[lawrence-newsletter]
College basketball reporter Andy Katz released his “Power 36” rankings for the 2020-21 season a few days ago and has Wisconsin slotted in at No. 6.
WAY-Too-Early Power 36 for 2020-21 from @TheAndyKatz, as heard on the #MM365 pod! 👀
1. Gonzaga
2. Baylor
3. Villanova
4. Creighton
5. Iowa
6. Wisconsin
7. Kansas
8. Michigan
9. Kentucky
10. Virginia
11-36. 👉 https://t.co/4z0MepaYeF🎧 https://t.co/zpcSxPxl97 pic.twitter.com/DukweFAsBL
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 8, 2020
His description of his ranking of the Badgers reads “The Badgers got a piece of the Big Ten regular-season title in their final game at Indiana. They will be picked with Iowa to make another run by returning the core of the team, a full season from Micah Potter and a heralded recruiting class.”
Katz shares a sentiment with countless college basketball writers and analysts that the team returning nearly their entire team from this past season, welcoming in an impressive recruiting class and Micah Potter being able to play the full season all together points to a year with a lot of potential for Head Coach Greg Gard’s team. Unlike the other writers, though, Katz has the Badgers ranked in the top-10 ahead of teams like Kansas, Kentucky, Virginia and Duke.
The Badgers are the second-highest-ranked Big Ten team in the new rankings behind only Iowa who is pegged in at No. 5. The other Big Ten teams included by Katz are Michigan at No. 8, Michigan State at No. 12, Rutgers at No. 13, Illinois at No. 21, Indiana at No. 31, Purdue at No. 33 and Ohio State at No. 35.
The only teams placed ahead of Gard’s unit in order are Gonzaga, Baylor, Villanova, Creighton and, again, Iowa.
Though rosters are bound to change a lot before the season tips off, Katz’s ranking of Wisconsin gives Badger fans something to look forward to in today’s uncertain time.