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Bumbaca: Badgers in unfamiliar territory due to youth

Before Western Illinois shocked the Wisconsin men’s basketball team Friday night, a fellow reporter and I were watching highlights from the inaugural evening of the 2015-16 college basketball season.

“I wonder who’s going to get upset tonight,” he said. “There’s always one.”

“Who knows?” I said offhandedly.

The answer? Wisconsin. I’d never guessed it, because never in a million years would I have thought Wisconsin would lose to a team like Western Illinois.

A poignant pregame ceremony to remember last season’s team set the mood for the night, but once the night’s proceedings commenced, all was forgotten.