Bracketology Report: Wisconsin continues to hold in a favorable position

It has been another up and down week for the Badgers after the latest bracketology report. Last Friday, the Badgers came into the weekend as a 2-seed in region one. They then proceeded to drop a home contest to Ohio State and win a somewhat ugly game on the road in a revenge spot against Maryland. With an up and down week where do the Badgers now sit? Let’s take a look.

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Badgers Report

After a win and a loss this week the Badgers did fall down from a 2-seed to a 3-seed. As it sits now the Badgers are currently projected as the 3-seed in region four. In their opening-round matchup Wisconsin would take on the Siena Saints out of the Metro Atlantic Conference. The winner of that game would take on the winner of the 6/11 matchup between the Colorado Buffaloes and St. Bonaventure Bonnies.

Despite dropping down a line the Badgers are still in a very favorable position. Overall, if you’ve watched a lot of Badger games this year I think you’d be happy to be sitting on a 3-seed at this point in time. Wisconsin has won some games but it seems to always be two steps forward, one step back with this team. They’ve yet to put together a complete game against quality competition so at this point I think a 3-seed you will happily take.

Additionally, a 3-seed in region four is probably a better spot than a 2-seed in region one. Last week the other top seeds around the Badgers were the top-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs, 3-seed Kansas, and 4- seed Illinois. In this week’s release, the Badgers are surrounded by a one seed in Villanova, 2-seed in Houston, and 4-seed in Kansas. Based on that I think you’d prefer the latter matchups despite the lower seed overall.

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Big Ten Breakdown

The Big Ten still leads the way with 10 teams projected into the Big Dance. Michigan is still the top seed in region three as they await getting back to the court after a COVID shutdown. Iowa is again on the 2-seed line with Ohio State and Wisconsin both behind on the 3-seed line. Illinois is still listed as a 4-seed and Minnesota a 6-seed.

Purdue comes in as a 7-seed while Indiana comes in as a 10-seed. Rutgers is still in the dance as an 11-seed while Maryland finds their way into the bracket as part of the last four in. The Terps would currently be part of the 12-seed play-in game to start the tournament. Michigan State, who was part of the last four in a week ago, is now projected to miss the tournament along with Duke and Kentucky. 2021 really is crazy too.

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Storyline to Watch

One thing I am really keeping an eye on is the debate between the Big 12 and the Big Ten as the top conference in college basketball. Despite the Big Ten having more teams overall and more top four seeds, many pundits across the country feel that the Big 12 is the best conference in basketball.

Yes, they have Baylor who is undefeated and looking incredible but after that the question marks still arise. Texas or Iowa? Wisconsin or West Virginia? Kansas or Illinois? I think right now all of those games would be pretty close to a toss-up, so it will be interesting to see if the narrative shifts at all as conference play really gets rolling. Iowa and Illinois meet Friday night, while Baylor and Texas square off next Tuesday. With some huge games coming up in both conferences we’ll start to get a more clear picture on who is a real contender not only for their respective conferences but for the NCAA tournament.