Get ready to ride the rollercoaster of emotions from this weekend's sports mayhem! You'll feel the highs, lows, and heart-stopping moments as I bring you up to speed on the NCAA basketball tournament's latest jaw-dropping upsets and triumphs. From Kentucky's unexpected downfall to Duquesne's Cinderella story, brace yourself for an epic recap that'll leave you with your brackets in shambles and your heart racing. As we pivot to professional hoops, I spotlight the Wisconsin Badgers' critical clash with James Madison and the Milwaukee Bucks' thrilling face-off with the Oklahoma City Thunder. With Giannis Antetokounmpo's anticipated return, the stakes couldn't be higher.
Amidst the chaos of college hoops, I'll reveal the financial intricacies of the NCAA tournament and give a nod to Sister Jean's heartwarming predictions. Prepare to be intrigued by my candid reflections on the Badgers' season, the selection controversies that have left fans in uproar, and the potential slippery slope of expanding the tournament. And don't get me started on the NIL deals—these contracts are reshaping college sports, and we're talking about the good, the bad, and the questionable.
As we gear up for the next round of nail-biting matchups, I break down the pivotal clashes that could either make or break the Badgers' journey. By highlighting key players such as Chuckie Epporn, Steven Crow, and Tyler Wall, we explore the strategic plays that will need to shine under the spotlight. Keep an ear out as I promise to bring you a potential preview show, packed with a strategic analysis of the next adversary, should the Badgers clinch a victory. Stay tuned, sports fans—this episode is a full-court press of Wisconsin's sports heartbeat.
Get ready to ride the rollercoaster of emotions from this weekend's sports mayhem! You'll feel the highs, lows, and heart-stopping moments as I bring you up to speed on the NCAA basketball tournament's latest jaw-dropping upsets and triumphs. From Kentucky's unexpected downfall to Duquesne's Cinderella story, brace yourself for an epic recap that'll leave you with your brackets in shambles and your heart racing. As we pivot to professional hoops, I spotlight the Wisconsin Badgers' critical clash with James Madison and the Milwaukee Bucks' thrilling face-off with the Oklahoma City Thunder. With Giannis Antetokounmpo's anticipated return, the stakes couldn't be higher.
Amidst the chaos of college hoops, I'll reveal the financial intricacies of the NCAA tournament and give a nod to Sister Jean's heartwarming predictions. Prepare to be intrigued by my candid reflections on the Badgers' season, the selection controversies that have left fans in uproar, and the potential slippery slope of expanding the tournament. And don't get me started on the NIL deals—these contracts are reshaping college sports, and we're talking about the good, the bad, and the questionable.
As we gear up for the next round of nail-biting matchups, I break down the pivotal clashes that could either make or break the Badgers' journey. By highlighting key players such as Chuckie Epporn, Steven Crow, and Tyler Wall, we explore the strategic plays that will need to shine under the spotlight. Keep an ear out as I promise to bring you a potential preview show, packed with a strategic analysis of the next adversary, should the Badgers clinch a victory. Stay tuned, sports fans—this episode is a full-court press of Wisconsin's sports heartbeat.
you how we doing everybody, and welcome to Wisconsin.
Speaker 1:Sports time to go with Traj. I'm your host, traj. It is Friday. We made it to the weekend and, hey, nothing better than a Friday, especially on March madness Weekend. Right, we're in the March. We had the madness going on yesterday. A lot of crazy games that happened in yesterday's action there. So I'm gonna touch on those games. Touch on those a little bit there. Also, we got the Badgers coming up tonight here. Big game in Brooklyn 840 start for that one. So we're gonna get into the Badgers.
Speaker 1:I want to take a deep dive today into this James Madison team. See what the Badgers got to do to pick up the win here against James Madison. We got the box. We're gonna talk about the box a little bit today here. They're gonna be an action over the weekend. So lots to talk about here on the show today and just touch in Wherever we want to touch in. Right, it's gonna. I don't, I don't know. I don't know what we're gonna get into today, but we're gonna get into something here. So, with that, right away, I want to look at the box. Bucks will be an action here coming up this weekend. That will be On sunday. They will have okc playing the thunder. Thunder coming to the Pfizer for that one. The bucks are actually it might surprise a few people out there, but they're favored. They're favored in this game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. That's great. Oklahoma coming in at 48 and 20 on the year. The box coming in at 45 and 25. Bucks, 26 and 7 at home. The thunder not bad on the road. They're 20 and 13 on the road there.
Speaker 1:Shake yielders Alexander, he's the guy to watch there for okc. He's having a fantastic year. He's averaging about 30 a game right now on 54 percent from the field. This guy, he, he's ridiculous, he's ridiculous. If you ask me, this guy, shoot the basketball. Shake yielders will be the guy. If you want to watch, if you want to watch a pretty good Young team, this is the game you got to watch here with the thunder and the box. This will be a pretty good game here we have looking at the thunder as a whole. You have the shake yielder said xander. Like I said, you also have jail and williams. He's averaging about 19 a game right now, and then chet holgram, another young guy 17 points a game for him. Josh giddy is averaging 11 and then dork is averaging 10 for him. So a lot of good scoring pieces all the way around there For this Oklahoma City Thunder team bucks.
