In the cover photo for this story, you can see Tyler Wahl of the Wisconsin Badgers, trying to find a way to get the ball to a better spot on the floor, despite two Nebraska defenders standing in the way. Trying to maneuver through multiple obstacles perfectly frames the Badgers’ challenge in the next two weeks.
It is easy to look at a whole season, or its larger parts. Wisconsin has seven weeks left until the Big Ten Tournament. It is natural to plot out what Wisconsin must do in these seven weeks to get ideal seeding position for the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments. Yet, within the larger blocks of a season, one can find smaller segments which prove to be especially instructive and revealing.
Wisconsin, following its win over Nebraska on Tuesday, has arrived at one such segment.
This isn’t a seven-week block. This isn’t a 12- or 14-game chunk of the schedule. I am referring to Wisconsin’s next four games, running through Wednesday, Feb. 5. I won’t offer guarantees here, but I will make a set of predictions.
First, let’s lay out the slate. Wisconsin’s next four games involve three road trips, none to Nebraska or Northwestern, and one home game… against the big dog in the Big Ten, Michigan State. The road trips begin this weekend with Purdue on Friday and Iowa on Monday. Then comes the home date with the Spartans on Feb. 1, followed by a trip to the Barn, Williams Arena, for a clash with Minnesota on Feb. 5.
Wisconsin hosts the first-place team in the Big Ten and then has to make three complicated road trips which don’t figure to be easy. This is the kind of two-week meat-grinder which can sharpen a team, crush it, or reveal that it can take some punches but not withstand all of them. There is a high standard to be found, a low standard, and a middle ground.
My predictions: If Wisconsin goes 4-0, it will win the Big Ten. If Wisconsin goes 3-1, it will finish in the top three. A 2-2 split will mean somewhere from a third- to fifth-place finish. A 1-3 record means Wisconsin — clearly one of the top five teams in the Big Ten on the afternoon of Wednesday, Jan. 22 — will end the season outside the top five in the conference.
Four big games. Only one home game, coming against the alpha dog from East Lansing. Wisconsin will have over a full month of hoops after this four-game stretch, but it might not face a more important two weeks before the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.
Buckle up, Bucky.