The 2006 Wisconsin Badgers were blown out by Arizona in an 8-9 game. The 2007 Wisconsin Badgers were a No. 2 seed at the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history… and they lost to UNLV in the second round. As the 2008 NCAA Tournament dawned, Wisconsin needed a good showing in America’s favorite bracketed tournament. Bo Ryan and any other coach who goes through a few disappointing NCAA Tournaments — it happens to everyone in the business — need a good result in March to relieve pressure and get rid of the notion that March is a haunted month.
Programs don’t want to be tagged with a reputation for choking in March; if a label sticks, players can suffer under the burden created by past teams, even though it is patently unfair to saddle one team with the results of its predecessors.
It happens, though: Syracuse had a lot of highly-seeded teams which struggled in March, one year after the next. Syracuse and Jim Boeheim didn’t significantly improve their March reputation until recently, when the program found the ability to go on dangerous runs as a double-digit seed.
Arizona has struggled over the past two decades in March. So has Maryland. So have many other programs which have labored under the burden of March expectations.
Wisconsin, heading into the 2008 NCAA Tournament, had a point to prove… and a burden to escape from… after its disappointments in 2006 and 2007.
The Badgers got their big opportunity against Cal State Fullerton in the opening round of the 2008 Dance.
Their balance and their defense won the day in Omaha against the Titans.
Brian Butch scored 14 points. Joe Krabbenhoft and Jason Bohannon scored 13 apiece. Wisconsin received at least eight points from six different players. At the other end of the floor, UW limited Fullerton to 36-percent shooting from the field, forcing 14 Titan turnovers.
Given all these realities, the 71-56 final score for Wisconsin would suggest this was a routine win for the Badgers.
Not quite.
Fullerton was feisty in this game, which was a two-point contest (30-28) at the half. Though Wisconsin did gain more leverage in the second half, Fullerton crept within eight points on several occasions, the last one being with 3:50 left. UW led 62-54. Josh Akognon delivered the kind of superstar performance which enables a No. 14 seed to stay with a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Akognon hit a majority of Fullerton’s made field goals (11 of the team’s 21), threes (5 of the team’s 7) and free throws (4 of the team’s 7). Wisconsin needed a well-rounded team performance to fend off Akognon.
It also needed its defense.
The Badgers limited the Titans to just two points in the final 3:50, enabling them to put Fullerton to bed, once and for all. This wasn’t a cakewalk, but Wisconsin consistently did what it needed to do as it restored order at the 2008 NCAA Tournament.