The Wisconsin Badgers had yet another impressive win on Friday, beating the Illinois Fighting Illini 91-88 in overtime to advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on Saturday.
The game was full of tosses and turns, as the Badgers jumped out to an early lead before succumbing a 23-3 run to the Illini and finding themselves down 15 in the first half. But they stabilized and went on a run of their own to cut the lead to six at halftime.
Once again, in the second half, the Badgers fell behind in a hole,
though, leaving doubt as Illinois led by 15 midway through the period. However, we’ve known this team to be able to overcome double-digit deficits, and that’s exactly what happened, thanks to Nick Boyd and John Blackwell, who combined for 69 points to will the Badgers to overtime.
There, Wisconsin had a quick start and got its second overtime win away from home against the Fighting Illini, moving forward to the Big Ten Tournament semis, where it’ll take on the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines.
Heading into the tournament, the Badgers were seen as a six seed by most Bracketologists. While that didn’t change after the Badgers 85-82 win over the Washington Huskies on Thursday, Friday’s win proved to be different.
With Wisconsin winning and teams like the Tennessee Volunteers falling short, the Badgers have jumped up to a No. 5 seed in most Bracketology predictions.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Wisconsin as a No. 5 seed on Saturday morning and the No. 20 overall seed, being on the same seed line as Arkansas, St. John’s, and Texas Tech.
USA Today also bumped Wisconsin up to a No. 5 seed, although CBS Sports still had Wisconsin as a No. 6 seed on Saturday morning.
The Badgers have another huge resume booster on Saturday with the Michigan Wolverines, but I wouldn’t expect them to jump two full seed lines in the Big Ten Tournament, given the full resumes we’ve seen of all the top teams so far this year.
Still, a loss on Saturday shouldn’t deter the Badgers from a No. 5 seed, so Wisconsin is in great shape here heading into the NCAA Tournament.