Speaker 1:Yanis did play against the Nets. I would expect the honest to be out there for this game against okc, so that will be good if you are, if you're, if you're hung, go, we need to get Yanis back into the lineup there. That's going to be huge for the bucks there when he come, when he plays against okc, because they're definitely going to need them there With some of the athleticism that Oklahoma City likes to play with. That's the thing. When you look at the difference between a team like okc and the box is that okc's got a you know they're, they're built on athleticism and the bucks a little bit older, a little bit slower, right, and they did like like we I was going to mention there got the win against brooklyn, bounce back against brooklyn there on Thursday night. But this Oklahoma City team I mean athletic they get after you and that's going to test this box team because, like we've talked about in the past, get a little bit older, getting a little bit slower, kind of their veteran led right and this is a game that's going to prove what, what's going to prevail right, the athleticism of the Oklahoma City Thunder or the veteran led Milwaukee bucks. That's going to be a big thing in this game here. So that game will be coming up Sunday 6 o'clock on NBA TV from the Pfizer big game there for the box, because right after that they got the Lakers. Two days later They'll be taking on the Lakers. That game will also be at the Pfizer.
Speaker 1:So you have a couple of games here with Oklahoma and then the Lakers. Then you have the pelicans too. So a little bit of Western Conference action there, but some very good teams in the Western Conference that the bucks be squaring off with. So we talked about measuring sticks before. Right, this is a. You know, you had that West Coast series there. You went one out of four games there. You won one out of four. I mean, I mean this is a stretch here where you got to see the bucks put some big numbers and they got to be able to win some ball games here to really Put some of the naysayers away. Right, teams are still aren't. Well, analysts, whatever you want to say, they're still not high up on the box.
Speaker 1:Is this team really a team that can compete with the uh, celtics, what, what, whatever you want to say about them, this is a couple of games here with a boxing show like, hey, we beat some of the top teams from the west, we hung with the Celtics without Yanis, we have the pieces right, we're still there. That West Coast when they went on the West Coast, I think that kind of it brought people packed. It brought people back down to earth. They started out after the all-star break, red hot went on that West Coast swing and it kind of came back down to earth there for a second. This is where you show people like, hey, we lost those games, but we're still a solid team, we're still a good team that's going to compete with the east and and that's what I think this series is going to do, or this couple game stretch here for the box is going to do for him is really just solidify that spot there. So, with that Getting out of the box, I want to mention a couple of our sponsors first, before we move on here, first your hometown team century 21 gold key Realty called Peggy sewer, anna to find your dream home.
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Speaker 1:But I wanted to just do a quick nba standings update. Coming off of that bucks win last night. The bucks currently 10 and a half games back of the boston seltics. The cleveland cavaliers are sitting 12 games back. They're behind the bucks there in that third spot. Nix coming in the floor spot right now 13 and a half, along with the magic also sitting at 13 and a half games back. Pacers they're coming in 16 and a half back in that six spot.
Speaker 1:Then we have the heat and the 76ers at 17 games back and then the bulls and the hawks 21 and a half and 24 and a half games back. You wouldn't want to say that the nets are out yet. 29 and a half games back. They're just. They're on the outside of that 10 seed but we're hitting the home stretch. It's getting. They got to pick up a lot of wins in a short amount of time and they're two and they're two and eight in their last ten. So not promising things out of the Brooklyn. That's right now. They find ways to lose ball games.
Speaker 1:Looking at the Western Conference Oklahoma City Thunder coming in in that one spot, followed by the Nuggets half game back in the two spot. Timberwolves game and a half back there in that. Three Clippers five games back Pelicans six and a half in the Mavericks sitting at eight games back Kings, sons, lakers and Warriors, all in that seven through ten spot. They're in the Western Conference. So I mean everything kind of, for the most part, shaking out the way that we expected in the Eastern Conference. 76ers losing Joella B that's dropped them off a lot. The heat have never there. The heater hit or miss for me. They're still hanging around. They might get into that six spot, maybe even up to a five spot at some point, but they're hanging around in the playoff picture. Other than that, I mean the next kind of where I expect them to be. The Cavaliers I think they're exceeding Expectations, are up in that three spot. Magic also in the Pacers too.
