The Badgers saw themselves jump in the polls once again after a strong week.
The Wisconsin Badgers jumped up four spots from No. 19 to No. 15 in the AP Top 25, earning a bump in the polls after a 3-0 week that includes wins over UT Rio Grande Valley, UCF, and Pitt en route to a 7-0 start to the year.
The last two wins were a part of the Greenbrier Tip-Off, where the Badgers won the championship on Sunday after beating Pitt 81-75 in a thriller, thanks to a 54-point second half in a comeback effort.
Wisconsin debuted in the AP Top 25 last week after beating the Arizona Wildcats 103-88 at the Kohl Center. But, they faced a scare earlier this week when UT Rio Grande Valley pushed them to a three-point game, raising questions about how they’d impact Wisconsin’s standing this week.
Now at 7-0, Wisconsin trails only the Purdue Boilermakers (No. 13) and the Indiana Hoosiers (No. 14) in the Big Ten, with all three teams ranked back-to-back-to-back. Purdue dropped seven spots this week after losing 76-58 to the Marquette Golden Eagles, while Indiana moved up two spots.
Wisconsin was the second-highest riser in the polls behind Marquette, who moved up five spots to No. 10, and they get a favorable matchup this week when Chicago State comes to town on Saturday. That’s the lone game of the week for Wisconsin after three games this past week, but things start to ramp up after that as the Badgers host their first conference game when the Michigan Wolverines come to town on December 3rd.
Then, it’ll be the highly-anticipated Top-15 matchup between Wisconsin and Marquette at the Fiserv Forum, providing the Badgers with two more early tests to see how strong they currently are.
But, for now, Wisconsin is a top-15 team in the country, getting a nice boost after another productive week.