Wofford Terriers take first dance steps vs. Wisconsin Badgers
The Jacksonville 'quad pod' should see some great defense with the winner of this battle between Wisconsin and Wofford meeting up with either Temple or Cornell.
Southern Conference vs. Big Ten. A school making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament against one that is dancing for a 16th time, and 12th straight. Little guy vs. big guy. Ladies and gentlemen, the Wofford Terriers vs. the Wisconsin Badgers.
Despite the obvious differences between the two basketball programs, the two teams actually have one thing in common: Neither was ranked in the preseason polls, yet here the Terriers and Badgers are, each starting the same tournament for the National Championship.
The spread opened at nine offshore and was very quickly made a unanimous -10 on Wisconsin. Friday's 'over/under' break is 115-116.
Not seeing Wofford in the preseason polls was no big surprise. But seeing Wisconsin not receive a single vote from any of the writers or coaches only to end up No. 16/19 is a testament to two things. First, the crapshoot that is the preseason AP poll. And secondly, even coaches – or their assistants who fill out the ballots – aren't as smart as they'd like us to believe.
A No. 3 seed might have been in the cards had Wisconsin played its way into the Big Ten Championship game. But the Badgers weren't going any higher than that, so the 58-54 loss to a desperate Illini team in the conference tourney didn't really hurt Bo Ryan's crew. The Badgers arguably drew the easiest opponent of the No. 4 seeds, no offense intended to Wofford.
Wisconsin (23-8 SU, 17-12 ATS) exited the Big Ten regular season putting up some good numbers against the bottom half of the Big Ten. The Badgers were 4-0 straight up and 3-1 ATS in a four-game span vs. Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa and Illinois before the tournament loss to the Illini.
Two of Wisconsin's eight losses on the season came at the hands of Illinois. The way the Badgers embarrassed the Illini on its home court in the regular season finale put Illinois into distress about making the NCAA Tournament. As it turns out, Illini fans are still distressed.
The 72-57 win at Champaign was also a bit out of character for Wisconsin. The Badgers made mincemeat out of a three-point favorites tag in that one with Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor each scoring 20. But they otherwise had problems when playing away from home; seven of Wisconsin's eight losses this season were on the road or at a neutral site. That's something to think about in this contest. Wofford fans have about a 350-mile drive from Spartanburg, SC, for the clash, and you know the Terriers faithful are amped up about being in the Big Dance.
If you're driving down to Jacksonville from Madison for this one, give yourself about 22 hours and prepare for delays around Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Knoxville.
Having the Badgers listed as just 10-point favorites is quite a compliment to the Terriers compared to the last and only other time these two schools met on the hardwood. The Badgers were favored by 26 in Dec. 2007 when Wofford made the trip up to Madison, and covered that with a point to spare in a 70-43 triumph.
This isn't a total pushover game for Wisconsin, or shouldn't be. Wofford (26-8, 16-11-2 ATS) has been a pretty solid defensive team through its Southern Conference schedule. And the Terriers didn't shy away in their non-conference slate, traveling to play Pitt, Illinois and Michigan State during the season.
Wofford easily covered a 15-point underdog line in its season opener, a 63-60 loss at Pittsburgh. The closing number was 15 ½ when the Terriers fell by 14 at Illinois on Nov. 24 . And the spread dropped to 18 ½ when they were in East Lansing 10 days later in a 72-60 loss.
The Terriers averaged 61.3 points in those three losses, reaching 60 in all of them. In the five total games the Badgers played against Illinois and Michigan State, the Illini cracked 60 just one time on Wisconsin. Together the Illini and Spartans averaged 56.2 points vs. Wisconsin's defense over the five contests.
It's very difficult for me to see Wofford scoring more than the low-50s on the Badgers in this one unless Noah Dahlman sells his soul to the devil or something like that. The oddsmakers have consistently put too many points up on both teams over the course of the last 4-5 weeks. I like the 'under,' but then I always do.
The winner of this one gets the Temple-Cornell victor on Sunday. Friday's match between the Terriers and Badgers is scheduled for an approximate 3 p.m. (ET) tip from Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.
