Wisconsin Basketball 2025-26

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

17 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

You & me both😄.

Do you make more from a buy game after the payout, then you would taking a guarantee from a Southern Illinois, Bradley, Western Ky, etc? Good question. My guess is you do make a bit more staying home; just a guess though. Do they make more on the TV deals? For sure. But that's a slice of the pie everyone in the B10 gets evenly. It would be the other stuff that could cause a little separation.

GB DID beat a Bo-coached team up dere in Titletown, hey. He never lost to UWM home or road. One of those games was played at the Klotsche Center. Just insane to think of ANY B10 team going into that place (I think Dick Bennett took a Badger team in there, too).

Great call on the Charleston Classic, by the way. UWM kinda-sorta did some similar stuff a time or three; but I suspect it wasn't totally their baby but had outside money backing it. Now that I think of it there was some kind of doubleheader years ago & Tony Bennett brought in Wazzou to play UWM at the MECCA. His dad was in the stands & I was lucky enough to have a short conversation. Such an incredibly nice man.

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Hard to run a mid these days. I definitely miss the GB glory days. Lotta good energy around the MCC/Horizon for a long, long time, but conference realignment probably hurt that league more than any other. 

Must have been 08 or 09 that GB beat UW. I think Crean also lost at Fort Wayne a while back. Lately, the trend seems to be taking recruits back to hometowns. Did Duke play at Maine with Pratt last year? I think so.

UNC always seems to have one in-state or regional roadie. Davidson or Wofford or Charlotte. Easier when you have a dozen schools to choose from.

Be kind of fun for Minnesota and St. Thomas to home and home, and Iowa really dropped the ball by letting go of their in-state showcase (I bet the gate there was GREAT!), but I'll stop beating that particular dead horse now.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

17 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

You & me both😄.

Do you make more from a buy game after the payout, then you would taking a guarantee from a Southern Illinois, Bradley, Western Ky, etc? Good question. My guess is you do make a bit more staying home; just a guess though. Do they make more on the TV deals? For sure. But that's a slice of the pie everyone in the B10 gets evenly. It would be the other stuff that could cause a little separation.

GB DID beat a Bo-coached team up dere in Titletown, hey. He never lost to UWM home or road. One of those games was played at the Klotsche Center. Just insane to think of ANY B10 team going into that place (I think Dick Bennett took a Badger team in there, too).

Great call on the Charleston Classic, by the way. UWM kinda-sorta did some similar stuff a time or three; but I suspect it wasn't totally their baby but had outside money backing it. Now that I think of it there was some kind of doubleheader years ago & Tony Bennett brought in Wazzou to play UWM at the MECCA. His dad was in the stands & I was lucky enough to have a short conversation. Such an incredibly nice man.

  Reveal hidden contents

nm

Hard to run a mid these days. I definitely miss the GB glory days. Lotta good energy around the MCC/Horizon for a long, long time, but conference realignment probably hurt that league more than any other. 

Must have been 08 or 09 that GB beat UW. I think Crean also lost at Fort Wayne a while back. Lately, the trend seems to be taking recruits back to hometowns. Did Duke play at Maine with Pratt last year? I think so.

UNC always seems to have one in-state or regional roadie. Davidson or Wofford or Charlotte. Easier when you have a dozen schools to choose from.

Be kind of fun for Minnesota and St. Thomas to home and home, and Iowa really dropped the ball by letting go of their in-state showcase (I bet the gate there was GREAT!), but I'll stop beating that particular dead horse now.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

17 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

You & me both😄.

Do you make more from a buy game after the payout, then you would taking a guarantee from a Southern Illinois, Bradley, Western Ky, etc? Good question. My guess is you do make a bit more staying home; just a guess though. Do they make more on the TV deals? For sure. But that's a slice of the pie everyone in the B10 gets evenly. It would be the other stuff that could cause a little separation.

