Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: Purdue, Maryland make huge leaps

By Austin Walther

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 03: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines reacts from the bench while playing the Penn State Nittany Lions at Crisler Arena on January 03, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 68-55. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 03: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines reacts from the bench while playing the Penn State Nittany Lions at Crisler Arena on January 03, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 68-55. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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MADISON, WISCONSIN – DECEMBER 22: Ethan Happ #22 of the Wisconsin Badgers works against Devante Jackson #25 of the Grambling State Tigers during the second half at Kohl Center on December 22, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MADISON, WISCONSIN – DECEMBER 22: Ethan Happ #22 of the Wisconsin Badgers works against Devante Jackson #25 of the Grambling State Tigers during the second half at Kohl Center on December 22, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

8. Wisconsin Badgers (11-6)

Previous Rank: 4

It is painful for me to rank Wisconsin this low, but so many missed opportunities leave me no choice. As I mentioned with a few other teams, this isn’t a bracketology piece. It’s power rankings. Obviously the Badgers have two great wins in Oklahoma and North Carolina State. The win against Iowa on the road over a month was nice as well. But losing four out of five is certainly going to have some impact.

It all started with Western Kentucky to close out the non-conference slate. Then the Badgers lost to Minnesota at home. They were out for blood at Penn State, but lost again at home to Purdue in overtime and fell in a thriller to Maryland. Wisconsin needed to win two out of those three to maintain a top-five position. Winning at least one would’ve prevented them falling four spots.

The bad part about the losing streak the Badgers are on right now is that it’s giving us flashbacks to the awful season last year. Wisconsin certainly has gone on some pretty bad runs back in the Bo Ryan era, but how is Greg Gard going to respond to this?

It all starts with not having much production on offense. Ethan Happ is terrific. He fits the role of an All-American at 20 points per game, 10.5 boards and almost five assists per game. But D’Mitrik Trice has cooled way down since the first two months of the season. And Brad Davison is adjusting to a new guard role in the starting lineup.

The two other guards off the bench are barely over five points per game apiece. Nate Reuvers is showing great signs as he sparked the comeback from 18 down to Maryland, to give Wisconsin the lead, but he’s still raw. Wisconsin needs to find front court help and get some better Big Ten wins other than Penn State.

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