CUE THE MUSIC!
We’re getting close baby! We’ve got our first fake-spring rolling, Spring Training is getting cranked up, Girl Scout cookies are being delivered, and college basketball is on the stretch run of the regular season. Selection Sunday is less than a month away!
And after an incredible week last week, beating #8 Illinois on the road and routing #10 Michigan State at home, Greg Gard has the boys pushing at the right time of the year. They’re sitting at 18-7 overall, 10-4 in a brutal conference, and they have a shot at a double-bye come Big Ten Tournament time.
Now if you’ll remember, there was a certain long winded, well intentioned podcaster who said this team has the ingredients to be a, “top 15/20 team and a 5-ish seed,” back in November. In the words of Jay Peterman, “Henseler, you glorious titwillow, you finally got one right!”
Granted, it looked pretty dicey early in the season. They got blown out by BYU, blown out by Nebraska, blown out by Purdue. Not great! The offense was humming, but the defense would have had Dick Bennett popping a blood vessel.
BUT, a win over UCLA, and then a MASSIVE win over (now #1) Michigan on the road got this thing spun back in the correct direction. The Killer B’s backcourt of John Blackwell and Nick Boyd is averaging about 45 points per game, and the defense has started to lock in. 6 games left in the regular season, and once again it looks like Greg Gard is going to have a 20+ win year and a decent seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Speaking off, I think Tom Izzo said it best after the Badgers whooped Sparty last Friday:
I know Greg Gard is always going to have his detractors because they haven’t been to the Sweet 16 since 2017. And he has had some REALLY good teams and REALLY high seeds since that 2017 season. But there’s something to be said for being consistently good in a tough conference. Every year they lose key players, and every year Gard and the coaching staff figure it out. They always answer the bell.
PS: Tonight’s game at Ohio State is a YUGE trap door. Just beat two top ten teams last week, finally ranked, beat Ohio State at the Kohl Center a few weeks ago by 10, really tough to beat a team two times with the second game being on the road. That plus we’re blogging about them for the first time this season. Mush City, USA. If they can pass this test then we’re really cooking with gas.
Comments