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Bracketology 2023: 5 games to help sort out Big Ten Basketball this week

By Jason Burgess

Jan 11, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten logo on the floor at the Kohl Center before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 11, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten logo on the floor at the Kohl Center before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /
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Northwestern’s Chase Audige 221204 Msu Northwestern Bball 124a
Northwestern’s Chase Audige 221204 Msu Northwestern Bball 124a /

No. 18 Wisconsin at Northwestern

Saturday, January 21, Evanston, IL 12:00 PM ET, Big Ten Network

Wisconsin’s second game of the week sees them traveling to Evanston, Illinois to take on the surprise of the conference, the 12-5 Northwestern Wildcats. Both teams sit tied in the conference standings with a 3-3 record, but right now it’s the Wildcats who have the resume edge with a NET rating of 54, three quad 1 wins, and leading Wisconsin in every predictive metric. As I said when talking about their game with Penn State, this is an important stretch for the No. 18 ranked Badgers with these two games coming on the heels of three straight losses.

Chris Collins’ Wildcats have quietly amassed their 12-5 record, but their best win prior to this week was a one-point squeaker over No. 15 Indiana. However, credit where it’s due, the Wildcats have won seven of 10 since losing two in a row to Auburn and Pittsburgh in late November and look every bit of a tournament team right now.

But the Wildcats’ resume looks like a bubble team right now and their 310th-ranked non-conference strength of schedule is going to hurt unless they can continue to get wins over the teams like Wisconsin that remain on their schedule.

Next. Latest top-25 power rankings. dark

This is a game where these two teams can make a case to be the second-best team in the Big Ten, which seems perfect for a topsy-turvy conference that had Wisconsin and Northwestern picked in the back half of the conference and the two teams picked to finish first and second, Indiana and Illinois find themselves near the bottom.

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