BIG TEN TEAM PREVIEW #18 WISCONSIN BADGERS

Wisconsin has quietly reached the NCAA tournament a total of 6 times in the last 7 seasons under head coach Greg Gard. He is also now entering his eleventh season as the head coach of the program, and he's only missed the tournament twice in his tenure. The Badgers had a terrific season last year, finishing with 27 wins while being a three-seed in March. They eventually lost to BYU in a very close game in the round of 32. Wisconsin returns a couple of key pieces from last year's squad, and they also added a couple of good players through the transfer portal.

Projected Lineup:

G Nick Boyd (San Diego State transfer)

G John Blackwell

G Andrew Rohde (Virginia transfer)

F Austin Rapp (Portland transfer)

C Nolan Winter

Wisconsin enters this season with high expectations in their backcourt, which will be led by 6-foot-4 shooting guard John Blackwell. Blackwell is the team's best returning player from last season. He had an outstanding sophomore campaign, averaging 15.8 points, which was second on the team, along with 5.1 rebounds per game. 6-foot-3 San Diego State transfer Nick Boyd will run the point for the Badgers next year. Boyd was one of the more sought-after point guards available in the portal after he averaged 13.4 points and 3.9 assists per game last year. Boyd also earned all-conference honors in the Mountain West. Head coach Greg Gard also brought in 6-foot-6 Virginia shooting guard transfer Andrew Rohde, who will play at the two and the three for Wisconsin next year. Rohde started in 26 of his 30 games last year and averaged 9.3 points, along with 4.3 assists, while also shooting an impressive 41.3% from three-point range.

Wisconsin's frontcourt will be led by another returning player in 6-foot-11 center Nolan Winter. Winter started in all 37 games for the Badgers last season, averaging 9.4 points and also leading the team with 5.8 rebounds per game. 6-foot-10 Portland transfer Austin Rapp should start alongside Winter. Rapp had a solid freshman season at the mid-major level. He averaged 13.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game last year, which led him to being selected as the freshman of the year in the West Coast Conference. One concern about Rapp is the 39.7% field goal percentage he had last year as a 6-foot-10 big man. Wisconsin also brought in 6-foot-10 international prospect Aleksas Bieliauskas. He's 19 years old and comes over from Lithuania. Bielauskas is a four-star prospect by 247 Sports.

Wisconsin should be a pretty decent team next year. Their backcourt duo of John Blackwell and Nick Boyd should be pretty good. Nolan Winter could also take another jump next season, which would be huge for them. I don't think they're that deep of a team, especially in the frontcourt, and they're relying a lot on Austin Rapp, whose numbers weren't that great in the WCC last year. I do think that Blackwell will take another jump and be one of the top scorers in the conference next year. He should be able to lead them to another NCAA tournament berth. I just don't think they're quite good enough to compete for a Big Ten title next year.

Prediction: 10th in Big Ten