Every hero has an equally important villain. No story is complete without it, especially in sports. Rivalries are everything for fans, and Wisconsin basketball had a short-lived, heated rivalriy in 2014 and 2015 that could not have been scripted any better.
When Wisconsin made back-to-back Final Fours in 2014 and 2015, the path was eerily similar. Arizona in the Elite Eight and Kentucky in the Final Four. For the perfect narrative, it could not have happened any other way.
Former Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan was known for doing things the traditional way. He ran the swing offense, had players that stayed at Wisconsin for four years to earn degrees, and almost never was wrapped up in anything remotely scandalous. Sean Miller, Arizona’s head coach in 2014/2015 and still the head man at U of A today has probably the most dirty track record of any coach who hasn’t lose their job because of scandal. The most recent mark on Miller’s record were conflicting reports surrounding a phone call from Miller to current NBA star and former Arizona Wildcat Deandre Ayton discussing a payment of $100,000 if he were to end up at Arizona.
John Calipari has a larger than life personality and presence that is infamous around college basketball. Coach Cal’s success has been rooted in his ability to adapt to one-and-done basketball. Kentucky has become the blueprint for players staying one year and then succeeding in the league. The list of NBA talent that has come out of Kentucky with Coach Cal is extremely impressive. His model, however, is the antithesis of the Wisconsin way. That is not to take anything away from the success and system that Coach Cal has instituted with the ‘Cats, but it does set up the perfect ingredients for a rivalry.
In 2014 and 2015 respectively, Wisconsin defeated Arizona in two close Elite Eight matchups. It is hard to say the games truly felt like a rivalry matchup, but against Kentucky that feeling of a rivalry was apparent in 2015. Wisconsin had been working all year just to get another shot at Kentucky, who had beaten the Badgers at the 2014 Final Four. The 2015 Kentucky squad was no ordinary UK team. 2014-15 Kentucky went 38-0 before meeting UW in the Final Four. Wisconsin’s 71-64 win over the ‘Cats felt from a Badger perspective like team basketball beating individual basketball. It felt like doing things the “right” way finally beat the new era of college basketball. The narrative was perfectly written.