Last season didn’t go as planned for the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team, and that’s almost certainly an understatement. They missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in 19 years, and their 15 wins, 18 losses season was their worst under head coach Greg Gard. You have to go back 20 years to see the last time the Badgers finished with a sub .500-win ratio, a 12 win 19 loss season in 1997-98.
With a large portion of the team returning — 94.9 percent of its scoring and all five starters back from a year ago — there could be worries that the struggles of last season might weigh heavily on the team.