The Jacksonville 'quad pod' should see some great defense with the winner of this battle between Wisconsin and Wofford meeting up with either Temple or Cornell.
Southern Conference vs. Big Ten. A school making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament against one that is dancing for a 16th time, and 12th straight. Little guy vs. big guy. Ladies and gentlemen, the Wofford Terriers vs. the Wisconsin Badgers.
Despite the obvious differences between the two basketball programs, the two teams actually have one thing in common: Neither was ranked in the preseason polls, yet here the Terriers and Badgers are, each starting the same tournament for the National Championship.
The spread opened at nine offshore and was very quickly made a unanimous -10 on Wisconsin. Friday's 'over/under' break is 115-116.
Not seeing Wofford in the preseason polls was no big surprise. But seeing Wisconsin not receive a single vote from any of the writers or coaches only to end up No. 16/19 is a testament to two things. First, the crapshoot that is the preseason AP poll. And secondly, even coaches – or their assistants who fill out the ballots – aren't as smart as they'd like us to believe.
A No. 3 seed might have been in the cards had Wisconsin played its way into the Big Ten Championship game. But the Badgers weren't going any higher than that, so the 58-54 loss to a desperate Illini team in the conference tourney didn't really hurt Bo Ryan's crew. The Badgers arguably drew the easiest opponent of the No. 4 seeds, no offense intended to Wofford.
Wisconsin (23-8 SU, 17-12 ATS) exited the Big Ten regular season putting up some good numbers against the bottom half of the Big Ten. The Badgers were 4-0 straight up and 3-1 ATS in a four-game span vs. Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa and Illinois before the tournament loss to the Illini.
Two of Wisconsin's eight losses on the season came at the hands of Illinois. The way the Badgers embarrassed the Illini on its home court in the regular season finale put Illinois into distress about making the NCAA Tournament. As it turns out, Illini fans are still distressed.
The 72-57 win at Champaign was also a bit out of character for Wisconsin. The Badgers made mincemeat out of a three-point favorites tag in that one with Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor each scoring 20. But they otherwise had problems when playing away from home; seven of Wisconsin's eight losses this season were on the road or at a neutral site. That's something to think about in this contest. Wofford fans have about a 350-mile drive from Spartanburg, SC, for the clash, and you know the Terriers faithful are amped up about being in the Big Dance.
If you're driving down to Jacksonville from Madison for this one, give yourself about 22 hours and prepare for delays around Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Knoxville.
Having the Badgers listed as just 10-point favorites is quite a compliment to the Terriers compared to the last and only other time these two schools met on the hardwood. The Badgers were favored by 26 in Dec. 2007 when Wofford made the trip up to Madison, and covered that with a point to spare in a 70-43 triumph.
This isn't a total pushover game for Wisconsin, or shouldn't be. Wofford (26-8, 16-11-2 ATS) has been a pretty solid defensive team through its Southern Conference schedule. And the Terriers didn't shy away in their non-conference slate, traveling to play Pitt, Illinois and Michigan State during the season.
Wofford easily covered a 15-point underdog line in its season opener, a 63-60 loss at Pittsburgh. The closing number was 15 ½ when the Terriers fell by 14 at Illinois on Nov. 24 . And the spread dropped to 18 ½ when they were in East Lansing 10 days later in a 72-60 loss.
The Terriers averaged 61.3 points in those three losses, reaching 60 in all of them. In the five total games the Badgers played against Illinois and Michigan State, the Illini cracked 60 just one time on Wisconsin. Together the Illini and Spartans averaged 56.2 points vs. Wisconsin's defense over the five contests.
It's very difficult for me to see Wofford scoring more than the low-50s on the Badgers in this one unless Noah Dahlman sells his soul to the devil or something like that. The oddsmakers have consistently put too many points up on both teams over the course of the last 4-5 weeks. I like the 'under,' but then I always do.
The winner of this one gets the Temple-Cornell victor on Sunday. Friday's match between the Terriers and Badgers is scheduled for an approximate 3 p.m. (ET) tip from Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.