In a strange, unofficial end to the 2020 Wisconsin men’s basketball season, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index christened the Badgers as national champions of Joe Lunardi’s final projected bracket standings. This is all fine and dandy and yes, we should absolutely hang a banner from the rafters of the Kohl. But the question remains — could the Badgers really have won this tournament?
I mean, don’t get me wrong, they were catching fire at just the right time and captured their first regular season title since 2015. Yet, with a plethora of talented teams waiting for them in the Big Ten Tournament and an even larger set of challengers awaiting in the greater tournament, their chances were slim to say the least.