harkins

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 04: The Michigan Wolverines celebrate after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 75-66 during the championship game of the Big 10 Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 04: The Michigan Wolverines celebrate after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 75-66 during the championship game of the Big 10 Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 02: Happ and the Badgers (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 02: Happ and the Badgers (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Will Wisconsin return to normal standards?

After an incredible stretch of nearly 20 years of dominance, Wisconsin basketball took a major step back this past season. Even though the Badgers still had one of the best players in the country in Ethan Happ, a poor surrounding cast coupled with crippling injuries led to a disastrous year. In the end, Wisconsin finished the year at just 15-18 (7-11 Big Ten) overall and nowhere near an NCAA Tournament bid.

Despite this, though, many are expecting a massive turnaround this season. Ethan Happ is coming back for his senior year and the trio of injured guards from last season (Brad Davison, Kobe King, D’Mitrik Trice) will all be at full strength. Considering this, it is understandable how many could believe that Wisconsin will get back to the NCAA Tournament this season.

Still, the surrounding core around Happ will need to improve dramatically in order for the team to return to the Big Dance. Quite simply, the Badgers were nowhere near NCAA Tournament consideration last season and it will take more than just a re-running a healthy version of last season’s roster to go dancing. Of course, it is reasonable to think that the team will be much better this season but tempering expectations might also be important.

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