24. Wisconsin (9-2)
Things with Wisconsin basketball just haven’t been the same since Bo Ryan retired in 2015, but that doesn’t mean successor Greg Gard has done a bad job with this program. He’s led the Badgers to a couple of Sweet Sixteen’s and this season’s team looks like it could compete for a similar type of run, especially if they can get hot in March.
One of the early surprises of the season was when Wisconsin won the Maui Invitational, with a fantastic win over a very talented Houston team among the success of that week. The Badgers have picked up wins over Indiana, Marquette, Saint Mary’s, and Texas A&M, but their losses to Providence and Ohio State exposed some of their struggles. This is not a great shooting team, though they were able to survive against a feisty Nicholls State team a few weeks ago without Jonathan Davis, who has been their best player.
At this point, it’s hard to know exactly what to think about Wisconsin, though some of those answers will come with Big Ten play ramping up in the coming weeks. The Badgers have a rough game at Purdue right after New Year’s, and that’s just the beginning of the onslaught of conference play. The Badgers play great defense and avoid turnovers on offense, but it remains to be seen if they can keep up that level of success against the rigors of that Big Ten schedule.