Following an impressive season-opening win against Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, the Badgers play host to this weekend's America's Youth Classic, a three-game round robin tournament hosted at the Kohl Center.
The first game on Thursday matches Wisconsin against Savannah State of the Independent League. Last season, the Tigers finished 12-18, with then-No. 22 Marquette serving as the only ranked foe the team faced all season. Savannah State was dominated in that matchup, losing to the Golden Eagles by 18 points. Coming into this season, the Tigers face more uncertainty having lost its two leading scorers, Javon Randolph and Josh Obiajunwa.
The loss of those two players should really hurt any chance Savannah State has of hanging with the Badgers. In addition, Wisconsin should be able to dominate on the glass and in the paint with the staggering height differential between the two teams. The Tigers have only two players taller than 6'7\. By contrast, Wisconsin has five, led by seniors Brian Butch and Greg Stiemsma.
In the Badgers' season-opening victory, Butch continued the dominance he displayed much of last season, scoring 24 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. The Badgers should be able to control the boards and coast to an easy victory in front of the home crowd.
On Friday, the home team plays Florida A&M, a program that showed marked improvement in 2006. Last season, the Rattlers finished 21-13, nearly making the NCAA Tournament before losing to Niagara in the play-in game that would have gotten them into the field of 64. This year's squad, however, is unlikely to match that level of success, as three of their top four scorers graduated.
The Badgers should be able to exploit the inexperience and size of Florida A&M's guards. Sophomore Trevon Hughes, fresh off an impressive 25-point performance in the season opener, and senior guard Michael Flowers should be able to flourish and put up some impressive statistics in what figures to be a lopsided affair.
The most high profile team the Badgers will face this weekend comes in the tournament finale against Colorado. High profile, in this case, does not exactly mean high quality.
The Buffaloes are coming off a disastrous 2006 season which they finished 7-20 and seemed to be affected by head coach Richard Patton's pre-season announcement that it would be his final year coaching in Boulder, Col.
Under new head coach Jeff Bzedelik, Colorado faces a plethora of challenges in 2007, but still are very dangerous with the return of one key player. Senior guard Richard Roby contemplated leaving school after last season to enter the NBA draft. However, he decided to return for one final year to boost his draft stock.
Last year, Roby averaged over 17 points per game and was one of the best players in the Big 12 Conference. In the team's season opening loss to New Mexico, however, Roby was completely shut down, scoring just one point and turning the ball over five times.
Despite the poor performance, the Buffaloes offense will continue to run through him. Shutting down Roby will be the key on Saturday, because when he gets hot, he dominates the flow of the game.
Against three weaker opponents, the America's Youth Classic tournament provides a good chance for the Badgers to kick off the season with a sense of confidence. With ranked opponents Duke and Marquette looming on the horizon, a fast start this weekend could go a long way this season.
