Butler presents opportunity for Badgers to change postseason reputation
by Adam Hoge on Mar 23, 2011 2:15 PM CDT
in Wisconsin Badgers Basketball
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Earlier this week we asked you if Wisconsin's wins over Belmont and Kansas State changed the Badgers' recent postseason reputation.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 65 percent said "a little", 21 percent said "a lot" and 13 percent said "not at all."
I'm with the majority. You can't ignore the significance of a Sweet 16 berth, but the reality is that Wisconsin got to this point by living up to their recent postseason reputation: winning in the first round and beating a BCS school later on.
Now comes the hard part: beating a lower-seeded non-BCS school.
Eighth-seeded Butler -- Wisconsin's opponent Thursday night in New Orleans -- falls under the third part of UW's postseason reputation. You know, the part that includes getting knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by non-BCS schools in each of the last four seasons.
And that's why even with Bo Ryan's third Sweet 16 berth at Wisconsin, not much has changed regarding UW's postseason reputation.
Wisconsin's NCAA Tournament history since 2005
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Wins 2005 (No. 6 seed) 2007 (No. 2 seed) 2008 (No. 3 seed) 2009 (No. 12 seed) 2010 (No. 4 seed) 2011 (No. 4 seed) |
Losses 2005 (No. 6 seed) 2006 (No. 9 seed) 2007 (No. 2 seed) 2008 (No. 3 seed) 2009 (No. 12 seed) 2010 (No. 4 seed)
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What's incredible when you look at UW's recent postseason history is how much help the Badgers have received in the NCAA Tournament. Of the 16 NCAA Tournament games Wisconsin has played since 2005, only four of them have been against higher-seeded teams and only one of them was against a one, two, or three seed.
Unfortunately, other than 2005, the Badgers haven't been able to take advantage of that help too often. In 2008, Davidson's upset over Georgetown gave UW an easier path to the Elite Eight, but Stephen Curry shut that road down by dropping 33 points on the Badgers in Detroit in a 73-56 laugher.
And last season, Cornell's upset over Temple in the first round gave Wisconsin an easier path to the Sweet 16, but the Big Red then blitzed the Badgers in an 87-69 beatdown in Jacksonville.
You could almost argue it would have been better if No. 1 Pittsburgh hadn't lost to Butler last weekend. I kid, but honestly, this year's tournament has set up a similar hurdle that UW hasn't been able to clear in the past.
If the Badgers want to change their recent postseason reputation a win over the Bulldogs would go a long way.
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Butler's going to be tough
Over the past two years Butler has played their best when it mattered the most. I don’t expect tomorrow to be any different. Hopefully Sconnie can rise to the challenge and take the next step towards changing their reputation.
Agree somewhat on the "Help" point....
You make the assertion that the Badgers have been helped greatly in the NCAA tourney in recent years. I don’t dispute that for 2005 and we were certainly helped that year.
But in the other years we were “helped” seedwise, we ran into Davidson and Cornell. I think both of those teams acquitted themselves quite well both before and after our loss to them and I think were way better (or at least played much better) than the seed they actually had. I don’t feel terrible about those losses in retrospect. So I’m not sure we were “helped” at all in 2008 or 2010. See also, VCU’s “help” to Purdue in 2011. The terrible losses, IMO, were Zona and UNLV (the worst). I think we truly underperformed those years, though it had nothing to do with “help.”
Purdue is a much better team than VCU.
They just crapped the bed. Same thing with the Badgers in 08 against Davidson and 10 vs Cornell. Those teams were good, but weren’t better than Wisconsin. The Badgers just didn’t show up.
Bucky's 5th Quarter. SB Nation's Wisconsin Badgers community.
What's astonishing
is that VCU’s best player from last year is currently in the NBA (Larry Sanders).
Editor at BT Powerhouse, a Big Ten Basketball blog.
Author at Acme Packing Company, a Green Bay Packers blog
Fighting the Battle of Who Could Care Less since 12/29/09
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Mar 24, 2011 12:35 AM CDT up reply actions
I don't agree with the helped thing at all.
Both Cornell and Davidson were underseeded due to the conferences they played in. Pretty much everybody knew those teams were going to be dangerous during tournament play and they definintley proved that.
by combatsports4life on Mar 24, 2011 12:42 AM CDT reply actions
But
not one of those teams was back in the tournament the next year. Davidson missed out on their auto-bid, and Cornell flamed out and crashed. UNLV was back the next year after they beat us (one of the more infuriating NCAA tournaments of all-time), as was that 05-06 Lute Olsen-coached Arizona team.
Editor at BT Powerhouse, a Big Ten Basketball blog.
Author at Acme Packing Company, a Green Bay Packers blog
Fighting the Battle of Who Could Care Less since 12/29/09
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Mar 24, 2011 5:33 PM CDT up reply actions
But
Davidson had Curry that year who should have been a top five pick. also was it 2007 when butch blew out his elbow in the big ten tourney? If so that loss doesn’t hurt as much. Of all of them last year’s loss is the worse to me.
Every man must believe in something, I believe I'll have another drink.
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