When the first pre-season college basketball came a couple of months ago, I was not surprised to see Wisconsin omitted from the Top 25.
Wisconsin had some difficult off-season news and the recruitment was not particularly spotlighted, either.
However, I was a little bit surprised that the Badgers did not receive any votes. There were 47 teams, including those in the Top 25 that received votes from the Associated Press poll in the preseason.
And then, when Wisconsin lost against Providence at home by five points in the third game of the season, I was thinking that this may be a long season for the Wisconsin Badgers.
However, Wisconsin won six games in a row, including a match against No. 12 Houston, Marquette, and Indiana. They moved up to No. 22 in the ranks.
After that, they lost against No. 21 Ohio State by 18 points at Ohio State. This made me wonder if Wisconsin could win away games against tough opponents.
To be quite honest, winning away games in college basketball is not easy, especially against Big Ten teams. It is not uncommon to see underdog Big Ten teams knock down top 25 Big Ten teams at home.
Wisconsin has now shown that it can beat giants on the road. The Badgers won by five points at No. 3 Purdue to shock the college basketball world. They also avenged Ohio State recently by beating them at home.
Wisconsin is now ranked No. 13 in the AP poll. There are still plenty of games until March, but us Badgers fans are delighted to see how much Wisconsin has improved and has given us hope.