GB DID beat a Bo-coached team up dere in Titletown, hey. He never lost to UWM home or road. One of those games was played at the Klotsche Center. Just insane to think of ANY B10 team going into that place (I think Dick Bennett took a Badger team in there, too).

Great call on the Charleston Classic, by the way. UWM kinda-sorta did some similar stuff a time or three; but I suspect it wasn't totally their baby but had outside money backing it. Now that I think of it there was some kind of doubleheader years ago & Tony Bennett brought in Wazzou to play UWM at the MECCA. His dad was in the stands & I was lucky enough to have a short conversation. Such an incredibly nice man.

  Reveal hidden contents

nm

Hard to run a mid these days. I definitely miss the GB glory days. Lotta good energy around the MCC/Horizon for a long, long time, but conference realignment probably hurt that league more than any other. 

Must have been 08 or 09 that GB beat UW. I think Crean also lost at Fort Wayne a while back. Lately, the trend seems to be taking recruits back to hometowns. Did Duke play at Maine with Pratt last year? I think so.

UNC always seems to have one in-state or regional roadie. Davidson or Wofford or Charlotte. Easier when you have a dozen schools to choose from.

Be kind of fun for Minnesota and St. Thomas to home and home, and Iowa really dropped the ball by letting go of their in-state showcase (I bet the gate there was GREAT!), but I'll stop beating that particular dead horse now.

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Hard to run a mid these days. I definitely miss the GB glory days. Lotta good energy around the MCC/Horizon for a long, long time, but conference realignment probably hurt that league more than any other. 

 

I used to be a UWM fan. A friend of my nephews' was on the team years ago. That was a nice, solid mid-major conference. Then Butler left, Loyola left, UIC left, Valpo left. Keep that together, maybe attract a Saint Louis when they were looking for a home, & you'd have something. The Bud Haidet years w/Nancy Zimpher as the chancellor, fueled of course by Bruce Pearl, was the time to maximize their potential & perhaps find their way into the Missouri Valley. But it's been a mostly downward spiral since re their decision-makers. There's a somewhat passionate fan/alumni base there, but it's tiny & largely frustrated by an administration that seems to be some sort of combination of cluelessness & apathy.

St Thomas finally adds a second D-I program to that state. You'd think it's a no-brainer they'd matchup with U-M eventually. But there again, a new coach at Minnesota, trying to establish the program---the last thing he needs is to lose to the only other D-1 in the state, and a relative D-1 newcomer at that. I think the most the Tommies could hope for is a game at the Target Center, but the barn would be more likely. As a fan, I'd like to see it though.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

1 hour ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I used to be a UWM fan. A friend of my nephews' was on the team years ago. That was a nice, solid mid-major conference. Then Butler left, Loyola left, UIC left, Valpo left. Keep that together, maybe attract a Saint Louis when they were looking for a home, & you'd have something. The Bud Haidet years w/Nancy Zimpher as the chancellor, fueled of course by Bruce Pearl, was the time to maximize their potential & perhaps find their way into the Missouri Valley. But it's been a mostly downward spiral since re their decision-makers. There's a somewhat passionate fan/alumni base there, but it's tiny & largely frustrated by an administration that seems to be some sort of combination of cluelessness & apathy.

St Thomas finally adds a second D-I program to that state. You'd think it's a no-brainer they'd matchup with U-M eventually. But there again, a new coach at Minnesota, trying to establish the program---the last thing he needs is to lose to the only other D-1 in the state, and a relative D-1 newcomer at that. I think the most the Tommies could hope for is a game at the Target Center, but the barn would be more likely. As a fan, I'd like to see it though.

I mean, yeah, I will totally admit that mids have to just adapt and take more buy games. No reason for St. Thomas not to just take a check to play at the barn. 

Imagine High Point and Miami had some of those chances too.

The Zombie MCC/Horizon is a helluva league. Iconic tourney upsets, three FFs, and an immortal nun.

