Tag: big ten standings

What is Wisconsin’s most likely path to the Big Ten Championship game?

What is Wisconsin’s most-likely path to the Big Ten Championship game?

The 2021 Wisconsin Badgers are facing an uphill battle to return to the Big Ten Championship game for the third time in five years.

The team sits at 1-2 in Big Ten play after Saturday’s win at Illinois, two back in the loss column of undefeated and No. 2-ranked Iowa.

The Badgers and Hawkeyes are set for a showdown on October 30 at Camp Randall. If Wisconsin wins that game, the team would sit only one game behind Iowa with a month of the season still to go. A loss on October 30 would essentially end the Badgers’ shot at a trip to Indy.

But if the Badgers win, what else would need to happen for them to win the Big Ten West? Here are two outcomes, with the most likely up at the top:

  1. Wisconsin wins out (finishes 9-3, 7-2 Big Ten), Iowa loses on the road at Nebraska on November 26
  2. Wisconsin wins out, Iowa loses to either Purdue or Minnesota

Every other scenario is frankly way too unlikely to list (each includes the Hawkeyes falling to Illinois or Northwestern).

Related: Big Ten power rankings after Week 6 — Hey, Iowa

The two scenarios listed are also a significant longshot with what we’ve seen from Wisconsin against good teams. But who cares, it’s worth the speculation.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

[listicle id=37163]

Three takeaways from Wisconsin’s blowout win over Illinois

Three takeaways from Wisconsin’s blowout win over Illinois

Wisconsin is finally in the Big Ten win column after its 24-0 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini today.

The team dominated on the ground, held the ball for nearly 43 minutes and was finally able to play an offensive game that can complement another dominant defensive performance.

It was a much-needed win with the Big Ten West still a far-out possibility. Oh, and the team defeated old friend Bret Bielema.

Diving deeper into some individual performances, we continued to see great signs all game long from Nick Herbig and others along the defensive front, the offensive line looked a lot better than last weekend and the run game dominated.

Graham Mertz had a few poor misfires, although some could’ve been due to the core injury he suffered last weekend.

A win is a win. Here are three initial takeaways from today’s contest:

Wisconsin still has a real shot at the Big Ten West if a few things happen today

Wisconsin still has a real shot at the Big Ten West if a few things happen today

Wisconsin was expected to capture the Big Ten West and take another at a Big Ten title entering the season.

Things have obviously not gone according to plan. The team sits 0-2 in Big Ten play and 1-3 overall—two games behind No. 3 Iowa in the Big Ten West.

A lot will need to go right for the Badgers to reverse course and rise back to the top of the division. A good sign for Paul Chryst’s team, though, is a lot of Big Ten play is still on the horizon including a battle with old friend Bret Bielema in Champaign, Illinois today.

Wisconsin still has a real mathematical shot at the Big Ten West. It sounds crazy to say after a disappointing start, but if the team gets some help today it will be back to controlling its own destiny.

[listicle id=36923]

What’s that help? No. 4 Penn State needs to go into Iowa, City and take down No. 3 Iowa.

If that happens and Wisconsin wins against Illinois the Badgers will be one game behind the Hawkeyes with a matchup between the two still to come in a few weeks. That would mean the Badgers would then have a chance at winning out in-conference and capturing the division title.

Wisconsin needs to get better play from the offensive line, consistent play from quarterback Graham Mertz and continued dominance on the defensive side of the football.

For Badger fans, today’s rooting interests are clear: Wisconsin needs to take care of business against Illinois and Penn State needs to beat Iowa.

Enjoy your college football Saturday.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

[listicle id=37045]

Big Ten Roundup: Week 3 Scores, Updated Standings and Next Weekend’s Match-Ups

Get caught up on the Big Ten results, standings and next weekend’s match-ups with our weekly Big Ten roundup

[mm-video type=video id=01ffrjww64vgg8wvaxqz playlist_id=01eqbz825g32p3akwt player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01ffrjww64vgg8wvaxqz/01ffrjww64vgg8wvaxqz-c2e22221479aa06f793e6408de3a01c6.jpg]

Non-conference play continued for the Big Ten this weekend with only one league match-up taking place, and the conference again had some mixed results. Michigan State and Penn State each picked up wins over ranked foes, while Nebraska and Indiana each fell against top 10 teams.

Here’s a look at this week’s Big Ten results, updated standings based on those results and a peek ahead to next week’s slate:

Big Ten Roundup: Week 2 Scores, Updated Standings and Next Weekend’s Match-Ups

Get caught up on the Big Ten results, standings and next weekend’s match-ups with our weekly Big Ten roundup

[mm-video type=video id=01feyq3gp346szkpfy85 playlist_id=01eqbz825g32p3akwt player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01feyq3gp346szkpfy85/01feyq3gp346szkpfy85-c78b87aed6ebf5e09c9b0352abc92468.jpg]

It was a mixed-bag kind of weekend for the Big Ten, with both good and bad results for the league.

Iowa and Michigan looked impressive in wins over power five competition, while Ohio State fell victim to Oregon’s upset bid.

Here’s a look at this week’s Big Ten results, updated standings based on those results and a peek ahead to next week’s slate:

Big Ten Roundup: Week 0 Scores, Updated Standings and Next Weekend’s Match-Ups

Get caught up on the Big Ten results, standings and next weekend’s match-ups with our weekly Big Ten roundup

[mm-video type=video id=01fcc2vd6714p24wt3zq playlist_id=01eqbz825g32p3akwt player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fcc2vd6714p24wt3zq/01fcc2vd6714p24wt3zq-80e2f65f9ce0b71b19999cff0a7ca696.jpg]

College football is officially back.

