Badgers fall out of Top 10 after home loss to Nebraska, wait for status update on Davis

Mar 7, 2022 | 12:26 PM

MADISON, Wis. — It has been a rough couple days for the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team after losing their star player and their regular-season finale at home to the last-place team in the Big Ten on Sunday, and now sliding out of the top 10 in the latest AP rankings released on Monday.

Wisconsin’s loss on Senior Day to Nebraska, who came into the game at 9-21 overall and 3-16 in the Big Ten, saw the Badgers drop from 10th to 12th in the updated rankings — the final regular season poll before the NCAA tournament field is announced on Selection Sunday.

The Badgers’ loss also cost them an outright Big Ten championship and the top overall seed in the upcoming Big Ten tournament. Illinois made the most of the opportunity, beating Iowa on Sunday night to also claim a share and take the #1 seed due to a tiebreaker over Wisconsin.

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The Badgers will be the #2 seed in the conference tournament and will play their first game on Friday after getting a bye in the first two rounds.

Wisconsin is also continuing the evaluate the status of star guard Johnny Davis, who was knocked out of Sunday’s game after tripping and stumbling toward the basket before getting hit across the face by Nebraska’s Trey McGowens in what was eventually called a flagrant foul. McGowens was ejected, but the Badgers offense went cold down the stretch without Davis, who suffered what team officials called a “lower-body injury.”

The team hopes the additional rest will help Davis be available for their quarterfinal game on Friday.

The Big Ten tournament gets underway on Wednesday in Indianapolis, when Nebraska faces Northwestern and Minnesota faces Penn State. The Nebraska/Northwestern winner will advance to take on 5th-seeded Iowa, while the Minnesota/Penn State winner will move on to face 6th-seeded Ohio State.