This year's men's NCAA basketball tournament has been full of surprises, none of which are greater than the success of the Wisconsin Badgers.
This past weekend the Badgers, along with Michigan State, Florida, and North Carolina, advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1941. Seeded eighth in the West, Wisconsin, along with North Carolina, is the lowest ranked team in the Final Four since 1986. Wisconsin and North Carolina also have the most losses, thirteen, of any Final Four team ever. But while the Tar Heels were a popular preseason pick to make the Final Four, the Badgers have come out of nowhere.
In fact, at one point in the season Wisconsin was 12-11 and had little chance of making the NCAA tournament at all. Their season took a positive turn as they went on a late season run to secure an at-large bid in the tournament. Coming into the tournament, however, some doubted that the Badgers had what it takes to win one game, let alone four in a row to reach the Final Four. Although Wisconsin has one of the best defenses in the country, its offense, led by Mark Vershaw who averages only 11.9 points per game, for much of the season has been weak, boring, and ineffective.
This ineptitude on the offensive end would be the downfall of the Badgers in the first round, many thought, as they faced Fresno State, a run and gun team that featured the leading scorer in the nation, Courtney Alexander. Wisconsin, however, was more than up to the challenge and handled Fresno relatively easily. The Badgers' tough defense shut down Alexander and forced Fresno into a plethora of poor shots and ill-advised passes. On the offensive end, unlikely hero Jon Bryant led the Badgers with 21 points off of seven three pointers.
In the second round, the Badgers faced Arizona, the number one seed in the West. Again, the Badgers shut down one of the most athletic teams in the field, scoring one of the biggest upsets of the tournament with a 66-59 victory over the Wildcats, whose young stars were unable to handle Wisconsin's stifling defense. The Badgers appeared to be much more mature than the Wildcats and better-equipped to handle the pressure-filled atmosphere of the NCAA tournament.
By defeating Arizona, the Badgers advanced to the Sweet Sixteen to face Louisiana State University, who had defeated Southeast Missouri State and Texas in the first two rounds. After witnessing in person the first and second performances of Wisconsin and LSU, I felt that there was no way the Badgers had a chance. LSU appeared to be too powerful inside with future NBA first-round draft picks Stromile Swift and Jabari Smith.
Wisconsin, however, once again proved their critics wrong and easily took care of LSU by effectively double teaming Swift and Smith whenever they touched the ball and holding each to only 12 points. On offense, the Badgers were again led by Bryant, who scored 16 points.
Wisconsin's least surprising tournament victory came over fellow Big Ten member Purdue in the West Regional Final with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Having defeated Purdue in two out of three previous meetings this season, it was no surprise that the consistent Badgers were able to do it again, as they were led to a four point victory by clutch free-throw shooting and another strong performance from Jon Bryant.
On Saturday, at the Final Four in Indianapolis, the Badgers will again be the underdog as they face Michigan State in a national semifinal game. In their last 13 games, Wisconsin's only three losses came at the hands of Michigan State, the team most consider the favorite to win the national title. The mental factor of knowing that they couldn't beat Michigan State in previous tries may be too much of an obstacle for Wisconsin to overcome. Michigan State also has Final Four experience, having reached the national semifinals last year before falling to Duke.
If the Badgers are able to pull off another unlikely victory against Michigan State they will face either Florida or North Carolina in the championship game on Monday, both of whom are bigger and more athletic than Wisconsin. If they make it that far, no one should be surprised if the Badgers are able to take home the trophy.
