Wisconsin basketball is off to a somewhat disappointing start to the 2025 season, sitting with a 5-2 record following the Thanksgiving-week tournament action.
The Badgers have five decisive wins over lower-ranked competition, headlined by a 104-83 triumph over Providence. Its losses, meanwhile, have come against the two formidable opponents on its schedule, TCU and BYU. Both losses came by double-digits, and both saw the Badgers struggle on both ends of the court.
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The season is still young, and Greg Gard has plenty of time to round his team into form. But the Badgers’ early struggles against strong competition are a sign that they are far from as polished as they were last year at this time.
Wisconsin’s opening NCAA NET ranking signals that standing. The team is down at No. 68 in the nation, with a 0-1 record against Quad 1 opponents, 0-1 vs. Quad 2, 1-0 vs. Quad 3 and 4-0 vs. Quad 4. The resume-based ranking differs from both KenPom and ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, which rank the Badgers No. 27 and No. 25, respectively.
The Badgers get a chance to add an important Quad 2 win to their resume when they host Northwestern on Wednesday night. The team also faces Nebraska (NET No. 32), Marquette (NET No. 168) and Villanova (NET No. 53) before its Big Ten schedule tips off in January.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin basketball place in first NCAA NET Rankings of season