Speaker 1:But I just, you know, looking at the rest of it kind of who you expected to see in that top ten, and then looking at the west, kind of the same thing. But the West, I would just say the only surprises are okc and the Timberwolves hanging out top for so long. I would say those are the two. That's like, yeah, you know, didn't expect those two pelicans to be in that five spot. But other than I mean, I expected maybe the Kings, sons I don't know if I ever expected the Warriors to fully come back and the Lakers, but Kings and sons were two teams that I expected to be near the top, with the Nuggets, clippers, mavs were gonna hang around and that's Kind of what it is right, kind of. And you have a team like the Rockets who are only 14 and a half games back. They're right on the outside looking in behind the Warriors right now. So the West there's still lots to play for. There's still lots play for in both Conferences right now. So, getting out of the NBA standings, let's talk basketball, right. Let's talk some March madness basketball.
Speaker 1:Yesterday A lot of brackets were proud. I'm gonna assume there's a lot of brackets busting just because of the Kentucky loss. Oakland did get the win and we also saw the loss of Duke Nice. They also lost their duke Kane. Sorry, said it wrong again. I figured out how to finally say it do keep, I do Kane is how you say it. Duke Kane did get the win over BYU, so we do saw duke Kane get a win there. We saw Oakland with the upset win, oregon with the win over South Carolina. That was a dominant win.
Speaker 1:South Carolina. If you watch South Carolina all year long, that's a pretty good defensive team in South Carolina coming out of the SEC and Just to see the way that Oregon was able to I mean they had a guy drop 40 points but just to see the way that they just dropped South Carolina I thought that was the crazy part. I mean I picked Oregon to win that game. I did, but I just thought that was crazy. I mean Oregon was a bid stealer. They weren't supposed to be in the tournament. They stole a bid and they got in there as the 11 and they just ran one of the better teams in college basketball over the collective year. I mean South Carolina at one point was that they were near the top of the SEC and they were near the top in the standings. They had a couple losses here and there. Dropping back out ended up as a 60. This was a very good team in South Carolina and they just got ran out the door by Oregon, so that was a good game. There.
Speaker 1:Also, everybody wanted to crap on Virginia for only scoring 14 points and a half. Colorado State only scored 11. The team that held Virginia to 14 Only scored 11 against Texas and a half. That was crazy. That was just downright crazy right there. Also, that Dayton Nevada game. I don't know if anybody checked that game out Dayton and Nevada yesterday but that game I mean at one point Nevada was up by like 14 at least 14 plus at one point there in that game and Dayton brought it all the way back and won it at the end. That was crazy, that was a craze. That's March for you. That was March for you in a nutshell there.
Speaker 1:Other than that, I mean on the outside of looking at that, not a lot of I'm not gonna say a lot of close games. Michigan State kicked crap out of Mississippi State. North Carolina won a handily over Wagner. Iowa State blew doors off. South Dakota State, morehead State, hung around with Illinois for the longest time. I Was at work all day so I Was tuning in and out, you know, checking games out, and for a while there more head state was. I believe that game was like a One-point game at the half, like that was a close ball game. Just to check here, I just wanted to see ones. Yeah, that was a one-point game. At the half Illinois was up by one at the half and second half they just ran more head state out of the building and the Offensive scoring of what Illinois off offensively, what Illinois can do, they showed in that game against more head state they put a run on that second half.
Speaker 1:Oakland, that was crazy.
Speaker 1:I mean they. It was a close. I mean 80 to 76 now like it was a blowout game there. But Oakland man, that guy from Oakland there I believe his name is Goki. He was 10 for 20 from the field and he had 10 at three pointers. 10, three pointers in that game. He shot all from downtown. 10 for 20 from downtown in that game. He hit all but five of the threes of Oakland in that game. That's ridiculous, 32 points for him.
Speaker 1:This guy is crazy. This could be. I mean don't, don't. I'm not gonna say that he's exactly like Jimmer, right, a Jimmer Federt there, but he gives me that vibe, man. He gives me that vibe like this is a guy who could carry Oakland for a little bit. I mean, you see it, we. I just want to see what the matchup would be there. I, if the barring what happens, you're going to have the winner of I, like I said I'm shooting this night of but Texas Tech and NC State, the winner of that there, oakland could very well end up in a like sweet 16 matchup. They could end up in a sweet 16, I'll be honest with you. They could potentially make it that far. And then you'd have the Cinderella story. You'd have the Jimmifert Federer vibes there. You'd have like a Davidson with Steph Curry vibes. This is, I mean, march is a time when guys showcase their skills and this guy is a very good three-point shooter just crazy. Some of the things that he can do today are well.
Speaker 1:Coming up today here. I mean, there's gonna be a lot of good basketball games coming up. We have action all over the place. Looking at some of the bigger games you're gonna have Purdue coming up today here they're gonna be happening at 625 other games. I mean, I still think that Alabama, if you're gonna watch a good high, if you, if you're all about offense, you're all about high-flying offenses and running that Alabama Charleston game that's gonna be happening at 635 on true TV. That game's gonna be all about that. Both teams play fast, they want to push the tempo, they want to run with it and you know the way I way I picked it was Alabama just does it better than what Charleston it does. But if Alabama goes cold, charleston can hang around in that game because they love to play fast, they love to speed up, they love to force turnovers.
