Wisconsin basketball is technically still alive in the Big Ten race
Wisconsin basketball returned to the win column with a statement victory over Maryland on Tuesday.
The Badgers’ February slide may be a thing of the past. The team has now won two of its last three, with the one loss coming in overtime against an improving Iowa team.
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Some Wisconsin fans may have checked out of the season when the Badgers lost five of six to start February. The sentiment is understandable, the team fell from a potential Final Four contender to one scraping to beat bad teams, it fell from No. 6 in the country to unranked and it relinquished its lead atop the Big Ten standings.
The first two can easily be righted with a few wins in March. The third — Wisconsin’s place in the Big Ten race — appears to be over, but Wisconsin does have a sliver of hope.
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The current Big Ten standings are as follows:
Purdue (13-3)
Illinois (10-5) — 2.5 games behind
Wisconsin (10-6) — 3 games behind
Northwestern (10-6) — 3 games behind
Wisconsin does still have a longshot hope to win the Big Ten. Here’s what must happen:
Wisconsin goes 3-0 against Indiana, Illinois and Rutgers
Purdue goes 1-2 against Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois
Wisconsin defeats Purdue to end the season on March 10
That would put the Badgers and Boilermakers in a tie for the conference lead at 14-6. It’s a long shot, but there is at least some hope entering the final stretch of the conference schedule.
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