You know GB decision making is questionable when they think hiring Gottlieb is the way to relevance. But I digress (sort of).

[Jim French Stepstool]

49 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

I mean, yeah, I will totally admit that mids have to just adapt and take more buy games. No reason for St. Thomas not to just take a check to play at the barn. 

Imagine High Point and Miami had some of those chances too.

The Zombie MCC/Horizon is a helluva league. Iconic tourney upsets, three FFs, and an immortal nun.

You know GB decision making is questionable when they think hiring Gottlieb is the way to relevance. But I digress (sort of).

I'll share something that I heard; let me say I don't know if it's accurate or not.

Wisconsin was willing to play Miami O but insisted on a particular date or window of dates, and they said no.🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

Gottlieb, hah!! Whenever he's mentioned I think back to HS. His dad used to coach UWM & for three years in a row we had a SR he was recruiting. So for that stretch he was as familiar a fixture in our gym as the ball racks & fold-up bleachers. GB seems to be in the same situation w/Junior as UWM was with Pearl, except Pearl had somewhat of a pedigree so it might be a lot tougher for Dougie to step up to a more lucrative job even if he IS successful.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

8 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I'll share something that I heard; let me say I don't know if it's accurate or not.

Wisconsin was willing to play Miami O but insisted on a particular date or window of dates, and they said no.🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

Gottlieb, hah!! Whenever he's mentioned I think back to HS. His dad used to coach UWM & for three years in a row we had a SR he was recruiting. So for that stretch he was as familiar a fixture in our gym as the ball racks & fold-up bleachers. GB seems to be in the same situation w/Junior as UWM was with Pearl, except Pearl had somewhat of a pedigree so it might be a lot tougher for Dougie to step up to a more lucrative job even if he IS successful.

These are are juicy tidbits. Love it!

Would not be surprised at all if there's more to the story than "nobody would play us." I want more of these good mid/high major games, but getting them requires breakong orthodoxy on all sides.

Gottlieb just feels like a publicity hire, but the GB team got better as the year went on. That's something, I guess.

[MrTPlush]

On 3/20/2026 at 7:03 AM, homer said:

People said Bo couldn't win in the tourney until he did. 

I’m guessing this is false and not actually something that was said. Either way it makes no sense.

He took over a program that had little to zero historical tourney success. Actually, basically never made the tourney. Bo took them to a Sweet 16 appearance his second year and never lost in the first round till his 5 (and consecutive) tourney appearance. By which time he had already seen the Elite 8.

Gard’s resume is nothing like BO’s. Gard has been not making the tourney or choking to a lower seed for a whole decade now. A team built by Gard has never been to the S16.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

3 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

I’m guessing this is false and not actually something that was said. Either way it makes no sense.

He took over a program that had little to zero historical tourney success. Actually, basically never made the tourney. Bo took them to a Sweet 16 appearance his second year and never lost in the first round till his 5 (and consecutive) tourney appearance. By which time he had already seen the Elite 8.

Gard’s resume is nothing like BO’s. Gard has been not making the tourney or choking to a lower seed for a whole decade now. A team built by Gard has never been to the S16.

You're not wrong to say Bo has a much more successful NCAAT resume than Gard. Gard isn't Bo. I don't think anyone is arguing that. If you take a look around CBB teams like Wisconsin everywhere are struggling. Look at the Big East. Heck, look at the ACC. Power is consolidated at the very top of two leagues, and everyone else is chasing and hoping to get a nice draw in the tournament.

Gard has kept UW hoops relevant. That's not going to get a lot of credit. But it is MASSIVE given how the sport has changed. You can't fairly compare Bo and Gard because there's no way Bo thrives in this landscape. 

The "built by Gard" thing is also a bit of a dodge. I get it. But Gard took over a roster in compete turmoil (that team lost to Western Illinois!) and had them within a possession of an Elite Eight. Obviously, everyone wants a Sweet 16. For the Badgers, that's always the goal. But it's so hard to do that, and all Gard has done is put the team in the best spot to achieve in every year but a couple. Given how this could've gone, this is like an 85th percentile outcome. 