Speaker 1:That could be a very good game there, other than that, just looking around, I think New Mexico and Clemson is gonna be a good game. I I picked New Mexico to win that game, but I think it's gonna be a good one outside of that. I was just trying to see any other games. Marquette will be an action today coming up at one that'll be against Western Kentucky there for that one for in Colorado that could end up being a good, good matchup there and then we have I really do think that FAU Northwestern games gonna end up as a good one. I think Northwestern will win it. But I I don't trust FAU. But they got the tournament experience right. They returned everybody. They brought everybody back. That game between FAU and Northwestern could turn out to be a very good game. And then San Diego State, uab I got UAB winning that one. That could be a very good game.
Speaker 1:Vermont and Duke I picked Vermont to win that one. That game's gonna be on CBS. That will actually be the game before the Badgers on CBS there. Vermont taking on Duke in that Brooklyn regional there, so that or that Brooklyn region. So that could be a very good game to there between Duke and Vermont. And then there everybody's telling me the Badgers and James Madison is gonna be a great game. So definitely got to be tuning in that one. Right, well, we are, we are ready, so it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1:And then Nebraska text saying them I am a little higher on Nebraska than what a lot of people are. I love what Tommy Naga has done with Nebraska there. I think he's an underlying factor and star in this tournament and also I mean we saw a wheelchair can do off the bench for him. I think Wiltshire is gonna be huge and ranked fast. That could be a good game and I think they could. That could be Nebraska versus Houston could be a very good game. I think it could end up as a very good game because I think Nebraska can shoot it and I think they can shoot it well, and I think that would be a very good matchup with Houston there to see what Houston's defense can do against that. So lots of good games coming up today here.
Speaker 1:Yet in the madness, the madness is just beginning here. We got a lot. We got first-round action coming up here. Like I said, that's happening today and then tomorrow. The second-round action starts on Saturday there. Sunday, a little bit more second-round action, but we're just praying to see the Badgers play another weekend. Right, we got a. We're just praying for it. We're just praying for it. So before I continue with the college basketball talk, I just wanted to mention a couple more of our sponsors here before I move on.
Speaker 1:First, game day supply in Alaska. Do you have a sports club or team? Are you looking for some sweet custom uniforms or apparel? Check out the awesome crew at game day supply in on Alaska to help your team get the sweetest gear. Find them on Facebook at game day supply or online at game day supply net. Also sport and spying clinic in Greenwood. Stop in there in Greenwood at sport and spying. If you've been injured lately you need some physical therapy, and whether it was at work on the court, on the field, whatever you were doing, you know sometimes this this time of year we're talking about ice. This weekend you slipped your fall. Yeah, you hurt something. Stop in there, see chat, he'll get you right. He'll get you back to work, back on the court, back on the field, whatever it is, he'll get you back there. Sport and spying clinic in Greenwood. And also Marshfield motor speedways, located just three miles outside of Marshfield on County Road H. There, heading out west on County Road H, you'll see Marshfield motor speedways. There, great racing and family fun plans, some fantastic summer days and nights at the track. So Marshfield motor speedways there in Marshfield, wisconsin, with that dough sticking in.
Speaker 1:College basketball, we got to stay with not, there's not a lot going on the world of sports, right, not a lot going on because it is March Madness time. That's all we care about. We got MLB starting next week, but for now it is about college basketball. So I wanted to. I wanted to thank sister Jean. To start, sister Jean, we all remember a fright from Loyola Chicago. They made that deep run. We always saw sister Jean there sitting on the sideline.
Speaker 1:She picked Wisconsin and I can't, I, I couldn't believe. When I saw the bracket, I shared it out there on the Facebook page because I was just like this is my lady. Now, this is this, is it. This is that gal right. She picked Wisconsin all the way to the national championship and I loved it. I loved every second of it. She's actually got a three big ten teams in the final four Wisconsin, purdue and Michigan State. She's got Wisconsin over Marquette and Purdue. I love it. Ultimately, we lose to Yukon, according to sister Jean. But you tell, if, if you were to tell me when this tournament, if you would have told me at in February that the Badgers were going to go to the national championship in Luz, I've been like, okay, that's fine, I'll get over it because the way that this ship was threatened we were going down, we were sinking, we were talking about how we gonna patch holes and the way that they turned around the big at the end of the year big 10 tourney was fantastic. It was a tale of. I Compared to the Nebraska game. It was a tale of two halves, right the same with the season it was a tale of two halves and I mean I just loved it. I loved looking at sister jeans bracket there having all of all of this Overpicks there and just seeing her taking some of the big 10 teams so far. Loved it, loved every second of it. So great things there out of sister Jean.
