Libertarian Librarian

Only a day after being ranked the #1 team in the nation, for the first time in the history of the program, the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team went to Michigan State last night and lost for only the third time all year. Losing on the road is never an awful loss, and Michigan State has found a groove in their last few games after sucking earlier in the year, but Wisconsin did not look good in the final 5 minutes. They looked tight and despondent, something I haven't seen from them all year long, and a discouraging sight as the season winds down to the Big Dance in March. Hopefully, the Badgers will use the loss as a learning experience and bounce back against #2 Ohio State, again on the road, on Sunday. If they beat Ohio State, they might even retain their #1 ranking next Monday. Fingers crossed.

An hour or so later, the Milwaukee Bucks continued their death spiral to oblivion, losing another Michigan team, the Detroit Pistons, by one point, 84-83 when the Bucks missed a tough runner with only seconds left in the game and were unable to collect the offensive rebound. Given that Detroit is one of the top two or three teams in the Eastern Conference, losing to them is also not a horrible loss, but the Bucks were at home, and they had FINALLY gotten all-star guard Michael Redd back after a six-week injury absence. And, at 19-35, there's really no such thing as a moral victory for the Bucks any more. They need honest to god, real victories now.

Hopefully, both games will be aberrations, Wisconsin will still win the Big 10 title, and Milwaukee will rediscover the form they had before Redd's injury, when they were 15-14.

Fingers AND toes crossed.

Labels: Sports