The 2021 season kicked off on Saturday with a handful of games taking place as part of Week 0. Of those few games, there was a Big Ten match-up between Illinois and Nebraska to get league play started.

Here’s a look at this week’s Big Ten results, updated standings based on those results and a peek ahead to next week’s slate:

Wisconsin goes ice cold from deep, gets overpowered by Illinois 75-60

Fresh off a bounce-back victory against Penn State that saw a dominant second half performance, a different Wisconsin Badger team showed

Fresh off a bounce-back victory against Penn State that saw a dominant second-half performance by the Wisconsin Badgers, a different Badger team showed up in Champaign, Illinois today. That team went 4 for 24 from three, lost the rebounding battle by 26, couldn’t contain Kofi Cockburn inside and fell handily to Illinois 75-60.

It’s been an up-and-down season in many respects for Greg Gard’s team, the “down” being on full display today as the defense had no answer for the Fighting Illini, the big men got dominated inside and some of the Badgers’ key offensive pieces couldn’t hit a shot all game.

One of the bright spots for Wisconsin was the play of D’Mitrik Trice, as his 22 points on 50 percent shooting represented most of what the Badgers were able to muster offensively.

But the offensive woes weren’t even the story, as a team that prides itself on defense was unable to get stops all game, couldn’t rebound their opponent’s misses and weren’t ever able to overcome their early deficit as a result.

It’s hard to win any basketball game when you shoot 4/24 from deep, lose the rebounding battle 46 to 20 and struggle to stay in front of guards at the top of the key. But against a team with the talent of Illinois? That task becomes nearly impossible.

The sky isn’t falling quite yet in Madison with several critical matchups still left on the schedule, though the team’s 8-5 Big Ten record is starting to put a second straight regular-season crown out of reach.

And if you take a glance at the Badgers’ upcoming schedule, there’s a good chance wins will only get harder and harder to come by as the regular season comes to a close.

The Badgers will return to the court on February 11 when they visit the 4-8 Nebraska Cornhuskers.

[listicle id=28226]

Everything Illinois HC Brad Underwood said about Wisconsin basketball this week

We’re one day away from the Wisconsin Badgers visiting the Illinois Fighting Illini in a crucial Big Ten matchup for both teams

We’re one day away from the Wisconsin Badgers visiting the Illinois Fighting Illini in a crucial matchup for both teams.

Illinois is entering the game after an up-and-down couple of weeks, losing to Maryland and Ohio State in back-to-back games and then responding quickly with victories against Penn State, Iowa and Indiana

A similar story can be told about Wisconsin, as their losses against Ohio and Penn State put separation between them and the top of the Big Ten. The bounce-back ability was there, though, as the Badgers avenged their early-season loss against Maryland and recent loss against Penn State with solid wins in the respective rematches.

Related: The 2021 Big Ten men’s basketball tournament is switching locations

With Michigan sitting atop the Big Ten with an 8-1 record right now, this game is nothing short of massive for both schools with the Badgers sitting at 8-4 and Illinois at 8-3.

Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood spoke to media before Saturday’s matchup and had a lot to say about the Wisconsin team he is set to face and what challenges they bring on the court.

Here’s everything Underwood said about the Badgers:

Where every Big Ten team falls in the post-NSD 247Sports composite rankings for the class of 2021

The Wisconsin Badgers’ recruiting class of 2021 is arguably the best in program history and has the program’s outlook only improving

The class of 2021 recruiting cycle has all but reached its end with yesterday’s National Signing Day marking the final big signings of the 2021 class.

Players are still free to sign with schools, though at this point in the process most schools have filled their classes and moved to work on the 2022 class.

Here at BadgersWire we’ve written extensively about the Wisconsin Badgers’ class of 2021, a class that is arguably the best in program history and has the program’s outlook only improving heading into the 2021 football season.

The class, which is ranked No. 15 in the country, can be compared against the Alabamas, Clemsons, Floridas and Georgias of the world as much as people want, though what really matters is where they fall in the ranking of Big Ten teams.

As a teaser to what may follow below, take a look at this map of which schools dominated each state’s recruiting during the 2021 cycle.

Yes, you would correctly notice that the Badgers had their way in the state of Minnesota this year.

So, here is where every Big Ten team falls in 247Sports’ post-National Signing Day composite recruiting rankings:

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

[listicle id=28041]

Wisconsin sits as the No. 3 Big Ten team in the current KenPom ratings

As things stand today before No. 10 Wisconsin takes on No. 15 Ohio State, the Badgers sit at No. 3 in the Big Ten standings with only one

As things stand today before No. 10 Wisconsin takes on No. 15 Ohio State, the Badgers sit at No. 3 in the Big Ten standings with only one game separating them from No. 1 Michigan.

Their top-15 matchup with the Buckeyes is a pivotal one in the Badgers’ quest for another Big Ten regular-season title, though the current KenPom ratings see the matchup a bit different than the AP Poll does.

Those ratings, as seen above, have Wisconsin in at No. 8–good for No. 3 in the conference behind Iowa and Michigan–and Ohio State down at No. 18.

In what has been a chaotic season in the Big Ten thus far to say the least, the ratings directly represent the conference’s standings at the top, though they still see some teams differently than the AP and its voters do.

I think it’s safe to say it’ll be interesting to see how the conference shakes out down the stretch and whether Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin or another team is able to break free at the top.

[listicle id=27811]