Speaker 1:I also saw a chart and it's it's labeled as Nc double a tournament teams men's basketball expenses, so how much their basketball team basically spends on the department right, and I thought it was interesting. You know, you look at the one seeds and you have teams like Purdue they spend about nine mil. After that you have a team like Houston they're about 10, north Carolina's just over 12, yukon's all the way up at 24 million. And then you look at a team like Duke. They're sitting on that four line, they're at 28 million right now. And the Badgers on that five seed line. They're coming in on the lower end. They're about eight mil, just about eight mil. Gonzaga, also on the five line, they're ending up in that 12 mil range. Other teams on the five line, san Diego State, and say Marys, they're even less San Diego State sitting at about seven and you have St Mary's almost down to four.
Speaker 1:So I Thought that was definitely interesting there, just seeing some of the teams and how far they actually scale it down. I mean, look at a team like FAU they're at about two million on Sitting on that eight line right now. You compare that to a team like Nebraska they're at 10 mil. I mean it's just crazy. You look at the chart and you see it's basically like a straight line down. You have your higher-end teams like Yukon, kentucky and Duke. They're all in the top four seeds and they Ex, they spend the most out of all teams and then you drop all the way down to your 16 seeds and they're spending about just under Two million on their basketball teams. I thought that was interesting and I'm gonna share that chart actually out on the Facebook page so people can see it too. But I thought that was definitely interesting to see how you know expenses, work in basketball and different programs in the with universities in there, because you would expect I mean Kansas, they're about 16 mil, texas 16, michigan State also in that 16 range. Northwestern, they're above 10. I mean it's just, it's interesting right there, some of the some of the facts you get from these expense charts there. So that's about all I want. I just wanted to mention that there because I found it very interesting when I saw that come up there.
Speaker 1:Also, I saw a guy tweet and he said America will never forgive the selection committee Forgiving us Virginia instead of Indiana State, indiana State. I Love India. I love the story of Indiana State. I love the team. I thought they were a good team. I'm not gonna say they weren't a good team, but they didn't play anybody that great like Virginia played good teams. Yes, they got blown out in some games and some games they ended up winning like that's well, that's the way basketball goes right. But I mean, I'm not gonna.
Speaker 1:This Virginia team was if you wanted the best brand of basketball, you're gonna throw in your blue bloods, your power five or whatever you want to say a basketball. I think they get so like a power seven. But your bigger conferences, you're gonna throw in your top seats. Indiana State had to steal. They were gonna either steal a bid or they're gonna win a conference tournament. That's it. I mean we saw a team Indiana State got in or not. Indiana State got in there, but Drake got in there and Drake and Indiana State faced off this year and I believe, if I'm not mistaken, I Think Indiana State only beat them once. Yeah, they only beat them once. They were one and two Against Drake and Drake got in there as a 10-seat. I mean you, so you're telling me you want to throw Indiana State on that same line, because that's where Virginia was on the 10 line. You're gonna throw Indiana State in there as a 10-seat? I don't think so.
Speaker 1:I think Indiana State was gonna be in the field if Oregon didn't steal a bit, and there was a couple I can't remember the list of teams that actually Stole bids coming into the NCAA tournament, because that's a lot to remember, right, but there was more than just what we saw there with Oregon. There was a couple more bid stealers. Look at NC State. Nc State was not gonna make the tournament. They were on the outside looking in of any kind of tournament. In all of a sudden they put this run on the ACT tournament and they got in another bid stealer. I mean you just look at how many bid stealers there were this year that dropped out St John's, that dropped out Indiana State. That doesn't mean we have to expand the tournament. That just means there was bid stealers. And if you look at quad, if you go look at the, the quad, one wins the quad, two wins everything else in between.
Speaker 1:Virginia played a tougher schedule. They did. They played a tougher schedule. They played better opponents, they beat better opponents and at the end of the day, that's what they look at.
Speaker 1:Not that Indiana State was a feel-good story, not that they played well, not that. You know, nobody said Indiana State's coming out of a crap conference so we're not gonna let them in. Yes, that's what the committee said. I mean I think that's the stupidest, that's the stupidest excuse ever. I mean I get it. The mountain that you look at the Mount West, and they thought that conference kind of got screwed with some of their bids, that they got low. They were very low seated. Right Nevada, tell me they were low seated. They just blew a lead against Dayton. They blew a lead against Dayton. So you can tell me that all day long. Texas, just completely. I mean they didn't end up stomping them because Colorado State did make a comeback, but Texas held Colorado State to 11 points at the half. And you want to sit there and tell me that these lower-end Conferences are getting screwed out of bids, out of higher seats in the tournament. No, no, it's just, you can't have. You know, no, I, I'm. I'm all for feel-good stories.
Speaker 1:I Thought Indiana State, the way that they played this year, deserved to be in the field. I thought so I would have At one point. I had him in the field. I did. They lost their conference tournament. Oregon and NC State stuck in the back door and that knocked out a lot of teams. St John's I had st John's in. I thought st John's, like I'm talking about playing a tough schedule. St John's played a tough schedule.
