Wisconsin Basketball in March, A to Z (Part 3)

With the NCAA Tournament just over a week away for the Wisconsin Badgers, I want to examine this year’s squad, A-Z, to hit some of the highlights and try to make some sense out of things. We’ve gotten through Parts 1 and 2 of this series. Now, let’s finish things off with Part 3.

R is for Ready For Anything: The NCAA Tournament Committee has seemingly always been a bit rough on the Badgers. When they’re not being under-seeded, they might get shipped off to Denver to play BYU in a quasi-home game for the Cougs, one of the hottest teams in the field. Gard’s crew would be best served by expecting shenanigans on Sunday evening.

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S is for Seeding: Yes, I just advised that they need to be ready for anything, but favorable seeding is a good thing. A 6-seed is better than a 7-seed in most situations, as you get to avoid a 2-seed in round two.

So, here’s hoping the Committee rewards the Badgers with what most prognosticators think should be a 6 rather than where the NET Rankings, taken alone, would project them (currently a 7).

T is for Turnovers: The Badgers hold onto the ball so well (currently 8th in college basketball in turnover rate) that we take it for granted. But in Wisconsin’s worst showings this season, that number has generally ballooned (see at Ohio State, at Oregon).

Yes, 3-point shooting will be the biggest bellwether for Wisconsin, but limiting giveaways will be sneakily important.

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U is for Unselfish: To be clear, selfish play hasn’t really been a thing for the Badgers this season, but it bears repeating that this squad has been at its best when its top two guys, John Blackwell and Nick Boyd, are both locked in and feeling it. There have been a few games where it hasn’t felt that way, but last Saturday at Purdue is a perfect example of just how good these two can be together.

V is for Vengeance: No, Wisconsin likely won’t face a team in this tournament that it lost to in ’25-26, but I’m speaking more…

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Publish date : 2026-03-10 18:40:00

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