College Basketball Wisconsin Badgers Can Win It All

College Basketball Betting: 3 Reasons The Wisconsin Badgers Can Win It All

The Wisconsin Badgers have carved out a rather unique identity within the context of Division I college basketball. Can they translate their successes into a national championship, though?

1 : The Badgers Make You Play Their Game On Many Levels : Online sports betting sites are aware of a big-picture truth in college hoops: The Wisconsin Badgers are one of the most consistent programs around. More than that, they’re one of the most consistent things about college basketball in any season. This team manages to hold into its identity year after year better than any other, with the possible exception of Kansas.

What’s especially remarkable is that the Badgers do this without top-tier talent. Wisconsin wins with worker-bee types of players, but those players always come together. Wisconsin’s great strength is its ability to make opponents conform to its style of play, game after game and week after week. The Badgers simply do not submit to other teams’ methods. Wisconsin plays each game on its own terms. Head coach Bo Ryan insists on a rugged style of defense and a patient, methodical halfcourt offense with endless series of screens and cuts.

Few teams are more determined, persistent and patient than Wisconsin is. The Badgers’ effort level is so consistently high that their opponents often tire of the chase. Wisconsin works harder for a longer period of time, and that’s why the Badgers get so many important late-game defensive stops. It’s why opponents take so many bad shots against them and can’t outmaneuver Wisconsin’s defense. Playing Wisconsin is a frustrating experience because teams know that if they don’t shoot well, the Badgers will use all 35 seconds of the shot clock and shorten the game, putting a premium on each and every possession.

Wisconsin plants a seed of doubt in the opponent’s mind, telling the opponent that if it doesn’t make each possession work, its chances of scoring enough to win will dramatically decline. This is why Wisconsin’s opponents panic – they know that if things don’t go well against the Badgers in the first half, they’ll have to endure a miserable slog in the second half.

Wichita State used tough defense and an unflinching style to nearly make the national title game last season. Wisconsin can do similar things but win six NCAA tournament games compared to only four for Wichita State.

2 – Bo Ryan : Ryan is, quite simply, the architect of Wisconsin’s system and the program’s relentless dedication to the same simple principles of defensive toughness, hard work, and endless patience at both ends of the floor. The most amazing statistic of Ryan’s career is that Wisconsin has never – in over a decade under him – finished outside the top four of the Big Ten. Wisconsin has never had to play in an opening-round game in the Big Ten tournament. It has never been a second-rate team in one of America’s toughest conferences as long as Ryan has coached in Madison. Ryan makes Wisconsin a threat in any game at any time.

3 – This Team Does What Past Wisconsin Teams Have Done… Only Better

In 2014, the Badgers simply seem to be taking Ryan’s formula and applying it better than they have in the past. Sam Dekker is the kind of dynamic player with great shotmaking ability who can lift Wisconsin to a higher place in the NCAA tournament. He’s the guy who can create more separation for the Badgers on their journey to the top of the heap in college basketball.

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