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Wisconsin Basketball: 5 things the Badgers need for Christmas in 2018

By Austin Walther

MADISON, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 13: Ethan Happ #22 of the Wisconsin Badgers dunks the ball in the second half against the Savannah State Tigers at the Kohl Center on December 13, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MADISON, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 13: Ethan Happ #22 of the Wisconsin Badgers dunks the ball in the second half against the Savannah State Tigers at the Kohl Center on December 13, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – MARCH 15: Christian James #0 of the Oklahoma Sooners goes up for a basket against Andre Berry #34 of the Rhode Island Rams during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – MARCH 15: Christian James #0 of the Oklahoma Sooners goes up for a basket against Andre Berry #34 of the Rhode Island Rams during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

3. Wisconsin needs Oklahoma to win at least (10) Big 12 games

The thing that gets overlooked so often in college basketball is that teams need to hope their opponents have great seasons. Resumes are built by beating good teams. As it stands, Xavier and Stanford aren’t going to be that great this season. Which is going to make those possible quadrant three wins. That isn’t going to look the best come March. But there are two opponents that Wisconsin beat who only have one loss which has been to the Badgers.

Oklahoma is the first team. Not that they’re better, but just because they were the first. This was a 20-point win on a neutral court. The Sooners had just knocked off Florida the day before which stood as its best win in the early goings. The fear of the Gators failing expectations this season along with Oklahoma not being that great was certainly warranted.

Fast-forward to right before the start of Big 12 play and the Sooners haven’t lost. They went on to beat Dayton the next day. Oklahoma gave North Texas its only loss of the season so far and defeated Notre Dame on a neutral court. They also took care of Wichita State, USC, Creighton and Northwestern. Despite losing a guy who had one of the best three-point shooting performances in a single college basketball season, they look to be just as good.

The fact that they’re not ranked is a little absurd. They just finished an overtime thriller against the Wildcats which should put them in the top-25. Christian James needs to start getting national recognition. He’s averaging just under 18 points per game, seven boards and two assists while hitting 29 triples this season. They can go really deep and Lon Kruger has done a fantastic job of transitioning away from the short-lived Trae Young era.

What better way to start Big 12 play than open it up with the number one team in the country, Kansas on Jan. 2. They’re traveling to Lawrence and Oklahoma knows that they have every possibility to win that game. Texas Tech comes two games later. The Big 12 plays everyone twice. Winning 10 games or more in the Big 12 will more than likely put them in the top-five which is tremendous on how brutal that conference can get.

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