Wisconsin basketball found itself on the outside of the final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll of the 2023-24 season.
The Badgers entered March Madness ranked No. 24 and with a ton of momentum after a run to the finals of the Big Ten Tournament. What followed was an unfortunate first-round NCAA Tournament loss to No. 12-seed James Madison and a subsequent drop from the top 25.
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The loss draped a dark cloud over what looked to be a promising season. On one hand, the Badgers clearly improved after 2022-23 and had once of the best offenses in program history. On the other hand, the team lost early in the tournament — and that’s most of what matters to many.
The Badgers finish 2023-24 in the ‘receiving votes’ category of the poll — tied with James Madison at 30 points.
Final USA TODAY men’s basketball coaches poll of the season. Alabama finishes as highest ranked SEC team. Outside of top 10 are No. 17 Auburn, No. 19 Kentucky and No. 23 South Carolina pic.twitter.com/Df3ArRaHw7
— Nick Kelly (@_NickKelly) April 9, 2024
Only two Big Ten teams finished the season in this top 25: Purdue at No. 2 and Illinois at No. 7. It was another promising regular season of Big Ten basketball, but yet another campaign with little postseason success.
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