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Sunday morning was a college basketball nerd’s Christmas as Ken Pomeroy updated his rankings for the 2022 season. The Wisconsin Badgers are sitting at No. 44 nationally and No. 9 in the Big Ten which seems about right for the conference but I was honestly a little surprised at how high they were nationally.
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Per usual, unless Frank Kaminsky is on the court, it will be the defense that carries the load for the Badgers this season. KenPom sees them as the No. 16 most efficient defense in the country while on offense he has them rated as the No. 82 most efficient team in the country. Sitting in the lower-middle of the Big Ten, between Indiana and Northwestern, the Badgers are probably going to be a team on the bubble all season.
Bart Torvik has UW as the No. 54 team in the country, No. 11 on defense and No. 158 (!!!) on offense. He also has Wisconsin as the ninth best team in the Big Ten, sandwiched between Northwestern and Rutgers. Bleak. Their predicted record is 16-13 overall and 9-11 in conference.
Kenpom preseason numbers for the Big Ten are pretty similar to T-Rank, with remarkable exception of Iowa. So now I have another reason to root against Iowa. pic.twitter.com/29g1l6u7gh
— Bart T rvik (@totally_t_bomb) October 17, 2021
As we have mentioned many times before, this is going to be a rebuilding season for Wisconsin. There are a ton of new faces that will be filling roles on this year’s time and, as we’ve also said many times before, that’s exciting. Expectations for this year’s team are minimal and that will allow the team time to explore lineups and strategies.