They’ve shocked the Big Ten. They’ll try to shock the nation next.
The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team was projected to finish tenth in the conference this season.
After beating eighth-ranked Purdue at the Kohl Center Tuesday night, they’re Big Ten regular season champions.
“This isn’t the first time a Badgers team has been picked low in the preseason rankings and exceeded expectations, but this is another level,” ESPN Wisconsin’s Ben Brust told WTMJ.
The team is no stranger to adversity. The 2019 season saw assistant coach Howard Moore lose his wife and daughter in a tragic car crash. 2020 saw the team rally to win its final eight games, clinching a share of the Big Ten title, only for COVID-19 to end the season in its tracks. And last year saw a leaked closed-door meeting where seniors on the team criticized head coach Greg Gard.
Brad Davison was among that group of seniors. Davison decided to take advantage of the so-called “COVID year” and returned for a fifth season.
“[He’s] a guy I’ve been critical of over the last three years,” said Brust. “I have zero bad things to say about Brad Davison. The way he’s led with authenticity off the court. The way he’s played for the Badgers with his heart.”
Brust says everyone on the team embodies the mindset of winning over individual goals.
“It started at the top with Coach Gard and it went all the way to the last guy on the bench,” said Brust. “It’s very easy to be proud as an alumni of the University of Wisconsin.”