Live look at Badger fans after the win at Indiana on Saturday:
Mind boggling that I'm writing a blog on March 9th detailing a Badger regular season Big Ten Championship. Let me whisk you away to Friday night, January 24th:
The Badgers had already been through a lot as a team before their game at Purdue that night. In May, Gard's lead assistant, Howard Moore, was involved in a car accident that took the life of his wife and daughter. Moore and his son survived. Understandably, Moore took the year off from coaching, but that real life tragedy set the tone for a bizarre season for Wisconsin.
Following that, there was the off-the-court drama with Micah Potter's eligibility. Potter was transferring from Ohio State to Wisconsin, sat last year out, and figured he would be eligible at the beginning of the season this year. Nope! The NCAA did what the NCAA does, and that was issue a ruling that defied all logic and common sense, forcing Potter to miss the first 10 games of the season (the team was 5-5 at that point, they are 16-5 with Potter).
That takes us to January 24th. The Badgers hit the road to take on Purdue, already a tough team in that venue, and played like zombies. They got crushed on the glass, and crushed on the scoreboard, 70-51. That would turn out to be Kobe King's last game as a Badger.
Their next game, at Iowa on Monday, January 27th, is where the King story-line picks up. Seemingly out of nowhere, the redshirt sophomore, the team's leading scorer in Big Ten play, decided to not make the trip. The Badgers played well, but eventually lost to a good Hawkeye team, 68-62. After the game, King's teammates were forced to not only discuss the loss, but what was going on with King.
That Friday, January 30th, King left the program.
The next day was what I would peg as the first in a series of galvanizing moments. Fresh off of the King drama, the Badgers went out and beat #14 Michigan State at the Kohl Center, 64-63. It was their third victory over a top 20 team, proving that even without King, they had what it took to beat top teams in the country.
Like a lot of Badgers fans, I expected that game to be a springboard. The next game, however, was a massive letdown. The team traveled to Minnesota and not only lost, but got squashed. The only battle that night was Richard Pitino's continuing battle against his hairline. Final score, 70-52, very similar to the Purdue game.
That loss left the team at 13-10, 6-6 in Big Ten play, and with a LOT of fans starting a, '#firegard,' trend on social media. Two days later, the strength and conditioning coach was fired for using a racial slur while retelling a story about his days in the NBA. More drama.
What happened after that was nothing short of remarkable. It turned out that the Michigan State game was a springboard, we just had to wait out the one blip on the radar in Minnesota. With the 2000 Final Four reunion before their next game, they swept the season series against Ohio State. Then they took down Nebraska on the road, before getting revenge against Purdue at the Kohl Center.
They won another revenge game against Rutgers at home, and all of a sudden, it felt like this team was starting to click. They went on the road to #19 Michigan and won. They won yet another get-back game against the Gophers at the Kohl Center, three days later they handled a bad Northwestern team.
Then they hit the road on Saturday, at Indiana, a team desperate to bolster their NCAA Tournament resume, on Senior Day. Down 9 points in the 2nd half, they battled back. Undertaker.gif type of stuff. Potter was grabbing offensive rebounds, Brad Davison was hitting big shots instead of other players in the nuts, and the Badgers took it, 60-56. Between the Moore tragedy, the battle with Potter's eligibility, the King drama, the strength coach drama, Gard was emotional after the win:
Crazy.
And this morning? From #firegard, to #bigtencoachoftheyear. They end up sharing the regular season title with Michigan State and Maryland, but because of tiebreakers, they are the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament this week.
Now what happens in the postseason? I have no idea. It feels like this team is equally likely to lose a first round game, or make a Final Four run. At this point, how can you doubt them? They've had more drama than a Real Housewives episode, overcame it all, and are headed to a #3 or #4 seed for the tournament next week. On.
PS: Conversely, Marquette's annual February collapse continued with another loss at St. John's on Saturday. They end up having to face #8 Seton Hall in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament on Thursday. If they don't win that, I think they're going to go from a projected #5 seed to being out of the NCAA Tournament in two weeks.
Double PS: Me watching Giannis' knee buckle in Los Angeles on Friday night:
He played the remainder of the game, which was encouraging. What wasn't encouraging? A 'precautionary MRI' announced on Saturday. Fortunately, it revealed only a minor sprain of a joint capsule in his knee. I don't even know what that is, but Lindsey assured me it's a 2 week situation at worst. 70 wins is probably off of the table after back to back losses this weekend anyway, just rest him as long as he needs it until the playoffs.
