We finish the illustrious March Madness run that never was for the Badgers.
We’re here, gang. The Wisconsin Badgers totally legit 2020 Final Four.
Their results so far: A 65-53 win versus Akron (Round of 64), an 89-67 win over Marquette (Round of 32), a 78-75 win against Kentucky (Sweet Sixteen), and a thrilling 79-78 win over Gonzaga (Elite Eight). It has been, in a word, beautiful and thrilling. Yes, that’s two words.
We now turn to a Final Four date with the dreaded Michigan State Spartans. Here we go.
Last week, we started with the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. With the Badgers’ Sweet 16 run already in the books, we now turn to the Elite Eight (and beyond) for Gard’s lads, where No. 2 seed Kentucky awaits in Los Angeles.
Wisconsin (3) vs Michigan State (2), Final Four
1st Half
15:58: The most exciting 0-0 tie at the first TV break in the history of college basketball. The teams have combined for 0-11 shooting and 6 fouls. Brad Davison is leading the way for the Badgers with 0 points.
11:22: Someone asked me recently what I would do if someone like Cassius Winston ever decided to play for Wisconsin. I told them to Google “A Better Cassius Winston,” which, of course, comes up with 25k results for “Jordan Taylor.” Wisconsin up 9-8.
7:51: Yes, next season Wisconsin will be a senior-laden team, but we won’t hold a candle to this Spartans squad, whose average age over/under is 28. Mike Watkins for Penn State would look like a pup. Wisconsin 18-15. Davison and D’Mitrik Trice have 6 each.
4:55: After Izzo hit Reuvers with a second foul for exhaling too forcefully near Xavier Tillman, Trice and Pritzl knock down back-to-back threes and Wisconsin pulls ahead by eight, 26-18. Just checked to make sure we can’t play Duke in the championship. Phew.
HALFTIME: 31-26 Sparty. Michigan State finished the half on a 13-0 run, and five new online FIRE GARD petitions have been started by Ogg Hall residents. Football tickets revoked. Status as students pending. Trice leads Wisconsin with 11.
2nd Half
15:39: Whatever Gard unleashed at halftime should be bottled, as it would outsell Spotted Cow. Wisconsin has tagged Sparty with so many rights they’re begging for lefts and lead 38-33. Trice has 17, but his ex-Spartan brother, Travis, is still a bit winsome.
10:18: When a drought happens, all you can do is make the best of it. I’m about to install sprinklers, as Wisconsin has been scoreless for over four minutes. Michigan State is now up 44-40, but that’s like a normal team being up 15. Slam that beer now.
5:44: You know what’s scary? PJ Fleck dancing. What else is scary? Trice, Davidson, Micah Potter, Reuvers, Aleem Ford, Trevor Anderson, and Tyler Wahl all coming back for 2020-21, and the top 2 classes in Wisconsin history arriving in ‘20 and ‘21. I smell a series of deep March runs. Oh, the game. UW now up 53-50.
1:22: Badgers down 3, 60-57. Rocket Watts just fouled out, sending Reuvers to the line for a 1-and-1. This is amazing, as I can’t recall a Spartan ever fouling out of a game for as long as Tom Izzo has been a ref. If I could sweat, I would be right now.
FINAL (Wisconsin 64, MSU 63): A Potter put back with 6 seconds left, and a desperation Watts miss off the iron from 24 feet is sending Wisconsin back to the national title game for the first time since 2015.
Trice led the way with 21 and Ford had 16. I’M WISE AND ALL-POWERFUL FOR NOT FIRING GARD AT YOUR WHIM. In the title game, Wisconsin will take on Kansas, a team with salaries somewhere between the G League and the NBA.
Wisconsin (3) vs Kansas (1), National Championship
1st Half
16:59: Yes, there was no officiating crew that was going to make this an easy night for Gard and his Badgers, but I just filed a public records request with Kansas to inquire whether this crew (Brett Hampton, James Breeding, and Jeb Hartness) is on the Jayhawks’ payroll like all of its players are. Wisconsin (and its five (!) fouls) trails KU, 9-3.
13:09: Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich have Wisconsin in an absolute blender right now, and Micah Potter leads the Badgers with THREE POINTS, as Nate Reuvers has been sitting since picking up his second foul 2 minutes into the game. Kansas leads 17-7. Yikes.
8:44: The best offense can sometimes be a good defense, and Wisconsin is giving that a shot. The Jayhawks have gone scoreless for over three minutes, allowing the Badgers to slice into their early deficit. A fist-pumping Brad Davison triple has led to a Bill Self timeout and Wisconsin trails, 20-15.
3:44: There are many beautiful things in the world, including wine island beaches, tropical sunsets, and the Memorial Union in June. This game, unfortunately, is not one of them. The teams have combined for 13 turnovers and a 31.9% clip from the field, with Kansas leading by a half dozen, 25-19. Woof.
HALFTIME: 30-24, KU. Was that half fugly? Yes. Does Wisconsin still have a chance to win this game? Yes. Let’s get this done!
2nd Half
17:33: It’s comforting to know that Kansas’s wire transfer to the refs cleared. How do I know this? Reuvers just picked up foul No. 3 for, literally, existing. Jayhawks lead, 35-26.
12:50: For the first time this evening, Wisconsin has made two shots in a row. And in this case, they’re big ones. D’Mitrik Trice goes back-to-back from 3 land, and the Badgers have cut the KU lead to four, 42-38.
10:00: I didn’t have the entire Wisconsin team from 2014-15 leading a spirited Jump Around to send a good portion of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium here in Atlanta into delirium, but here we are. Even Aaron Rodgers, who will surely retire as a Packer with at least two Super Bowl titles, robustly high-fived Zak Showalter. That’s some next-level bookending, kids. The Badger vibes are tasty right now as they trail, 45-42.
6:55: Each team has one lone bucket in the last 3 plus minutes. A badly needed 8:00 media timeout is upon us as we head toward gut check time with Kansas leading, 47-43.
3:33: MICAH POTTER, BABY! The Ohio State transfer who had to sit out way too long after moving to Madison has been a maestro, converting a deep triple, followed by a 3-point play, to edge Wisconsin ahead, 53-52. This is now the closest the Badgers have been to a natty since 1941. Can you feel it?
0:04: Every molecule of oxygen has been sucked out of Badger fans in the building. Nursing a 2-point lead, Wisconsin turned it over and Xavier Henry converted a 4-point play (replays show Potter was a full four inches away from Henry’s arm) to edge Kansas ahead, 61-59. The Badgers will have one last chance down by a bucket. I’m praying to myself to make this a reality.
FINAL (Wisconsin 62, KU 61): In what will go down as the most important shot in the history of Wisconsin Basketball, Brevin Pritzl just knocked down a contested 22-foot jumper off of a screen to clinch an exhilarating, death-defying, impossibly clutch national championship, 62-61.
It’s pure joy mixed with delirium, as both Greg Gard and Pritzl are being carried on shoulders right now. Minnesota and Marquette fans across the country are sick. It’s explosively beautiful. Thank god a novel virus didn’t lead to a pandemic that robbed us of this moment.
Epilogue: It’s great to be a Wisconsin Badger, and please never stop dreaming, because sometimes magic can happen when you least expect it.