“The hair goes home sad, the Badgers go home happy” pic.twitter.com/rJHYgLe4df
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) February 11, 2026
GARDO!
The story behind the wig: Apparently Illinois gave out wigs as a fan-giveaway last night to honor one of their players, Jake Davis:
So after knocking off the Illini in OT, Gard decided to have fun with one of those wigs as the Badgers celebrated in the locker room. Fun! Or, as Illinois fans put it in the comment section of said video, “classless!”
Anyway, I realize the Badgers aren’t in the Top 25 (yet), but what a gritty win last night. You could argue that Wisconsin has two of the biggest road wins for ANY team in the country this season: At #2 Michigan and at #8 Illinois.
They’re sitting at 17-7 overall and 9-4 in conference with another huge matchup looming at the Kohl Center on Friday night, #10 Michigan State.
But it is incredible that Gard is doing again this season what it seems like he does every season: Finding ways to win. With the exception of the 2017-18 season, he fires of 20+ win seasons with 12+ conference wins and an NCAA Tournament appearance every single season. Doesn’t matter who graduates, who transfers, whatever, he always seems to plug the gaps and get the team back the same spot year after year after year.
Now the haters and losers (of which there are many!) will always point to the lack of March success. Gard made the Sweet 16 in each of his first two seasons at the helm, and hasn’t been back since. And he’s had some REALLY high seeds in that timeframe as well. It’s a fair criticism, although I would point out they won the simulated national title in the 2019-20 COVID year. No one seems to talk about that.
But, yes. It would be great if they can finally put together a deep March run. But it is at least worth mentioning how impressive it is that this program is so consistently “good.” He’s got a .650 career winning percentage and a .610 career conference winning percentage. Not too shabby.
PS: I often send these graphics to the group chat after big wins or big losses:
Last night was a tough night for the Fire Gard crowd!
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