Wisconsin Basketball Fans In Complete Meltdown, Share Ominous Predictions
Wisconsin basketball fans are, once again, mentally preparing to be disappointed.
As OutKick readers know, I'm a Wisconsin man. I live and breathe Wisconsin athletics, and judging from my emails at David.Hookstead@outkick.com, many of you are either riding with me or enjoy watching me suffer. Either way, I appreciate the support!
Wisconsin dropped a game to Iowa Saturday in unbelievably embarrassing fashion, and fans were in a state of open revolt. Can anyone blame them? The team is 1-5 in its last six games after being ranked sixth in the country. Has a team ever gone from being ranked sixth in February to missing the tournament? We might find out here in a couple weeks.
Wisconsin fans have completely lost faith in the team.
While I enjoyed the social media reactions over the weekend, there's an even more ominous feeling now sweeping across the fanbase:
How many remaining games can the 17-9 Badgers win?
Wisconsin has games left against Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, Rutgers and Purdue. That's a fairly difficult five game run to close out a season that is already off the rails.
I found myself reading a Reddit thread with predictions for the rest of the season, and people aren't expecting much. Check out some of the reactions below:
- The teams gone from being able to hang with elite programs to struggling to beat anybody. hard to say. I'll be optimistic and say 2.
- I feel like playing tough against good teams and then playing down to sh*tty ones is the definition of badger basketball lol
- 2 if we’re lucky
- One hopefully. Don’t understand how players completely lose their offensive confidence horrible.
- One
- (In response to above) I'm terrified that's the outcome. In which case we will need a decent showing in the Big10 tourney to get in.
- 1 if they are lucky
- Is a negative number possible?
- 2 gets us into the tournament. 1, I think you have to win a conference tournament game or you're in danger. I'll say they get 2. No shot on the road.
- 2-3
- Wouldn’t be surprised if we won them all. Wouldn’t be surprised if we lost them all.
- I'm leaning towards one (Maryland), maybe two @ Indiana. Rutgers already spanked us once the venue doesn't account for THAT many points.
There were a handful of optimistic people, but the comments above overwhelmingly speaks for how the majority of fans feel. Greg Gard went from winning back Badgers fans to having his seat warm up in the span of two weeks.
I've truly never seen anything like it, and I've lived through a hell of a lot as a Wisconsin fan.
Is Greg Gard on the hot seat? (Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports)
How many games do I think the Badgers will win the rest of the way? The unfortunate answer might only be one, and it's the game against Maryland. The Badgers will likely be underdogs in the other four. If Wisconsin closes out 1-4 to finish the regular season 18-13, fans are going to demand Gard be fired and it might happen. All I know for sure is something has to change, and it has to change ASAP. Keep enjoying the ride because at least the downfall is good for content! Let me know your outlook on the Badgers at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.