Joe Lunardi’s first 2023 projection has the Badgers missing the NCAA Tournament.
Good news, folks! After reading this post you will save a bunch of time next year not watching the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team play games because they aren’t even going to make the NCAA Tournament. According to Joe Lunardi’s first 2023 bracket projection, the Badgers will be among the “first four teams out” next year.
It’s pretty funny to do a projection like this at all, but even funnier when there are still 1,400 or so players still in the transfer portal and no team in the country has a settled roster yet. To be fair, Lunardi recognizes this and admits the bracket is just a “starting point for the long wait until November.”
Either way, I think we all learned from last year’s preseason Bracketology that if Wisconsin is predicted to miss the NCAA Tournament that’s exactly what they’re going to do.
::holds finger to ear::
Hold on, I’m being told that…Wisconsin made the NCAA Tournament last year? And won the Big Ten?? Hmmmmmm, we’ll have to do some more research on this.
The other three “first four out” teams are some familiar faces for Badgers fans with Marquette, Iowa State and Washington State just missing out on the Big Dance. The Big Ten leads the way, with the SEC, with seven teams projected to make the tourney featuring:
3-seed Michigan Wolverines
4-seed Purdue Boilermakers
4-seed Illinois Fighting Illini (should drop now that Kofi Cockburn is going pro)
5-seed Michigan State Spartans (featuring Joey Hauser again!)
6-seed Indiana Hoosiers
7-seed Ohio State Buckeyes
8-seed Iowa Hawkeyes
Kentucky, Houston, UCLA and Baylor are the projected top-four seeds and Lunardi notes that he averaged “right around two No. 1 seeds per year landing in the same spot on Selection Sunday.” So congrats to almost two of these teams for having huge 2022-23 seasons!
I don’t know what we’ll talk about all next winter since we already know what’s going to happen, but I’m sure we’ll think of something. Maybe Severance will have a new season out? You guys been watching that show? It’s bonkers! I have two episodes left and I can’t wait to watch them tonight.