NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Purdue, Villanova soaring up the top-25

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 27: Cole Swider #10, Eric Paschall #4, Phil Booth #5, and Collin Gillespie #2 of the Villanova Wildcats watch the game from the bench against the Seton Hall Pirates in the second half at the Wells Fargo Center on January 27, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Villanova defeated Seton Hall 80-52. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

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MADISON, WISCONSIN – JANUARY 19: The Wisconsin Badgers bench celebrates. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

24. Wisconsin Badgers

Record: 14-6 (6-3 Big Ten)

Last Week: Not Ranked

Welcome back to the top-25! After dropping out of the rankings following losing four of five, the Wisconsin Badgers have won their last three games, including one at home against Michigan. And while victories over Illinois (away) and Northwestern (home) are not all that impressive, the fact that Wisconsin was able to take care of business is why they are back in the rankings. Quite simply, just about every other team on the fringe of the rankings dropped games, leaving the door over for the Badgers to swoop in.

Wisconsin, while showing signs of weakness throughout the year, is still loved by predictive metrics and therefore there is little reason to believe that this hot streak will end soon. With that said, though, the Badgers are about to enter the most difficult stretch remaining on their schedule. Over the next couple of weeks, Wisconsin will face off against Nebraska (away), Maryland (home), Minnesota (away), and Michigan (away). The expectation should be that Wisconsin goes at least 2-2 during that stretch.

After that portion of the schedule, though, Wisconsin finishes with a very favorable slate. Given this, the Badgers should be in line for favorable (possibly even protected) seed in the NCAA Tournament.

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