INSIDE MEN'S BASKETBALL
BY PATRICK HERB
@BadgerMBB
SCHEDULE (11-4, 2-0)
Last Week
Jan. 3
Penn State
Jan. 6
at Nebraska
W, 60-51
W, 47-41
This Week
Saturday #12 Illinois
1:15 p.m.
Next Five
Jan. 15 at #5 Indiana
Jan. 19 at Iowa
Jan. 22 #22 Michigan State
Jan. 26 #8 Minnesota
Jan. 29 at #15 Ohio State
B1Gger picture: UW
preps for tough stretch
Badgers dive into meat of conference slate
T
he Big Ten has been
unanimously
labeled
as the country's most competitive conference in recent
years and this season is no
different.
The Badgers are members
of the nation's top-ranked
conference in terms of RPI
and will find out the extent
of that competitiveness in
42 » VARSITY
JANUA RY 10, 2013
the coming weeks.
This weekend, UW begins
a stretch that includes 11
Big Ten contests in the next
month, with nine of its opponents appearing in the latest
AP Top 25 poll.
The Big Ten leads all conferences with six teams
ranked in this week's polls,
including two top-five teams
8 p.m.
7 p.m.
6 p.m.
1 p.m.
6 p.m.
and five top-15 squads. Michigan
ranks second in both polls, followed
by No. 5/5 Indiana, No. 8/10 Minnesota, No. 12/13 Illinois, No. 15/14
Ohio State and No. 22/18 Michigan
State.
With the exception of Indiana and
Michigan, UW is slated to take on all
four of those ranked programs twice
this season.
Wisconsin's next 11 opponents
own a combined mark of 91-14, and
all but two have unblemished records
at home. The Badgers' road win at
Nebraska on Sunday was huge when
putting home-court advantage into
perspective, as the Big Ten's home
teams went 8-3 (.727) this past week.
Seeking 60
» The Badgers haven't allowed more
than 60 points at home since a
63-60 OT loss to Michigan (Jan.
3, 2012), a streak of 17 consecutive games. That run of 17 straight
games is the nation's longest active
streak.
