Wisconsin Favorites on Upset Alert as March Madness Approaches?

With Selection Sunday approaching and March Madness right around the corner, the Wisconsin favorites, Marquette and Wisconsin, have both been exposed and have struggled to find consistency throughout the season. Despite some struggles at times, both teams still currently remain ranked in the top-25, and are favorites heading into this year’s tournament. Wisconsin hoop fans are ready for another deep Wisconsin run in the tourney, and for Marquette fans, this finally looks like the year they could make some big noise again in the tournament. Right? As much as I’d love to see Marquette make a final four run, and Bucky fans would love for the Badgers to make their yearly Sweet 16 appearance, you might want to think twice about penciling the two into your brackets as locks this year. Despite solid regular seasons, Marquette and Wisconsin may be trending towards an early-round exit when the Madness begins.

With Marquette, I have no idea where to begin. They have dropped four, yes four straight games to some super average Big East teams, with their most recent loss coming in another blown second half lead at home against Georgetown. After painfully watching Marquette go through this four-game Big East drought, it’s clear the old, stacked, competitive Big East has officially vanished like a snap from Thanos. Just a week ago, Marquette seemed like they put themselves in pretty good position to win the Big East and have the one seed heading into the Big East Tournament at MSG. However, after dropping four straight and sliding down to 23 in rankings, Marquette needs to just win some games in the Big East Tournament to stay afloat. Even if Marquette let’s say, wins the Big East Tournament or goes on a little winning streak in the Big East Tourney, I still think Marquette got really exposed these previous four games against some let’s be honest, not so good teams, and it’s a big red flag. Although, if they were to somehow run the table in the Big East Tournament, I do like teams riding that momentum right into the tournament. However, I only see that momentum squeaking them by their first-round opponent, assuming they will probably get a tough matchup now that they have been dropping games against average Big East teams. I believe a lot of these flaws, poor defense (as of late), lack of scoring outside Markus Howard, is going to come back and haunt them in the end.

On the flipside, Wisconsin finished their Big Ten regular season out strong. First coming in Ethan Happ’s last game at the Kohl Center, as they destroyed Iowa by nearly 30, and then on the road against a desperate Ohio State team. With dominant post-presence and crafty footwork in the paint, it only seems right that player of the year candidate Ethan Happ carries the Badgers along for another successful March run. Pump the breaks. Breaking news, the Badgers can barely score 60 points a game. Yes, they have a great defense that seems to slow every game down, but unlike some of the previous Badger teams, outside of Ethan Happ, this team really struggles to find any sort of offense.

Having a savvy veteran leader in Happ, and a scoring machine in Markus Howard ready to drop a 30 burger at any moment, Wisconsin and Marquette have their go-to stars in place, that can carry the team on their back and potentially make an epic run in March. We have seen Markus Howard go-off for 30 plus points, and Marquette still find a way to lose. I think it just takes running into a tough first round matchup, with a guard that can frustrate Markus Howard and keep him a little bit in check. This would cause some serious problems early in the tourney for Howard and Marquette. For Marquette to advance to even the Sweet 16, you’re going to need Howard to play out of his mind, like a couple 40-point games or even a 50-point performance which we know he’s capable of. For Wisconsin, outside of Ethan Happ there is no one. The Badgers need to find one more consistent scorer in the Big Ten Tournament before the NCAA Tournament begins. Whether that’s D’Mitrik Trice, Khalil Iverson, or Brad Davidson, one of those players need to step up and have a big game in the tournament for this team to advance. 

These epic runs, and 50-game scoring outbursts seem like a bit too much to rely on for Marquette and Wisconsin heading into the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Despite solid regular seasons, and high expectations heading into the tournament for Marquette, it might be wise to not gamble on the hometown favorites as this year’s tournament approaches.