The Run Ends Just Short

The magnificent ride to the Championship came up five points shy of holding the trophy.

Maybe too much fuel was used to get there.  Wisconsin faced the toughest road possible to reach the title game, always facing the highest seed in every match.

Just the same, the 2014 - 2015 Wisconsin Badgers Men's Basketball team will go down in history as the best in program history.   These days it seems the winner is perfect and the losing team becomes a "loser."

It was like the Semi-Final game, but reversed for Bucky's boys.  Duke won the game more than Wisconsin lost it.  There were uncharacteristic mistakes that hurt the Badgers - missed free throws, jittery play, and for the first time the calm under pressure was disrupted by a tenacious Blue Devil defense.

Let the pundits and critics have their say, but these Badgers represented Wisconsin well.  36 - 4 with a strong run through everybody except the champs.  Duke beat the Badgers twice - so there's no fluke there.

Yes, its tempting to play the "what if" game... what if we make this shot; make one more defensive stop... but there is no gain in that.

It's time to tip the cap to Duke and realize the accomplishments have lifted a Wisconsin program.  The Badgers have been good for a while, but with back to back Final Four appearances they deserve to be recognized as one of the best programs in the country.
 
Another tip of the cap, a hearty handshake, and many thanks to the graduating class: Frank Kaminsky, Josh Gasser, Traevon Jackson, and Duje Duken for leading the way.  It's likely junior Sam Dekker heads to the courts in the NBA next year.  They will be missed, but not forgotten.

Last night's game may seem like a pinnacle for a journey to the top of the college basketball world that began with Stu Jackson, made leaps under Dick Bennett, and bounds with Bo Ryan.  More likely, it's not a pinnacle, but another level of expectations.

For years, Coach Ryan has done the same thing - recruited players, coached them up, drilled them in the fundamentals, and melded a winning team together.  Next season there will be different players on the court, I suspect we'll still enjoy the games.

No question though, this game was a gut punch for the players who fell short of their ultimate goal and for fans waiting to explode in celebration.  Instead, we think of how close we (the team and all the fans) came to the gold trophy.

As the pain subsides we'll think about how much fun we had on the road to the Final Four, we'll exult in how the players made us so proud to be Badgers, and we'll treasure what felt like a once in a lifetime experience.

It's a sad moment to absorb, but we go back to work.  The team will get some rest, finish the semester, and start the post season workouts.  We'll do what Badgers do... get to work.

On Wisconsin.