March Madness: Wisconsin Badgers versus Kansas State Wildcats Badgersphere preview

Well, I'm pretty much done. I chose my alma mater, UConn, to go all the way and they lost yesterday to San Diego with an 18-foot jumper in overtime. As usual, all of my NCAA Tourney hoop dreams are left in the hands of the Lady Huskies who rarely let me down, but no one pays attention to Women's Basketball in Wisconsin, so I'm left all alone in my quiet cheering (worth mentioning, the Wisconsin Women's Hockey Team could pull off a three-pete today if they beat Minnesota-Duluth in the final match-up of the Frozen Four). In order to salvage my bracket at all I need upsets of major proportions today and tomorrow. No one in my office pool has Wisconsin making it out of the Sweet 16 so if they make it to the finals I can at least win a free lunch. Today the Badgers take on the Kansas State Wildcats at 3:20 Central. Below is a round-up of blogger predictions.

Sports Ratings whips out the charts and stats for the game and says it will be close, "Kansas State is the kind of team that could beat Wisconsin; but people say that about nearly every team, and Wisconsin keeps winning. No one will be shocked if the Wildcats win, but the odds are still with the Badgers."

College Basketball Reference also picks the Wildcats, "I can see KSU having a bad game considering the hype surrounding its first-round game, they might be satisfied getting that win. However, I have to pick against the Big Ten every time."

Andrew over at The Melo Backpedal is picking Kansas, "I picked the Wildcats, but even I didn’t think they’d blow away Southern Cal by as much as they did. With that said, I’m drinking the Kool Aid and picking them to beat a very good Wisconsin team." Andrew may want to save the Kool-Aid analogy for whoever San Diego faces next considering they have a rising star player in the form of freshman forward Bob Jones - the grandson of cult leader Jim Jones (according to John Walters at NBC Sports).

Immodest Proposals sees a Wildcats victory, "Wisconsin will probably shut down Beasley and make the rest of the Wildcats beat them, problem is, the rest of the Wildcats are playing pretty well, so that won't work. Pick, Kansas State."

The Newport Daily News also sees a Kansas State victory, "Eventually they're going to run into a team (Kansas) that is capable of putting up 100 and the Badgers simply won't be able to keep up. UW's defense is ridiculous, but at best they might hold Kansas under 80, and scoring more than 70 is tough for the Badgers."

Jeremy's Status Message has the Badgers, "Bye bye O.J. Mayo. Kansas State knocked off USC, but now faces a tougher test in a Wisconsin team that will continue to do everything in their power to STAY OUT OF WISCONSIN. Sure, there are breweries there, but people can only take so much Brett Favre and cheese."