FanPulse shows Badgers hoop fans starting to gain confidence

Coming into Wednesday night Wisconsin basketball appeared to be heading in the right direction after a less than stellar start to the 2019-20 season. After being 5-5, the Badgers rattled off four straight wins, including road wins at Tennessee and Ohio State, to breathe some much needed life into the program.

The win streak not only brought life to the program, but it also brought back some confidence in the fans as this week’s FanPulse numbers have climbed back up to a normal spot. Back in early December fan confidence in the men’s basketball program had dropped to just 48%, but has since risen to 75% after finally putting together a decent run of basketball.

Ebbs and flows seem to define this iteration of Wisconsin basketball, as last night the Badgers dropped a thriller to Illinois at home. After four games of playing collectively sound, defensive focused basketball, the wheels came off and Illinois appeared to make every shot taken. Why? Because every shot seemed to be taken from the block and in. The interior offense and penetration from Illinois was too much for Wisconsin, and a less than stellar defensive output ensued.

How fan confidence rises or falls over the next few weeks will likely follow the results of this next stretch in the Big Ten. Last night’s game was a big one for both teams, but things don’t get any easier for Wisconsin as they take on three ranked teams over the course of the next eight days. Two of them are road trips to Penn State and the leagues top team in Michigan State. In between that is a bout with a very tough Maryland team in Madison. Confidence will likely fall, or rise, depending on the result of this seemingly make or break stretch for Wisconsin basketball.