Wisconsin basketball landed at No. 19 in the latest AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll on Monday.
After being placed in the ‘receiving votes’ section of last week’s poll, Wisconsin received 370 points in this week’s update to firmly cement itself in the hierarchy.
The team’s signature win against the Arizona Wildcats played a pivotal role in its new position. In that game, wing John Tonje dropped 41 points on eight made field goals and a record 21 made free throws.
Wisconsin has now entered the upper echelon of Big Ten programs across the college basketball landscape. Only No. 6 Purdue and No. 16 Indiana ranked higher than Greg Gard’s program on this installation of the hierarchy.
No. 19 Wisconsin Badgers pic.twitter.com/BU1O13kEi5
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) November 18, 2024
Wisconsin also rocketed up the latest KenPom ranking and ESPN’s latest BPI. After being ranked No. 40 in the KenPom list on Nov. 12, UW moved up 11 spots to No. 29. At No. 22 in the ESPN BPI, the Badgers are up seven spots from about a week ago.
Backed by the strong individual contributions from Tonje, UW is averaging nearly 89 points per game off 47.4% from the field, 39% from beyond the arc and a blistering 90% from the free throw line. It’s safe to say Wisconsin has answered any offensive questions from those concerned over its offseason loses in the transfer portal.
Wisconsin’s next game is at home against UT Rio Grande Valley on Nov. 18.