In the early 1990s, Wisconsin football began to evolve into a program which became consistently strong. In the mid-1990s, Wisconsin basketball began to evolve into a program which became consistently strong. The past 30 years have, without question, marked the most enduringly fruitful period in Badger sports history. On this Christmas — the last one of the 2010s — it is worth taking a little time to step back, look around at the world, reflect, and marvel at the great sports feats in Badger history.
Some of these feats have already been remarked upon, such as the five straight bowl wins (an active streak) and the 14 straight years as a top-four seed in the Big Ten Tournament. If you were to add to this list, and you wanted to make sure the very best accomplishments of the golden age of Badger sports did not get forgotten, where would you turn? It has to be the back-to-back Final Fours, right? Right.
Wisconsin had made the 2000 Final Four, but as we all know, that was as a No. 8 seed. We hadn’t yet witnessed the Badgers rise to the top of the Big Ten and make a home in the upper tier of the conference. The 14-year streak of top-four seeds at the Big Ten Tournament manifested that level of staying power. For more than a decade, Wisconsin had established itself as an elite Big Ten basketball program. It gained top-four seeds not only in the Big Ten Tournament, but (on a less consistent but still noticeable basis) the NCAA Tournament.
From 2002 through 2013 — 12 separate seasons — Wisconsin gained a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament on five different occasions. Yet, the Badgers could not return to the Final Four. Everyone in college basketball — not just Madison — was wondering if this program’s very high floor could translate into a high ceiling. The consistency and quality were evident and abundant. The big question — as is often the case in college basketball — was whether those virtues would be rewarded with the achievement every program seeks: a Final Four.
Enter Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker. They certainly had help, yes, but they were the main engines — the crunch-time scorers who gladly welcomed the pressure of the moment — who lifted Wisconsin to a higher plateau. The Badgers beat the Arizona Wildcats (similarly, a program which had once made the Final Four at the start of the century, in 2001, but had not made the Final Four since then) in consecutive West Regional Finals to make back-to-back Final Fours in 2014 and 2015. In the second of those two Final Fours, in 2015 in Indianapolis, the Badgers ended Kentucky’s run at an unbeaten season. The Wildcats were 38-0 and dreaming of 40-0 perfection. Wisconsin — led by Kaminsky and Dekker — stopped John Calipari and avenged a loss in the 2014 Final Four national semifinals in Arlington, Texas.
Wisconsin didn’t win the national title — a guy named Grayson Allen got in the way for Duke in the second half of that game — but the Badgers had done everything else they could have possibly hoped for.
Bo Ryan’s career did not end without a Final Four appearance or a Final Four victory. Wisconsin basketball had fulfilled its promise and risen to an extraordinary height. On Christmas, these warm memories are worth cherishing. Merry Christmas from all of us at Badgers Wire!