Making a trip to the the last couple of waltzes in the Big Dance can be a lot more difficult when you are no longer sneaking up on the competition.
Journeys like this take experience and this version of Bo Ryan's crew has that - only losing one starter from the high performing squad.
Individually and collectively, this year's team is in position to claim a conference title (which the Badgers have not done in five years) and they (and their fans) have their eyes on much more than that.
Learning to eat an elephant is a lot like the journey facing this team... it can only be accomplished one bite and one step at a time. There are two losses on the season so far, to a highly ranked Duke team and an unexpected road hiccup against Rutgers with their big man on the bench and starting point guard going to the bench with a foot injury during the game. Since then, they have regained their balance and won three straight.
Yellow (called Maize by the Wolverines) and Blue await tonight in Ann Arbor for Bucky and company in their next big road test. A win tonight will set the Badgers up for a good stretch of their season where every conference game can be more than just a bump in the road.
It's still too early to gauge the character of this year's team, but what I've seen so far looks promising as several young players have stepped nicely into larger roles and the team's veteran leaders seem to understand the road and its prepared them for the inevitable adversity yet to come..
The end of January means March Madness is only a month off - that's when Bucky's boys hope the fun really begins.
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Game update:
69 -64 final in overtime, nice win for the Badgers in a hostile environment - that should help them as they get close to the tournaments.
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