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

3 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

I’m guessing this is false and not actually something that was said. Either way it makes no sense.

He took over a program that had little to zero historical tourney success. Actually, basically never made the tourney. Bo took them to a Sweet 16 appearance his second year and never lost in the first round till his 5 (and consecutive) tourney appearance. By which time he had already seen the Elite 8.

Gard’s resume is nothing like BO’s. Gard has been not making the tourney or choking to a lower seed for a whole decade now. A team built by Gard has never been to the S16.

It isn't false. There were people b****ing about Bo regarding that. It was unfounded. 

Also, they made the tournament 4 of the 5 years before Bo. Far & gone from 'basically never making the tourney'.

You're right; Gards' resume is nothing like Ryans'. Neither are the resumes of somewhere from 325 to 350 of the 365 D-1 coaches out there. We're talking about a HOF coach.

Maybe it's just me, but I think 'choking' is one of those lazy, overused terms in sports. There are reasons why things happen that IMO transcend that. In 2019 many Badger fans felt pessimistic even though they were the 5 going out west to play a much more athletic Oregon team, and weren't all that surprised at the result. 

In 2022 the 'choke' moniker might be most appropriate, in the 2nd round vs Iowa State. First off, they weren't very good in the opening round. VS ISU they were guarded well, but a horrible offensive performance while playing in Milwaukee. Of course they weren't helped by Hepburn going out in the 1st half w/an injury & having to turn to folks like Jacobi Neath, Jordan Davis & Isaac Lindsay. It put Johnny Davis in a little different role & he had a poor day. 

I don't think they were at all well prepared for what was a terrific half court overplay by JMU. I also wonder if everyone's head was where it should've been that day. Hepburn was a month away from bolting to Louisville, something no one expected. I imagine he was already handed the key to their vault, and since he didn't announce immediately was torn. Storr was most likely pondering who his 7th school in as many years would be. If that was the case & it's GG's fault for not mitigating it, OK then.

There was no choking Thursday. I think the "HP played well" vs "UW wasn't as good as they should be" breakdown was like 85%--15%. HP performs in the final five minutes last night the way they did Thursday & they're prepping for (probably) Arizona.

The criticism for GG will continue from the same corners until he advances more successfully. But most of it is overboard.

[Jim French Stepstool]

10 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

 

 You can't fairly compare Bo and Gard because there's no way Bo thrives in this landscape. 

 

 

THAT'S interesting to think about. The defensive 'rules'. Having to make them sink in while turning much of the roster over yearly?

Once NIL/portal became the norm I think it would've been one more massage for the road & then hello, Florida.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

7 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

It isn't false. There were people b****ing about Bo regarding that. It was unfounded. 

Also, they made the tournament 4 of the 5 years before Bo. Far & gone from 'basically never making the tourney'.

You're right; Gards' resume is nothing like Ryans'. Neither are the resumes of somewhere from 325 to 350 of the 365 D-1 coaches out there. We're talking about a HOF coach.

Maybe it's just me, but I think 'choking' is one of those lazy, overused terms in sports. There are reasons why things happen that IMO transcend that. In 2019 many Badger fans felt pessimistic even though they were the 5 going out west to play a much more athletic Oregon team, and weren't all that surprised at the result. 

In 2022 the 'choke' moniker might be most appropriate, in the 2nd round vs Iowa State. First off, they weren't very good in the opening round. VS ISU they were guarded well, but a horrible offensive performance while playing in Milwaukee. Of course they weren't helped by Hepburn going out in the 1st half w/an injury & having to turn to folks like Jacobi Neath, Jordan Davis & Isaac Lindsay. It put Johnny Davis in a little different role & he had a poor day. 

