Bucky’s Fan Favorite Tournament Sweet 16: (1) Devin Harris vs. (4) Joe Krabbenhoft

With COVID-19 crushing everyone’s March Madness vibe, we at B5Q crafted our own tournament to determine which basketball player from the past 20 years was the biggest fan favorite.

With two rounds in the books, we now enter crunch time. It’s the Sweet 16 baby.

For the Sweet 16, we will be dropping two pairings from a singular region each day in separate articles. We at B5Q will state the case for each player, and it is up to you the fans to vote and ultimately decide who moves on and who is eliminated.

First, we turn our attention to the South Region. Just like the first two rounds, the voting window closes at midnight each day, so get those votes in quick.

You can check out the players still vying for the title in the complete bracket...Bucky's Fan Favorite Tournament Bracket.pdf.

The first contest in the South Region is between No. 1 seed Devin Harris and No. 4 seed Joe Krabbenhoft

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

The case for Devin Harris:

While Wauwatosa native Devin Harris only spent three seasons at Wisconsin, he was still a part of three championship teams. Harris and the Badgers won the 2002 and 2003 B1G regular season championship, as well as the 2004 B1G Tournament. Harris was the 2004 B1G Player of the Year and a B1G Tournament Most Outstanding Player and was also a Wooden Award All-American that season.

During Harris’ sophomore season, Wisconsin won the B1G title outright, for the first time since 1947. In the title-clinching victory over No. 14 Illinois Harris won the game, hitting a free throw with four-tenths of a second left.

Harris appeared in three NCAA Tournaments, reaching the Sweet 16 as a sophomore, while losing in the second round the other two seasons.

For his career Harris averaged 14.8 points, four rebounds, three assists and shot 45 percent from the field in 96 contests.

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The case for Joe Krabbenhoft:

While Joe Krabbenhoft is not a member of Wisconsin’s 1,000 point club, he was an important part of Wisconsin’s success during his four-year Badger career. Krabbenhoft made 70 starts and was on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team in 2006 and on the All-Big Ten Defensive Team in 2008, when Wisconsin won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles.

As a senior captain in 2009, Krabbenhoft earned the B1G Medal of Honor award and received honorable mentioned All-B1G honors.

Wisconsin made four NCAA Tournament appearances while Krabbenhoft was a Badger, reaching the Sweet 16 during his junior season. Wisconsin finished with a 100-36 record during Krabbenhoft’s tenure.

Krabbenhoft finished with 827 points, 756 rebounds and 273 assists as a Badger, making him the first player in Wisconsin history (prior to Ethan Happ) to post at least 750 boards and 250 assists, and just the fifth player in Big Ten history to reach those milestones.

Krabbenhoft joined Wisconsin’s coaching staff as an assistant in 2016.

For his career Krabbenhoft averaged 6.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and two assists while shooting 46 percent from the field in 136 games.