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Wisconsin basketball notebook: Badgers static in both polls; Frank Kaminsky is player of the week; bracketology

There is also Bracketology news, conference tournament odds and some personal accolades received by a certain detective, who is a credit to the force.

By Drew Hamm Updated
Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

The top-five of both major polls stayed relatively calm, after a shakeup last week with Wisconsin (28-3, 16-2 Big Ten) losing to Maryland (26-5, 14-4 Big Ten), with only Virginia (28-2, 16-2 ACC) and Duke (28-3, 15-3 ACC) switching spots in the AP Poll and the Cavs dropping two spots in the Coaches Poll. The Badgers remained at No. 6 in the final AP Poll and at No. 5 in the final USA Today/Coaches Poll. Kentucky (31-0, 18-0 SEC) finished the regular season as the only team to be ranked No. 1, which probably ties some record.

Wisconsin ended their final week of regular season play with a Border Battle blowout of Minnesota at The Barn and then an extremely satisfying destruction of an Ohio state university in Columbus. The win against the Gophers clinched the outright Big Ten regular-season title for the Badgers and denied Minnesota the chance to brush off the dustiest file in their "Basketball Celebration Cabinet."

The Terps are the only other team to join the Badgers in the rankings this week, sitting at No. 8 in both national polls. The rest of the conference has been a huge disappointment and will be looking to make up for the Big Ten's wounded pride come tourney time. The wins earlier in the season against Oklahoma (21-9, 12-6 Big 12) and Georgetown (20-9, 12-6 Big East) are looking better and better, as both teams ended the regular season ranked. OU is No. 15 in the AP and No. 14 in the Coaches, while the Hoyas are No. 23 in both.

Now that it is March in earnest, none of these polls really matter. Wisconsin's next game is Friday against an opponent to be named later in the Big Ten Tournament.

AP Top 25

Rank School Record Points Prev
1 Kentucky Wildcats (65) 31-0 1,625 1
2 Duke Blue Devils 28-3 1,544 3
3 Virginia Cavaliers 28-2 1,454 2
4 Villanova Wildcats 29-2 1,444 4
5 Arizona Wildcats 28-3 1,360 5
6 Wisconsin Badgers 28-3 1,344 6
7 Gonzaga Bulldogs 30-2 1,229 7
8 Maryland Terrapins 26-5 1,103 10
9 Kansas Jayhawks 24-7 1,040 9
10 Northern Iowa Panthers 30-3 1,037 11
11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 26-5 1,026 12
12 Wichita State Shockers 28-4 797 8
13 Iowa State Cyclones 22-8 786 17
14 Louisville Cardinals 24-7 780 16
15 Oklahoma Sooners 21-9 772 15
16 Baylor Bears 23-8 701 14
17 Utah Utes 23-7 587 13
18 West Virginia Mountaineers 23-8 525 20
19 North Carolina Tar Heels 21-10 406 19
20 SMU Mustangs 24-6 339 22
21 Arkansas Razorbacks 24-7 300 18
22 Butler Bulldogs 22-9 287 21
23 Georgetown Hoyas 20-9 223 33
24 Davidson Wildcats 23-6 99 32
25 Boise State Broncos 24-7 82 27
Others receiving votes: Oregon 69, Providence 63, Ohio State 40, BYU 18, Michigan St 15, LSU 8, Iowa 7, St. John's 6, San Diego St 3, Stephen F. Austin 2, Valparaiso 1, Dayton 1, North Florida 1, Purdue 1

Here are the updated Bracketology projections from three major sources. I'm just going to warn you right now, you won't like who the one-seed is in all of these projections. (Spoiler: it's Kentucky)

  • ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Badgers as a two seed in the Midwest playing Albany. The one time goalie for Albany hockey team was in my wedding, so we'd have a comprehensive breakdown of that matchup here on B5Q if it were to come to pass.
  • SB Nation's Chris Dobbertean has the Badgers as a two seed in the Midwest playing Belmont.
  • CBS Sports' Jerry Palm joins in on the fun and has the Badgers as a two seed in the Midwest *GASP* playing William & Mary.
Everyone's favorite goofball center, Frank Kaminksy, took home some personal hardware this week, being named co-Big Ten player of the week with Dez Wells. Direct from the UW press release: 
  • Averaged 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game in guiding the Badgers to road wins at Minnesota and nationally ranked Ohio State
  • For the week, shot 67.9 percent (19-of-28) from the field and 83.3 percent (5-of-6) from the free throw line
  • Against Minnesota, poured in a game-high 25 points, handed out a career-best seven assists, corralled six rebounds and tallied two steals, as the Badgers secured the outright Big Ten Championship
  • Scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, pulled down five rebounds and dished out three assists against the Buckeyes
  • Currently leads the Big Ten with 10 double-doubles, and averaged 19.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in conference play
  • Earns his sixth career Big Ten Player of the Week honor and fourth this season
  • Last Wisconsin Player of the Week: Frank Kaminsky (Feb. 16, 2015)
Lastly, Bovada has posted their odds for the respective conference tournaments being held this week and the Badgers are the odds on favorite (at 10/11) to cut down the nets in Chicago on Sunday. Ohio State is second at 7/2 and Maryland is tied for fourth at 9/1. For those of you with money burning a hole in your pocket and needing a big underdog to root for, Ball State is 500/1 to win the MAC tournament. Which are the same odds that Rutgers has of winning the Big Ten tournament.

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