Bracketology 2021: BYU, Purdue and Saint Louis among biggest winners

Wisconsin

The first few weeks of the college basketball season have shown us that the Big Ten is still one of, if not the very best conference in the nation. Wisconsin entered the season with high expectations, even in that tough league, but their play over the first few weeks of the season has certainly dulled some of those expectations from the national media.

If a 37-point win over a ranked Louisville squad doesn’t help the Badgers, then nothing will. Pair that with a great win over a Loyola team that will likely win the MVC and you’ve got a very solid week from the Badgers. This Wisconsin team offers a balanced offensive attack, and it was on full display against the Cardinals. They won’t make 64% of their 3-pointers every night, but a 20-point effort from Micah Potter (12.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg) led the way in a dominant effort.

The difficult thing for Wisconsin, even after their win against Louisville, is that they are still likely the third or fourth-best team in the Big Ten. We’ll get a better idea of how these Big Ten teams stack up when they start battling in the coming weeks, but it’s hard to say that Wisconsin is ahead of either Iowa or Michigan State at this point.

Still, this was a powerful win down the stretch, especially if Louisville can take advantage of an ACC that seems to be coming apart at the seams. Wisconsin reminded us that this team, both on offense and defense, can win big games. They’ve certainly put last week’s loss at Marquette in the rearview window as Big Ten play beckons.