Speaker 1:If you're gonna throw a team in above Virginia, don't give me Indiana State. Give me st John's. If you want to give me a team that deserve to be in Over Virginia, don't give me the crap of Indiana State. Give me a solid team. St John's seen hall, see in hall played a very. I mean, look at the big East teams, three teams Providence, st John's and Seaton Hall. All teams that could have been in the tournament field. They believe they got snubbed out. I Agree, I think some of those teams did get snubbed out of a tournament bid. But don't give me the Indiana State now. That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. I look at all the memes out there. I get it. It's a feel-good story. But when your conference tournament you're in, take care of your own business. I don't want to see the tournament expanded Just because people cry on the outside Because you know what's gonna happen.
Speaker 1:Say you expand this thing out eight more teams. Right, you added more of these playing games. People hate playing games for some reason. I'm okay with them. Yeah, whatever you want to play games, have playing games. But say you had more playing playing tournament. You had more to the playing games. Okay, what happens to the next team out? They're gonna complain. The team after that they're gonna complain. You can keep moving the goalposts Backwards, backwards, backwards, but at some point you just got to say enough's, enough, this is it. It's like college football. They're talking about 12 team playoff, then they're talking about 16. Let's add a couple more. Before they even try the 12th, we're gonna bump it up again. How far do you want to take it? Are you just gonna get? Are we gonna get rid of the conference championship games? Is that what we're gonna do? Because if that's the case, then let's just do it right.
Speaker 1:The NCAA is you know I've said it before with the NIL. I think it's stupid, ridiculous. I think it's all ridiculous now. But you know the way that money's money. I get it. You want money, but the NCAA tournament's perfect. I really do think. It is 68 teams, you have a field of 68, you have your play in games. Whatever comes out of it comes out of it. I love that. That's the way that you gotta shake it, if you ask me, because you keep making it bigger and bigger. You're only gonna push other things. You're gonna push things further. You're gonna push things further back. You're gonna get rid of things. You're gonna change the landscape. How far do you take it? That's a big question. How far do you take it before it's too far and before you just realized we messed up? We did. It's like the NIL deals now.
Speaker 1:I mean, we saw that guy. He committed to Iowa and then ended up going to Alabama. He left Alabama after one year, entered the transfer portal, committed to Iowa, got $100,000 from the Swarm Fundraisers From the Swarm Fundraisers there, and after that he collected the NIL money when, on spring break, with his Alabama buddies, they convinced him to go back to Alabama. He goes back to Alabama, doesn't have to pay back the $100,000 that he took.
Speaker 1:I'm all about people getting what they get, I mean, but that's bad. That's bad, if you ask me. I mean, to my honest opinion, that's shame on that guy. I mean, to be honest with you, what's his name there? Caden Proctor? Shame on that guy. To be honest with you, I mean you cheat a university out of money, you leave and then you go back to another one. Then you don't have to pay it back. That's why contracts need to be brought in, some kind of contract system to hold players accountable to universities, because right now they're getting paid like professional athletes, they're getting paid like employees. They gotta be have some kind of stipulations, some kind of contract, some kind of rules that they have to abide by.
Speaker 1:I mean bad on Iowa for giving them money right off the bat, I guess, but bad on I mean it's a whole messed up situation and the NCAA has caused this by opening up a floodgate and not just easing into it. They didn't ease into it, they opened it completely and it's a mess. It is a mess in college sports. Now. That's where I'm at with that whole deal right now on the NCAA and everything like that. I mean, I just saw that Kate and Proctor News come across on social media, so I just wanted to mention there because it's ridiculous. It is ridiculous the way that it works there.
Speaker 1:So with that, I wanna stay in college basketball, though we gotta talk about the upcoming game coming up tonight here with the Badgers and James Madison the Dukes right, the Dukes. In Brooklyn we get to watch Duke play Vermont first and then we get to watch the Dukes of James Madison take on our Badgers. So this is the game, right, five versus 12, this is the game that a lot of experts out there have been telling me will be an upset. This has got a lot of potential for an upset A 31 and three James Madison team taking on a Wisconsin team coming in there 22 and 13. Now, everybody, the big thing that I have said and I've looked at and I've, you know, other people have said along the way James Madison's 31 and three. James Madison has not played anybody outside of Michigan State Like this. You know everybody's. So, like Wisconsin screwed, they got a terrible draw, everything like that you know, yeah, they might be.
Speaker 1:Upsets do happen in college sports, in college basketball and in March Bandics especially. I mean we watched Oakland beat Kentucky Did not expect that You're gonna have games like that, and I'm. I just look at it and I say to myself, okay, I get it. Yeah, this is a 31 and three team. They came out of the Sun Belt they played. I believe I was looking at quad one. Oh, what was that? I saw the. They had like little one in one in quad one games or something like that, and the rest of their games were all quad I believe quad four games, three or four games. So I mean I take that off the burner. I take the record off 31 and three for a reason. Yeah, they know how to win. Yeah, they know how to win, but they don't know how to win against a team like Wisconsin. Right, they haven't played a team like Wisconsin yet.
