Badgers stay put in latest AP Top 25 Poll

Like clockwork, every Monday, the new AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll drops and fans all over the country pore over it to see who is currently being DISRESPECTED by the national media, or ignore it until March ... whatever. This week, our own Wisconsin Badgers remained rated as the 16th-best team in the nation.

The Badgers (9–2, 2–0 Big Ten) only played once last week and came away with a breezy 101–60 victory over soon-to-be D-II Savannah State at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin set multiple nice offensive records in the game, including the single-game record for points scored in a half (69).

Brad Davison led the way with 24 points and Ethan Happ had 18 points and 11 rebounds for another double-double. With the absence of backup point guard Trevor Andersen, true freshman Tai Strickland was in line for more minutes and he took advantage. Strickland dropped 14 points (3-of-4 from distance) and added six dimes in 17 minutes of run.

Wisconsin is still in the midst of #ExamSzn and only plays one game this week. The Badgers are back in action on Saturday when they tipoff with Grambling State at 11 a.m. CST at the Kohl Center. The Tigers are probably the best team in the SWAC but, uh, that is kind of like saying they’re the most handsome B5Q writer. Not exactly a deep field of talent.

The top five received a bit of a shakeup as Gonzaga lost twice last week and fell to eighth. Kansas stays at No. 1 followed by Duke, Tennessee, Michigan, and Virginia. Michigan State (10th) joins its state-mate in the top 10 and the rest of the top 25 features roughly 1 million B1G teams: Ohio State (15th), Indiana (22nd), Iowa (23rd), and Nebraska (25th). Maryland, Purdue, and Minnesota are all among the “others receiving votes.”