I don't think they were at all well prepared for what was a terrific half court overplay by JMU. I also wonder if everyone's head was where it should've been that day. Hepburn was a month away from bolting to Louisville, something no one expected. I imagine he was already handed the key to their vault, and since he didn't announce immediately was torn. Storr was most likely pondering who his 7th school in as many years would be. If that was the case & it's GG's fault for not mitigating it, OK then.

There was no choking Thursday. I think the "HP played well" vs "UW wasn't as good as they should be" breakdown was like 85%--15%. HP performs in the final five minutes last night the way they did Thursday & they're prepping for (probably) Arizona.

The criticism for GG will continue from the same corners until he advances more successfully. But most of it is overboard.

100 to all of this.

I'll add the BYU game last year, where you just run into a team firing on all cylinders, a team with Richie Saunders in peak form (if he's healthy on this year's BYU, that's a title contender), and you play probably a B game overall. But you hang in and are right there at the end. What are you gonna do? That's this tournament. It happens to everyone!

Badgers are fine. I even think this year Gard got a team to get A LOT better over the course of a season. That's a new trick, at least in terms of the amount of improvement. I wish the GG detractors would at least recognize how much that guy has adapted. He never seems to think he has it all figured out, and that flexibility doesn't get headlines. It's also a fantastic quality in a coach (and, usually, a person).

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

5 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

THAT'S interesting to think about. The defensive 'rules'. Having to make them sink in while turning much of the roster over yearly?

Once NIL/portal became the norm I think it would've been one more massage for the road & then hello, Florida.

Oh yeah. I'm with you. Jay Wright, Tony Bennett, Bo would have absolutely been of that list.

[Jim French Stepstool]

54 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

 

Badgers are fine. I even think this year Gard got a team to get A LOT better over the course of a season. 

 They definitely got better as the season wore on. When you look at TCU, BYU, Villanova, Nebraska.........I'll admit it was disturbing when they seemed to 'backslide' a little (second OSU game, Oregon). But we're in a world where the defense has to be an on the fly, season-long process. Hopefully you retain enough of the talent that has it already somewhat ingrained that you get carryover.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Oh yeah. I'm with you. Jay Wright, Tony Bennett, Bo would have absolutely been of that list.

Not as nationally acclaimed but I suspect Bruce Weber felt the same way.

[LouisEly]

High Point gave Arkansas all they could handle.  Was a 2-point game with less than 3 minutes left.

Much more that High Point was way under-seeded than UW "choking".

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

2 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Not as nationally acclaimed but I suspect Bruce Weber felt the same way.

Good call. Even Indiana's coaching carousel shows how tough it is to sustain S16 success. Or look at Kentucky totally turning on Cal, who's now entering his second straight S16. My goodness, Rick Barnes gets this chatter all the time. In CBB, everyone always wants you to win one more game. If Gard had made three S16s in the last four years, people would be talking about how he couldn't win the big one for failing to get to E8s and FFs. I mean, Nebraska fired Tim Miles and hired Hoiberg, who took...SEVEN YEARS to get that program to where it is now.

I'd rather Wisconsin not have the toxic culture of Indiana.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

54 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

High Point gave Arkansas all they could handle.  Was a 2-point game with less than 3 minutes left.

Much more that High Point was way under-seeded than UW "choking".

They certainly surprised me. A lot of people got introduced to Robert Martin, future pro, this weekend.

[LouisEly]

1 hour ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

They certainly surprised me. A lot of people got introduced to Robert Martin, future pro, this weekend.

Reminiscent of the 2019 Marquette team that lost to #12 seed Murray State.  They had this Ja Morant kid...

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

1 hour ago, LouisEly said:

Reminiscent of the 2019 Marquette team that lost to #12 seed Murray State.  They had this Ja Morant kid...

Stephen F. Austin had Thomas Walkup, who was Brayden Smith before Brayden Smith. That team was awesome. Or the kid from Oral Roberts whose name escapes me. Gotta love guards in March.

