Wisconsin a #4 on the 3rd line?

Riles - A) Wisconsin is not that good

you make a strong case...

And secondly, they will get smoked by any of the #1 or #2 seeded teams

yeah, they probably would get smoked by texas...

Badger fans, I wouldn't get too riled up about somebody's basketball opinion from Nebraska... LOL

"but until they make it to the final four"

See 2000 followed by an Elite 8 appearance a few years later.

So following your logic...Texas beat Tennesse, UCLA and Kansas and should obviously be seeded above them.  I'm guessing that makes Texas a Number 1 seed along with Wisconsin, Memphis, and UNC.

Wait...Texas Tech, Missouri, Michigan State, and Texas A & M also beat Texas.  Now where do we seed them?

Point is...you can't base seeding on one game or even a few games.  You have to look at the whole body of work.  Clearly, Texas plays well enough to beat two possibly three number 1 seeds but also plays poorly enough to get beat by Missouri and Texas Tech.

Wisconsin is being hurt by the perception that the Big Ten is weak with the exception of a few teams at the top.  Also, your SOS is in the 50's compared to Texas who is in the Top 5.

2007 #2 Wisconsin 29-5 - lost second round to UNLV #7
2006 #9 Wisconsin 19-11- lost first round to Arizona #8
2005 #6 Wisconsin 22-8 - beat #11 Northern Arizona, #14 Bucknell, #10 NC State, lost close game to eventual champion UNC in elite 8
2004 #6 Wisconsin 24-6 - beat #11 Richmond, lost in second round to #3 Pitt (really got hosed on the seed this year)
2003 #5 Wisconsin 22-7 - beat #12 Weber St,#13 Tulsa, lost in sweet 16 to #1 Kentucky
2002 #8 Wisconsin 18-12- beat #9 St. John's,lost in second round to #1 Maryland National Champ
2001 #6 Wisconsin 18-10- Upset in the first round by #11 Georgia State
2000 #8 Wisconsin 18-13- beat #9 Fresno St., #1 Arizona, #4 LSU, #6 Purdue, Lost in final four to eventual champ Michigan St.

Summary for dummies

2007 #2 - 2nd Round to #7 UNLV
2006 #9 - 1st Round to #8 Arizona
2005 #6 - Elite 8 close game to UNC (National Champ)
2004 #6 - 2nd round to #3 Pitt (really got hosed on the seed this year)
2003 #5 - Sweet 16 to #1 Kentucky
2002 #8 - 2nd round to #1 Maryland (National Champ)
2001 #6 - 1st round to #11 Georgia State
2000 #8 - Final four to Michigan St. (National Champ)

Only once were we seeded above a 5 seed, which was a 2 seed where we lost our starting center in the last game of the season.
Yet were somehow able to have a sweet 16, elite 8, and final four appearance in and 8 year stretch. Yes you guys are right. Overrated.  You make not like how we win, but we do.

I have respect for the badgers.  I like the way they get after you defensively and Bo Ryan is one of the best coaches in college bball. 

However, they are not a team I fear on a neutral court.  Granted they beat Texas on the road this year, but the few games I've watched they did not impress me.

I can't make a strong argument for why I don't see them getting past the Sweet 16 bc I need to see the match ups and I admittly haven't seen many of their games. 

If they do get a 2 seed I hope Gtown is the 3 in their bracket., I feel that would be a game we would win comfortably.

BTW...the Big 10 was trash this year!  Even you Big Ten conference apologist have to admit that.

I am not arguing for a 2 seed.  In fact i think a 3 seed would be great.  afterall this is a team that a couple of years ago deserved a 2 seed and ended up with a 6 seed having to face an underseeded #3 Pitt in the second round.

10-15 is not that unfair either.  the only thing i don't that is not being talked about here is regardless of what you think about them they are built for a tourney run. Very solid D, low TO, balanced scoring, and deep rotation.  Not to mention very good coaching. as far as the athletism comment you must be basing that on the tall white guys who actually a quite athletic for thier size.  Hughes and Flowers at the Guard spot are as athletic as any.

My post was too all those @ssbags who claim to know bball and throw out statements that Wisconsin sucks just cause the want to see fast breaking alley oops for two halves.

"elite level BCS conference teams"

Oh sht!  Nobody told me the BCS machine had taken over men's basketball as well!!!

... I love how quick people are to dismiss the Texas win or say, "other than that"... well, you could do that with about any team.  So basically, unless we go 30-0, we will not be legit because Northwestern plays in our conference.. makes a lot of sense.  I'm glad we get to determine our own destiny by play on the court.  If we would've listend to half these dufuses before the season, we would've just handed the conference over to Indiana and MIchigan St.

I agree that the B10 is having a down year this year (just look at the B10 / ACC challange).  For years, Mich St. has been the consistant standout from our league with Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio St. always playing good ball and occassionally having a standout year.  Mich State, Ohio State and Illinois are all having a down year and despite the good ball Purdue is playing, its hard not to see those bigger teams' down years as opening the door for a team like Purdue (who did not exactly have an outstanding non conference season). 

That said, Wisconsin is legitimately good.  They won consistantly by large margins over the teams they were supposed to beat, beat quality opponents in close games and ended up with only 4 losses to teams that weren't exactly embarassing to lose to.  Most people who follow the team closely consider them better than last year's team that was a #2 seed and ranked #1 in the country, briefly. 

For those who say they are overrated, I suppose it depends on how you rate them.  But historically, teams that are balanced and solid with no well known star power perform better than expected because people tend to draw conclusions about an entire team based on their knowledge of one star player.  I suppose I am biased, but it seems like a team like Wisconsin is much more likely to be underrated than overrated. 

I would rather, however, see a 3 seed in the midwest than a 2 seed anywhere else.  Badgers show up and support (look at this week's game at Northwestern) and can have a big impact on the game.  A midwest bracket would be an even bigger advantage for the Badgers than a 2 seed, and I'd welcome it even if it meant listening to all the (unfounded) whining about a top ten ranked team getting "no respect". 

"My post was too all those @ssbags who claim to know bball and throw out statements that Wisconsin sucks just cause the want to see fast breaking alley oops for two halves."

Watching teams play defense is apparently not appealing to most... for those, I recommend the NBA.

From a boiler fan.....Wisconsin is a good team this year, and much like us wins with defense. I'll admit to not watching a lot of other NCAA bball other than the big ten, but what i do watch is a completely different style than the big ten is. So different obviously = worse in most people's minds. I watch games in the ACC and stuff and it's like, shot... followed by def. rebound, then throw to cherry picker sitting on the other half of the court for the easy layup, final score 90-85. Defense is not the cool thing and definitely not respected in basketball at the colleg or pro level anymore, and so when you have big 10 teams with games at 50-45 or whatever, it looks like a "weak conference". Hasn't anyone ever heard the phrase offense wins games, defense wins championships? Just throwin my 2 cents out. Good season badgers, wished we could've shared that big ten title with you guys, let's hope for a rematch in the B10 championship.