Speaker 1:Wisconsin beat Michigan State twice. When everybody brings up the Michigan State loss from James Madison, did James Madison beat Michigan State? Great, because Badgers beat him twice and one of them, I believe, was a blowout. It got both of them. I thought we're pretty handily won by Wisconsin. So, okay, washington, watch that one away.
Speaker 1:I mean this James Madison team, they have a lot of things that cause the Badgers trouble, right, you look at this team. They're number nine in the country in scoring offense. They're averaging about 84 points per game. The Badgers defensively not great. They're not great. I'll be the first to admit that they're not great on the defensive end of Badgers. So this game could end up being a high scoring game.
Speaker 1:James Madison might be able to hit shots. They're number 26 in assists to turnover ratio. They're averaging they have about 558 assists down the year, 366 turnovers, 1.5 a game. So they're averaging about 1.5 ratio there between assists and turnovers. Number 24 in assists. Number 65 in bench scoring. So they get a lot of production off that bench there. 24.05 points per game off the bench. They get decent scoring off of that bench. Also, this is where it plays into the Badgers favor. I look at blocks per game. They're number 238 in the country in blocks per game. They only average about three a game. I look at this team and I say why is that? They're the tallest guy that they mainly use there. It's 68, 68.
Speaker 1:The Badgers gotta feed the post in this game against James Madison. You gotta work it inside out Because if you look at this team they're actually I was looking at their 3.0 percentage, opponent 3.0 percentage 28% they're number five in the country in 3.0 defense. They're only giving up 28% from downtown. The Badgers have to work inside first. They have good guard play. They have very good guard play. Terrence Edwards Jr guard for them, averaging 17.4 game right now. Great guard and then also Frito 12 a game. They're very physical athletic guards That'll get after you at three point line. The Badgers gotta work that baby inside. Whatever it takes to get Crowell and Wall involved in the post game is what the Badgers have to key in on this game. So I'm looking at the post in this one to be huge.
Speaker 1:This team and James Madison. They're averaging about 11 fast break points per game so they don't turn you over a. They don't turn you over a lot and have it translate to points right, they turn you over decent amount. They're number 36 in the country there and turnovers force per game 14.4. So they're given. They're averaging Forcing about 14 turnovers per game there. So this team gets after you. They get after you on the defensive end. They're gonna try to turn you over 14 turnovers game. You can't get into a game where you're playing their pace. They want to run with you. They want to make this game high scoring. The badgers have to avoid that. The badgers can score. I'm not saying they can't. We watch. Then the big 10 turning. I'm convinced in the big 10 turning late in the Purdue game and in the Illinois game they played well enough that they I mean they'll be Purdue, but they played well enough that they could have beat Illinois. I thought they were gasped. To be honest with you, I thought they ran out of gas down the stretch there and that's really what helped Illinois push to lead there and get out of there.
Speaker 1:You also look at injury wise. Yet Klezman was banged up and black Well is banged up. That didn't help matters at all. Because those are two, you're actually better defenders on your team and those two being out, especially in the guard position. When you play a team, like we saw with Illinois, but also in this team here, it's gonna be important To have healthy guard play because these guards for James Madison they get after you.
Speaker 1:Like I said, terrence Edwards and Frito both I mean very good three-point shooters. Along with that, both above 35 percent. Edwards is averaging about 35 percent from downtown and Then Frito is about 37 percent. Julian Wooden he's a forward. For him, he's about 40 percent from downtown.
Speaker 1:This is a good three-point shooting team, also in James Madison. They're number 48 in the country in three-point percentage 37 percent on the year. That's I mean that's a pretty good three-point shooting team, if you ask me. So you gotta you have to if you are. If you are a great guard and the Badgers, your guard play has to be good.
Speaker 1:In this one you have to constantly be all about Checking these guys out, especially on the three-point line. Make them put it on the deck, make them try to bring it inside Force. The issue in this game get after guys. I would love Chucky in that game against Purdue got all after brain Smith and I would be okay in this game against James Madison if Chucky and other guards get up after these guards before they get across to half court. Try to prevent them from getting in their half court sets and try to Limit what they could do on the offensive end there. Then with limited shot clock I would be perfectly. I would do that honestly is trying to slow them down getting that ball across to half court. So I think that's gonna be a big thing in this one Looking at shooting, staying on the shooting side of it.
Speaker 1:This team's number 26 in the country. There in field goal percentage are averaging about 48 percent, and then opponent field goal percentage there are 45th in the nation. They're giving up about 41 percent from the field. Teams who beat James Madison will have a solid post game. They got to be able to work post game. This is a team that gets after the glass. Even though they're undersized, they still average about 38 rebounds per game. So they still get after the glass there. It's not like this team is under sized and under Overwhelmed in games. They still get after you. Even with their limited size They'll still get after you. So, and this roster For James Madison, they go deep, they go.
