college basketball

Big Ten Record Predictions

College basketball is upon us! Wisconsin and the rest of the Big Ten tip off their seasons Monday night.

Below, I went through and made my record predictions for the season and what teams will make the Tournament. This is a standings prediction, not necessarily a ranking of which teams are better. For example, I think UCLA is a better team than Illinois and Wisconsin; they just happen to have a rough away slate. Unfortunately, with the Big Ten as bloated as it is, a lot of standings will be determined by the home/away split. 

1. Purdue 26 – 4 Overall (17 – 3 Big Ten)

2. Michigan: 23 – 7 (15 – 5)

2. Mich St: 24 – 7 (15 – 5)

4. Illinois: 22 – 9 (14 – 6)

4. Wisconsin: 23 – 8 (14 – 6)

6. UCLA: 23 – 8 (13 – 7)

7. Oregon:20 – 10 (12 – 8)

7. Iowa: 20 – 10 (12 – 8)

9. Ohio State: 20 – 11 (11 – 9)

10. Washington: 18 – 12 (10 – 10)

11. Indiana: 17 – 15 (9 – 11)

11. USC: 18 – 11 (9 – 11)

11. Maryland: 15 – 15

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Welcome Home Brad

Did you know Brad Davison played quarterback in high school? If you watched Wisconsin Basketball from 2017 to 2022, I’m sure you heard that fun fact every other game. Little did any of us know that he was throwing passes to eventual Brewers rookie of the year candidate Isaac Collins. Now, after a short pro career in Spain, Brad is back in Madison to join Gard’s coaching staff. All roads from Maple Grove, Minnesota, lead to Wisconsin, I guess.

The Loss of Kirk

Before I break down what Brad Davison brings to Wisconsin, I do have to mention the loss of Kirk Penney. Penney was an assistant for only 2 years, but was able to make a significant impact on the program. As the Badgers’ unofficial Offensive Coordinator, he played a significant part in revolutionizing Gard’s offense. He brought a modern perspective to Wisconsin’s plodding swing offense, leading to the team’s best offensive season since the 80s. Gard claims that he was calling the plays this past year, while Penney was the one who helped define his vision. However, Gard stated that he will still be looking to keep Penney involved in the program from afar in New Zealand.

What

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Wisco Wednesday: Fire Gard – Part Two

Before we get into basketball talk, congratulations to the Badger Women’s Hockey team for winning the national title this past Sunday. If you haven’t seen Kirsten Simms’ two goals to win the game, go find the highlight. It might just wash a little bit of Saturday night’s loss away.

For starters, I am still in the camp that we should keep Greg Gard. While we had another disappointing exit in the tournament, Gard accomplished a complete 180 in Wisconsin’s identity in one season. In a season picked to finish 12th in the Big Ten, his team was able to grab a 3 seed in the tournament. The question is, will he be able to replicate a quick turnaround for next season? We will be losing 63% of our total minutes just to seniors graduating. Comments from Blackwell and Winter indicate that they will be staying in Wisconsin, but after them, it’s a whole lot of inexperience. If Greg Gard can hit it out of the park with the transfer portal once again, expect another season that crushes preseason expectations.

But at what point does regular season success translate to postseason success? Wisconsin hasn’t made the Sweet Sixteen since 2017, only …

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Welcome to March! – Walk on Fan’s NCAA Bracket Challenge

Do you think you can pick a better bracket than me? Join Walk on Fan’s NCAA bracket challenge by clicking here!

The First Four

Let’s get started with the First Four games and the biggest controversy of Selection Sunday. North Carolina should not be in the NCAA tournament plain and simple. Indiana and West Virginia have vastly superior wins and also less harmful losses. The only thing that North Carolina has going for it is the fact they have a lot of non-conference quality losses. But only one quality win. In fact, they have 2 wins over other teams in the tournament: UCLA (7 seed) and American (16 seed.) In comparison, Indiana has 4 and West Virginia has 5. However, there’s commonly one team that plays in the first four that makes the Sweet Sixteen. And UNC is my bet to make that run. They have been playing good basketball recently, only losing to Duke twice in their past 10 games. On top of that, they get to play a weak San Diego State team, an over seeded Ole Miss, and either Iowa State without their second-best player or 14 seed Lipscomb. Good thing UNC’s athletic director, also the NCAA …

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Welcome to Selection Sunday! Walk on Fan’s Final Bracket Update

We’re keeping it simple today. Just seeds and no analysis. We’ll have a breakdown of the actual bracket tomorrow.

