This is the year the Badgers go to the Elite Eight, and I'll tell you why.
Flash forward to the Sweet Sixteen (yes, I'm taking that for granted). Wisconsin will likely draw No. 1 seed Kentucky, a team that lost only two games this season and boasts an embarassing glutton of talent. No team has a better composition and plays a better style to beat Kentucky than Wisconsin.
Wisconsin will, as usual, play a disciplined game. On offense it will work the ball around, melt the shot clock and often get off good shot attempts. The Badgers do not turn the ball over. According to cbssports.com, they rank first in the entire country in turnovers per game, with 8.9.
Kentucky will not get the explosive fast break opportunities off steals and bad shoots like it has all season in the SEC. Unless the Badgers turn in a freakishly bad shooting performance like they did in the Big Ten Tournament against Illinois, you can count on them to turn in an efficient offensive game. Perhaps they will not put up a ton of points, but they'll hold the ball and score a high number of points for the number of possessions and shots they'll take.
Defensively, the Badgers will be just as frustrating to the Wildcats. They'll lock Kentucky into man-to-man defense and force bad shots. Sure, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins will get their points, but I want to point back to the inexperience factor.
Wisconsin will slow down the game, keep Kentucky away from run-out situations and force the Wildcats to work hard on offense. The young Wildcats will lose their composure. We've already seen the volatile Cousins lose it this season, screaming at his coach on multiple occasions. Wall will crumble under the pressure of UW's style of play.
I think this is the perfect matchup for Wisconsin, but enjoy it while it lasts.
This tournament, and entire college basketball season, may be a special one because it could mark the final time we see a 64-team tournament. NCAA officials and head coaches are pining for a 96-team tournament—this way the NCAA could pick up some extra cash and coaches would have a better chance to succeed.
If the field was that large, it would completely kill the regular season. A 96-team tournament would make teams with sub-.500 conference records locks for the field, such as Northwestern, Cincinnati and Connecticut, all teams that showed terrible inconsistency this season.
Wisconsin's goal each year to make it into the tournament would require winning seven or so conference games and making sure they have a winning record overall. There would be no need to schedule anyone difficult out of conference anymore. The regular season would take a huge nose dive.
As for the tournament, the opening rounds would become a debacle. Thirty two teams would have a bye, meaning we would see very poor first round matchups. Instead of watching Texas-Wake Forest in an 8-9 matchup, we'd see Utah State vs. Rhode Island in a 16-17 matchup. The thought gives me the chills.
Should the NCAA expand the bracket to 96 teams? E-mail Scott at kellogg2@wisc.edu.
