Wisconsin awarded 8 seed, will face Virginia Tech in round of 64
By Ben Hertel
The Badgers came up short in the Big Ten Championship game, and face a tough Virginia Tech team before a possible matchup versus Villanova.
About a half hour before the brackets were released, the Badgers dropped the Big Ten Championship game to Michigan. The game was a lot closer than the final score will indicate, as the last two or so minutes got away from the red and white.
Derrick Walton torched the Badgers for 22, and Koenig led the Badgers with 15. Walton was player of the tournament, and it was pretty fitting for Michigan to win after the week they had with the plane crash.
Before Sunday, many of the speculative brackets done by the bracketology experts had the Badgers anywhere from a 5-7 seed. It really felt like they turned the corner again after a tough stretch to end the regular season.
CBS released the brackets, and the Badgers wound up with the 8 seed in the East. They open with Virginia Tech in Buffalo next week, and a win would mean a second round matchup with the defending champions, Villanova.
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Bucky’s first round matchup is going to be a very tough one. The Hokies, who are coached by former Marquette head coach Buzz Williams, average just under 80 points per game. 3 point shooting is Virginia Tech’s calling card, as they average 9 made threes a game, and shoot 40% from beyond the arc. Virginia Tech has had a great season and beat Virginia, Michigan, Duke, Miami, and most recently Wake Forest.
Zach LeDay and Seth Allen lead the way for Tech. LeDay is a 6’7 forward who averaged 16 points and 7 boards per game on the season. Allen averages 13 points per game, and there are 3 other Hokies who average at least 9 points per game. Tech’s fourth-leading scorer and second leading rebounder Chris Clarke tore his ACL last month and is out for the season.
Wisconsin is ranked 302 in 3 point defense this season. If the Badgers don’t defend the three-point line next week, they will be run out of the gym. Rebounding will also be a key to victory. Virginia Tech has had trouble rebounding, as they are at a -2.1 rebounding margin for the season. That puts them at 267 in the country. Happ, Hayes and the other bigs need to dominate the paint on both ends.
Bronson Koenig and the other guards will absolutely need to hit some threes to keep Wisconsin in the game. Wisconsin also needs to slow the pace of the game down, so working at a slower tempo and burning clock will be advantageous. Fewer possessions for the Hokies equals less three-point attempts.
Wisconsin has opened as a 4 point favorite, according to Oddsshark, and it will be interesting to see throughout the week how much that gets bet up or down.
Should the Badgers happen to survive, they would get a date with Villanova. Villanova is somewhat similar to Virginia Tech, except better. Josh Hart and company won the Big East regular-season title and the conference tournament.
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Virginia, Baylor, Marquette, Florida, SMU, and Duke are also in the East region, which seems like this years “Region of Death.” Can the Badgers come out of the East? Absolutely, but it will be a tall task for Greg Gard and company.