Loss Doesn't Kill Badgers Too Much

A loss to Ohio State and a win against Northwestern wasn't enought to keep the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team steady in the polls, but it wasn't damaging enough to drop them too far. In the latest edition of the college basketball rankings, the Badgers come in at #18 in the Associated Press poll, and #19 in the ESPN/USA Today version. Marquette is obviously still unranked, but they did pick up ten votes in the AP poll while still being shutout in the other one.

But, the real poll that we should be following I think is the one and only Bracketology done by ESPN.com's Andy Katz. In it, he's got the Badgers listed as a number three seed for the NCAA tournament, which is incredible given how little faith people had in them at the beginning of the season. Right now he's got them playing Oakland, a team they beat earlier already this season. Marquette, on the other hand, is currently listed as a team in the First Four Out category.

Every post I write about these two teams this season is usually about their tournament chances. At this point, it's safe to say that Wisconsin is a lock, while Marquette still has some work to do. I think they'll be able to get in pretty easily, but they have to start winning some of these close games they are losing. That will get them in the tournament a lot quicker then beating up on patsies like Providence will.