Every year, it's the same story: Wisconsin, missing a true, superstar playmaker, won't have the power to hang with the big dogs and will finish near the bottom of the Big Ten standings.
And every year, the Badgers find a way to wind up at or near the top of the standings, leaving prognosticators to scratch their heads and wonder just what the heck Bo Ryan is doing out in Madison.
The Badgers (23-7) finished with at least 20 victories for the fifth consecutive season and the eighth time since Ryan took over as head coach in 2001. (For comparison, the Badgers had just four 20-victory seasons in the 102 seasons prior to Ryan's arrival.)
Wisconsin is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th straight year and 14th time in 15 seasons.
Helping the Badgers' cause is the emergence of point guard Jordan Taylor, who led the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio, was fifth in assists and was named a Cousy Award Finalist for the nation's top collegiate point guard.
Taylor almost single-handedly brought the Badgers back from 15 points down against then-unbeaten Ohio State. He finished with 27 points and hit on five of eight three-point attempts and had 16 points during an eight-minute span in the second half as Wisconsin upset the No. 1 team in the country, 71-67.
"I don't know of that many guys in the league that did more for their teams the way he did with the numbers that show he's not a one-man show," Ryan said. "We're looking at assists. We're looking at defense. He should be on the all-defensive team."
Taylor has had plenty of help, especially from fellow senior Jon Leuer. The 6-10 forward from Orono, Minn., earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and was a third-team FOX Sports All-American.
Leuer led the team (narrowly, over Taylor) and was third in the league with 18.9 points and was fifth in the Big Ten with 7.3 rebounds per game. He scored at least 20 points 12 times and was just under 40 percent from beyond the arc.
The Badgers narrowly missed finishing second in the Big Ten but a season-ending rout at No.1 Ohio State dropped Wisconsin behind Purdue and into third place in the conference, but still giving the Badgers a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament (they play sixth-seeded Penn State tonight in the late game).
With four days to prepare Ryan thinks his team will be ready to go when they get back on the court at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and not worried about their performance last Sunday in Columbus.
The Buckeyes crushed Wisconsin, 93-65, in that game, avenging the loss earlier in the season at the Kohl Center. Ohio State guard Jon Diebler hit seven of eight of the Buckeye's 14 three-pointers and finished with 27 points.
"Whether we're on the left or right, after a game, we go to practice but it's not like it's, 'oh, that was an eye-opener,' or 'that was a message that was sent'," Ryan said.
"Ohio State can send that message to a lot of people. Maybe not shooting threes that well every night, but they're good enough to beat you in so many ways, which is very evident."
