Just before the 2019 NCAA Tournament, writer Kevin Flaherty of 247 Sports wrote about the NCAA Tournament win totals for various college basketball programs over the previous 10 seasons, 2009 through 2018. Allowing for the adjustments made by the 2019 NCAA Tournament, the rankings and totals have shifted slightly, relative to the time Flaherty wrote this article. Nevertheless, it can clearly be said: If measured by NCAA Tournament wins — one of the most central metrics for evaluating the quality of a college basketball program — Wisconsin is in the top 10.
That’s pretty special.
Wisconsin is ninth in the nation in NCAA Tournament wins over the past decade. The Badgers share a place on a top-10 list with Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State, Gonzaga, Michigan, and Florida. Those eight schools are the only ones with more NCAA tourney wins than the Badgers over the past decade.
Let’s look a little deeper at those schools:
North Carolina didn’t make the NCAA Tournament in 2020. Wisconsin has made as many Final Fours this past decade as Duke and Kansas (two each). Michigan doesn’t have the coach and architect of its Final Four runs, John Beilein. Florida’s success the past decade belongs mostly to Billy Donovan. The Gators have become noticeably weaker under Mike White. Wisconsin has been at the forefront of college basketball success and consistency over the past 10 years, and it has a better coaching situation than some of the other programs which join UW on this very prestigious top-10 list.
It sucks that there is no NCAA Tournament in 2020, but in the absence of that, Wisconsin’s place in college basketball is a very happy thing to contemplate. The Badgers have a Big Ten banner they will be able to hang in the Kohl Center when the next season begins (whenever that is), and they can say that their track record of consistent excellence remains very much intact.