[Underachiever]

11 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

 Gotta love guards in March.

That was the same rationale people provided for the Badgers making a run. Didn't work out that way.

[Underachiever]

I was a big baby about this loss. Didn't log on to this thread til this morning. I had the same discussion with a friend where he outlined why the Badgers have lost in the tourney with a lot of the same talking points this thread has provided. Iowa just beat a one-seed with Stirtz going 0-9 from three, so it's possible to get it done without a great game from your players.

I am really tired of talking about under-seeded opponents. Okay, if High Point was under-seeded, how much under-seeded? Should they have been a 10? an 8? Didn't the Badgers go 6-3 against Sweet 16 teams, including beating a 1, a 2, and two of the three seeds? When the only proof that a team is under-seeded is that they beat UW, that's just proof after the fact.

Maybe the Badgers should get a 13 or 14-seed so they can play teams they can beat in the first round. They have had their season ended by a lower seed every seasons but one since 2019 (Baylor, 2021). The only one of those lower seeds that won their next game was when number 12 Oregon beat number 13 UCI in the next round. Tournament performance has been a real blemish on Gard and the UW.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

2 hours ago, Underachiever said:

That was the same rationale people provided for the Badgers making a run. Didn't work out that way.

I mean, High Point's guards were better. Blackwell had 5 turnovers. Martin 23 pts, 10 assists, 1 turnover. 

Boyd was good, but I don't think there's a question that High Point's guards won them the game. The matchup was a lot worse than I thought it would be, that's for sure. 

[Samurai Bucky]

On 3/21/2026 at 6:35 PM, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Hard to run a mid these days. I definitely miss the GB glory days. Lotta good energy around the MCC/Horizon for a long, long time, but conference realignment probably hurt that league more than any other. 

When I saw you mention GB, that reminded me of a video from Doug Gottlieb this year.  Fast forward to the 1:00 mark if you want to see the best part, although it would be good to see it up to that point to get more context.

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

6 hours ago, Underachiever said:

I was a big baby about this loss. Didn't log on to this thread til this morning. I had the same discussion with a friend where he outlined why the Badgers have lost in the tourney with a lot of the same talking points this thread has provided. Iowa just beat a one-seed with Stirtz going 0-9 from three, so it's possible to get it done without a great game from your players.

I am really tired of talking about under-seeded opponents. Okay, if High Point was under-seeded, how much under-seeded? Should they have been a 10? an 8? Didn't the Badgers go 6-3 against Sweet 16 teams, including beating a 1, a 2, and two of the three seeds? When the only proof that a team is under-seeded is that they beat UW, that's just proof after the fact.

Maybe the Badgers should get a 13 or 14-seed so they can play teams they can beat in the first round. They have had their season ended by a lower seed every seasons but one since 2019 (Baylor, 2021). The only one of those lower seeds that won their next game was when number 12 Oregon beat number 13 UCI in the next round. Tournament performance has been a real blemish on Gard and the UW.

Iowa was a very connected team defensively; that had a lot to do with their success. McCollum had players following him around from NWMO to Drake to Iowa, which helped that connectivity. They probably wouldn't have liked their chances vs Florida if they knew Stirtz was going to shoot it so poorly, but when you can guard people & keep the pace under control then it gives you a fighting chance (and of course, have others step up. Some of the shots Koch & Folgueiras made reminded me a little of Rapp at Illinois or Bieliauskas at Michigan).

The seeding, yeah, it is what it is. All things considered it's an extremely difficult task to seed some of these teams. And like you said, none of this stuff is revealed until after the fact. All you can do as a program is take everyone seriously & realize that your season can end if you don't. Or even if you DO. I really don't think UW took them lightly or wasn't ready to play. High Point, relative to their ceiling, played extremely well Thursday. That gives them a chance vs most teams, and the '12' after their name becomes immaterial. It's just a number the committee is forced to hang on everyone when you play a tournament.