1 Seeds:

Duke, Houston, Auburn, Florida

2 Seeds:

Tennessee, St. Johns, Alabama, Michigan State

3 Seeds:

Wisconsin, Texas Tech, Michigan, Iowa State

4 Seeds:

Maryland, Texas A&M, Clemson, Kentucky

5 Seeds:

Purdue, Marquette, Arizona, Louisville

6 Seeds:

St. Mary’s, Gonzaga, Kansas, Oregon

7 Seeds:

Mizzou, UCLA, BYU, Ole Miss

8 Seeds:

Illinois, Memphis, Creighton, Miss State

9 Seeds:

UConn, VCU, New Mexico, Vanderbilt

10 Seeds:

Baylor, Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma

11 Seeds:

Xavier, Colorado State, West Virginia, Utah St, San Diego St, Indiana

12 Seeds:

UC San Diego, Drake, McNeese, Yale

13 Seeds:

Liberty, Akron, Grand Canyon, High Point

14 Seeds:

Lipscomb, Troy, UNCW, Robert Morris

15 Seeds:

Montana, Wofford, Bryant, Omaha

16 Seeds:

Norfolk State, American, Mt. St. Mary’s, SIUE, Alabama State, St Francis PA

First 4 out:

North Carolina, Boise State, Texas, Ohio State

Next 4 out:

North Texas, George Mason, UC Irvine, Cincinnati

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This article was written by Jordan Longseth and edited by Hayden Breene.

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Walk on Fan’s Big Ten Tournament Preview

The regular season is over! Congratulations to Michigan State on winning the Big Ten regular season title. Now, let’s move on to the postseason and see where the whole Big Ten stands going into Wednesday’s games and what my picks are for the tournament. Well, not the whole Big Ten. Sorry to Nebraska, Penn State, and Washington. There’s always next year.

Game 1: Northwestern (+27,000 to win the Big Ten) vs Minnesota (+27,000)

This is the first of two games not to feature a team that could make the NCAA tournament without winning the conference tournament. Don’t expect an NC State run from either of these teams. Northwestern is favored and leads Minnesota in most metric-based standings. However, Minnesota has seven Quad 1 wins compared to Northwestern’s 3. I would pick Minnesota (+120) here.

Game 2: Iowa (+30,000) vs Ohio State (+5,000)

Ohio State really needs to win this game even to have a chance at making the NCAA tournament. Iowa has had a very disappointing season, and I don’t see that changing. The only win of note they had in the Big Ten was against Indiana. Back when they were floundering. I am going to side with Ohio State …

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We have a new number one! Walk on Fan’s March 10th Bracket Update

1 Seeds:

Duke (2-0), Auburn (0-2), Houston (2-0), Florida (2-0)

2 Seeds:

Tennessee (1-1), Michigan State (2-0), St. Johns (2-0), Alabama (1-1)

It turns out that Auburn is mortal, after all. Losing twice in one week only drops them to number two overall, with how stacked their resume is at the moment. Duke benefits from the dip and is currently sitting as the number one overall seed. The rest of the one and two seeds are sitting relatively comfortable going into the conference tournaments. Even if there are upsets, expect these teams to stay steady.

