The upcoming basketball game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights marks an occasion in which the brain can logically process a given reality… but the heart, the emotions, need to be married to the brain’s level of awareness.
What do I mean by this? It’s not that complicated — this is something human beings deal with all the time. We have all encountered a life situation in which we know, intellectually, that a given task or moment is important, but we don’t feel the same sense of urgency other people around us might feel. “Yeah, yeah, I know what I have to do,” we might say to a spouse or a sibling who is a lot more emotionally invested in this important moment. Yet, we aren’t as excited (or tense, or focused) as the other person.
Sometimes, this situation leads us to walk into an event less prepared than we thought we were. We might have assumed this task or moment would be easy to handle, but upon immersing ourselves in the event itself, we find ourselves lacking the full amount of resources needed to get the job done properly. We knew this was an important event in our minds, but didn’t put in the actual prep work to make SURE we were ready, and the moment goes badly. Our spouse or sibling or parent or child gets mad at us, and we have to try to do better the next time.
That’s what this Wisconsin-Rutgers game is. The Badgers surely know how important it is to notch a road win, especially in Big Ten play. However, because it’s RUTGERS, the urgency of the occasion might be lacking. Wisconsin has to really invest itself in this game and feel the sense of importance attached to Wednesday night in New Jersey.
If this seems a bit vague and lacking in specificity, here are two precise reasons Wisconsin should take Rutgers seriously, so that the Badgers are on their toes and highly vigilant when tip-off time arrives on Wednesday night:
First, Rutgers beat Wisconsin the last time these teams met in New Jersey. Wisconsin won last season in Madison, but in the 2017-2018 college basketball season, Rutgers ambushed UW in Piscataway. That memory — which Greg Gard was part of — ought to light a fire under some fannies in the Wisconsin locker room and get this team to bust out the gate ROARING at Rutgers.
If that memory from two seasons ago seems a little distant and remote, fine. I will offer an even better reason for UW to take RU seriously: Rutgers gave Michigan State a tough battle on the road this past Sunday. Rutgers went to East Lansing and the Breslin Center, and was right there, down 62-55, with 3:30 left. Rutgers wasn’t likely to win, but it was highly competitive and stayed in the hunt for 37 minutes. Michigan State struggled for much of the game and didn’t land a knockout punch. The Spartans realized that Rutgers was a tenacious team.
As Jon Rothstein said after big Rutgers wins late last season:
Steve Pikiell. Pounding Nails.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 3, 2019
The identity of Rutgers is based on toughness and tenacity. If Wisconsin intellectually realizes this game is important, but it doesn’t bring any urgency to the court, the Badgers could get nailed by Steve Pikiell’s players.
Take. Rutgers. Seriously. Let this be a warning to Wisconsin, even though Rutgers hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1991. Wisconsin got burned the last time it went to Piscataway. Vigilance and emotional preparedness need to be part of Wisconsin’s game plan this time around.