Speaker 1:They have about eight guys that they play a majority of the minutes here. I was just looking at it there. They have about eight, eight, nine guys that they will put into ball games. I mean, guys have played some sparing minutes here and there, you know, but a majority of their guys there's about eight, eight to eight to nine guys. So we're gonna play some minutes for the change Madison team. So they go deep. They're gonna be able to keep coming at you.
Speaker 1:How do the Badgers respond? Do the Badgers go deep on the bench? Are we gonna be okay using a guy like Carter Gilmore in a game like this. That's gonna be a big thing. We didn't see Carter Gilmore for a while but I was convinced of the big 10 tournament. Carter Gilmore is a big reason why we won some of those games. We look at the Purdue game had some big plays he would against Illinois played very good. He kept the Badgers in it for a while.
Speaker 1:So I'm looking at the Badgers depth in this game and saying how deep are we willing to go? Because you can't burn yourself out. You got a game if you. I mean, I'm just you can't look ahead, right, so you keep, but you can't burn yourself out in this game. So that late in this ball game here, if you're in a running match or you get in a game, if you're in a running match or you get saved over time, you can't rely on guys who have played 30 some minutes that night already To be able to just keep on trucking out there, especially against some physical athletic guards. You're gonna have to be able to rely on the bench in this one to be able to help you out there. So that's a big thing that I'm looking at when I look at this team. It's a tough matchup. It is definitely a tough matchup.
Speaker 1:I'm not gonna say, you know, I said earlier how James Madison didn't play in a good conference and everything like that that washes this time of year. This is a good team. This is a good team from James Madison and the badgers will have their hands full. I think the badgers can definitely win this game. I think they can win it handily, but I think they got to do it in their own way. You know, I, the badgers, have to avoid Settling for shots, settling out the three-point line and working that ball in sight. Beat guys off the dribble, get to the basket, do your thing. The things that won you games in the big 10 tournament will win you games in March here. We'll win a game against James Madison. We'll win a game against Duke. If they win that game, we'll get you in a game against Houston.
Speaker 1:The badgers need to continue to move the basketball, rebound the basketball play. I mean this is Uh self-explanatory about play more physical than the opposing team. They have to continue to do those little things along the way and not take bad shots. That's a big thing for me, aj store, I love them, but the guy needs to stop settling into taking bad shots not in rhythm. When you work inside and there's a kick out from crow and store fires up a three, that's okay with me, that's a good shot. When you have a step back, three from the top of the key, that's about 10 feet deep and it's not needed in that situation. That's where I run into issues.
Speaker 1:So the badgers have to settle for smart shots in this game. If you're gonna take a shot, it's got to be a smart one. I mean, it's gotta be chunky upper and it has to be big. That's a guy I'm watching 100%. That's one of my players to watch because chucky the way the big 10 tournament went chucky was that guy for the badgers there in A couple of those games there. He needs to continue to be that guy, aj store. He's got to bring that athleticism to you, the boost that you need. Right, his highlight dunks can fuel a team. So you got to have a big game on it, aj store. Stephen crawler has got to be big, and when I say big, he has to play like he's the biggest guy on the floor. There's lots of times that Stephen crow will go up against a smaller defender and you wouldn't think that that guy's smaller than Stephen crow. Stephen crow has to play like he's the biggest guy on the floor because he is, and that's how he's got to play in this game.
Speaker 1:Tyler wall's got to step up in this game for you. I mean, you look at this team. They have a couple of decent, like I said, julian wooden there. They also have a couple other guys there and carry and bicker staff defensively. Badgers got to step up in this game.
Speaker 1:The badgers defense has struggled this year. In this one You're gonna need it, just like you saw against purdue. You play like you did against purdue against james madison. You're good. You're good. You resort back to little defense, settling for shots and all that crap that we saw in the second half of the year. This will be ugly. This will be an ugly game and I don't want to watch it. Give me eyes with you. I don't know if I want to watch it because that could be a struggle fest.
Speaker 1:So the badgers I mean I'm looking at chuckie epporn, I'm looking at crow and I'm looking at Tyler wall those guys got to come up big a j store klezman, your other guys I need them to be role players in this game. Hit big shots when they're there for them. But you have your big guys there. You have chuckie epporn, you have steven crow. Those guys, when those guys go, when those guys are scoring, the badgers win ball games. And that's what we need to see from the badgers here.
Speaker 1:So with that big game, big game coming up tonight here 840, approximately 840 depends on when that duke for my game ends but big game coming up there for the badgers taking on james madison, if the badgers win I think I'm gonna do a little preview show For the badgers and whoever they would play in that second round there. So hopefully I'm back with you on saturday there, because saturday I will give you the preview of that game. Whoever it is, duke or vermont's, I'll be there for that preview for you there. So with that, this has been wisconsin sports time to go with traige. Thank you guys for listening. We'll catch you guys back here, hopefully on saturday for a preview show for the upcoming game. But until then, deuces Down to the river I have.