Wisconsin Badgers: Expert predictions for March Madness
By Paul Bretl
March Madness is finally here and there are mixed results when it comes to the experts’ opinions on how far they think the Wisconsin Badgers will advance.
Our Wisconsin Badgers are back in the NCAA tournament as the fifth seed in the South region after missing the Big Dance completely in 2018. It was a nice bounce-back season for the Badgers led by senior Ethan Happ who put up impressive numbers across the board.
Overall the Wisconsin Badgers finished the season 23-10, including a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten’s regular season. However, there were a number of ups and downs this year as Wisconsin would lose four out of five games at one point and later in the season, lose three of five. Yet, as of late they are playing some good basketball and have won six out of their last eight games.
The predictions below are from CBS Sports’ college basketball experts and out of the seven brackets, we see varying opinions in regards to how far Wisconsin will make it, which is understandable given what we have seen this season.
Gary Parrish
Losing to Oregon in the round of 64.
Matt Norlander
Losing to Virginia in the Sweet Sixteen.
Jerry Palm
Losing to Virginia in the Sweet Sixteen.
Chip Patterson
Losing to Oregon in the round of 64.
Kyle Boone
Losing to Kansas State in the round of 32.
Dennis Dodd
Losing to Oregon in the round of 64.
Josh Nagel
Losing to Virginia in the Sweet 16.
From week to week or even game to game, it is difficult to know which Badger team we will see on the court, which explains the inconsistencies we see above. At times it feels as if they can beat anyone, while it can also feel like they could lose to just about anyone.
Ethan Happ is an incredibly hard matchup for most teams and with Wisconsin’s slower tempo and fantastic defense they are rarely out of any game. In recent weeks they have received a huge boost offensively from Khalil Iverson who has averaged 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds over the last eight games, which will need to continue if they hope to have success in March.
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On the other hand, this is a team that struggles with outside shooting, has erratic bench scoring, and is one of the worst free throw shooting teams in the country. Three attributes that could lead to an early exit in the tournament.
The Wisconsin Badgers’ first-round opponent is the red-hot Oregon Ducks who enter the tournament riding an eight-game winning streak, which includes capturing the Pac-12 tournament crown. Similar to the Badgers they play great defense and often times use a lineup where four of the five players are 6’9″ or taller. This could make things difficult for Happ and Iverson in the post, so Wisconsin’s outside shooters better be clicking. If Wisconsin doesn’t play well, this could very well turn into the classic 12 over 5 upset.
For the experts who have Wisconsin advancing to the round of 32, all but one bracket has them playing Kansas State. This season, the Wildcats took home a share of the Big-12 regular-season title but would lose in the tournament to eventual champion Iowa State.
This is a matchup that the Wisconsin defense could exploit as Kansas State has struggled shooting as of late, making just 40.5 percent overall and 31.9 percent from three since late February. As a whole they are a poor rebounding team as well, coming into the tournament ranked 263rd out of all division one teams in rebounds per game which could lead to a number of second-chance opportunities for Wisconsin’s bigs. Despite Kansas State being a four seed, this is a game that while it will be close, given the matchup I would expect the Badgers to win.
The furthest that any of the brackets have the Wisconsin Badgers going is to the Sweet Sixteen, where they lose to number one seed Virginia each time. The two schools met earlier in the season and the Cavaliers walked away with the win 53-46. Virginia’s defense absolutely smothered the Wisconsin offense limiting them to only 48 total shot attempts, forced 11 turnovers and allowed just three free throws. For a Badger offense that can struggle to score, this would be a difficult matchup, but just last year we saw Virginia fall victim to the magic of March.
dark. Next. Wisconsin has tough match up against red-hot Oregon
The beauty of March Madness is that almost anything can happen and while the Wisconsin Badgers have their limitations if they can get hot at the right time they have the ability to make some noise in the tournament.