3 Seeds:

Texas Tech (2-0), Iowa State (1-1), Maryland (2-0), Clemson (2-0)

4 Seeds:

Wisconsin (1-1), Texas A&M (2-0), Purdue (1-1), Kentucky (2-0)

Wisconsin losing to Penn State sucks. Obviously, there were concerns with fouls and injuries related to the game, but that shouldn’t be an excuse to lose to a Big Ten team that didn’t even make the conference tournament. Greg Gard better hope his team can rebound in the postseason, otherwise, we might be hearing some “Fire Gard” chants coming soon. Elsewhere, Maryland and Clemson are two hot teams going into their respective tournaments and could move up with a good showing. Texas …

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Walk on Fan’s Mid-Major Check in

Who doesn’t love Cinderella stories? No Cinderella has actually won the NCAA basketball tournament, but damn is it fun to watch them win in the first round of the tournament.

Off the top of my head, I can recall teams like 2013’s Florida Gulf Coast, 2018’s Loyola Chicago, 2022’s Saint Peter’s, and 2023’s Princeton more so than the teams that won the national title every year. The best Cinderellas populate the Mid Majors, so that’s where I want to focus your attention today. We’ll keep the analysis short today. I’ll be giving you the betting favorite, my pick, and a team that could surprise from the field. Odds are taken from sources when available. Some tournament seeds aren’t set yet, so official odds aren’t available yet. Without further ado, let’s get into the 4 Mid Major Conferences that could see more than one invitee.

Atlantic 10

The Favorite: VCU
Jordan’s Pick: VCU
Team to watch: George Mason

Mountain West

The Favorite: New Mexico
Jordan’s Pick: San Diego State
Team to watch: Colorado State

The American

The Favorite: Memphis
Jordan’s Pick: Memphis
Team to watch: North Texas

West Coast

The Favorite: Gonzaga (-130)
Jordan’s Pick: St. Mary’s (+135)
Team to watch: …

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Top Four Shake-Up: Walk on Fan’s March 3rd Bracket Update

1 Seeds:

Auburn (2-0), Duke (2-0), Houston (2-0), Tennessee (2-0)

2 Seeds:

Florida (1-1), Michigan State (2-0), St. Johns (2-0), Alabama (1-1)

Finally! A shake-up in the top four seeds. Florida lost an easily winnable game against Georgia, moving them down to a two seed. Tennessee’s buzzer-beater against Alabama moves them up to the one seed line. Otherwise, Auburn, Duke, Houston, Michigan State, and St. John’s had great weeks. The field is starting to get finalized, so expect little movement from here on out.

3 Seeds:

Texas Tech (1-1), Wisconsin (1-1), Iowa State (1-1), Michigan (1-1)

4 Seeds:

 Maryland (1-1), Clemson (2-0), Texas A&M (0-2), Purdue (1-0)

The three seed line had little movement, with all four projected teams going 1-1 with no real outliers. Michigan’s buzzer beater against Maryland moves them up even though they lost to Illinois. Clemson is hot, while Texas A&M is in freefall. Purdue finally stopped their skid, notching a solid win against UCLA. If there is any volatility from this grouping going forward, it’ll be from the conference tournaments that start next week.

5 Seeds:

Kentucky (1-1), Mizzou (1-1), Marquette (2-0), St. Marys (2-0)

6 Seeds:

Arizona (1-1), Louisville (2-0), Kansas (1-1), Oregon (1-0)

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Wisco Wednesday: Welcome to the Jack Janicki Fan Club

Jack Janicki turned down offers from other schools to be a walk-on at Wisconsin. This season, he has been a spark plug off the bench, playing key minutes in big victories.

Two years ago, Jack Janicki turned down offers from Wake Forest, Loyola Chicago, Colorado State, Harvard, and others to walk on at Wisconsin. He came here as a preferred walk-on with the assumption that he would be able to play for a scholarship and work his way onto the court. His freshman year resulted in a redshirt after never seeing the court last year. This year has been a different story. Starting with the Arizona game, he has been a spark plug off the bench, playing key minutes in big victories. His presence isn’t always reflected in the stat line due to his limited use as Wisconsin’s 9th man at the moment. But once you start digging into his statistics, that narrative begins to shift.

Starting right off the bat, we have to look at the per-minute stats to compare with the rest of the roster. Janicki is averaging .037 steals per minute played. For comparison, John Blackwell leads the starters with .030 steals per minute. Janicki has .020 …

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