Wisconsin Badgers Head To Sweet Sixteen

Update: The Badgers have lost to the Fighting Irish, 61-56. More coverage will follow.

The Wisconsin Badgers are taking on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the NCAA Tournament Friday night, in what will be their fifth Sweet Sixteen appearance in six years.

After a roller-coaster season and a euphoric win Sunday, Badger fans may wonder what finally made the team gel. According to ESPN senior writer Dana O’Neil, it’s head coach Greg Gard.

“He’s very, very positive with them,” she said. “That sounds silly. It sounds like it’s super easy to always be upbeat, but when you actually live that and you preach that and you tell the guys, ‘It’s going to be okay,’ they can start to believe it.”

O’Neil added, “I think that’s what this team really needed, was somebody who came in and says, ‘I know we’ve been through some crazy times here, but if you just keep your head down, we’re going to get through it. And I think because they knew him as a coach for such a long time, they trusted him. Eventually it started to turn and when it starts to turn, you start to win games. You believe that message more.”

Player leadership also plays a role. O’Neil said junior forward Nigel Hayes is stepping up as a leader and that could make a difference in Friday night’s game.

“If this game is tight, and I think it might be, that leadership that Nigel Hayes is trying to foster versus what Notre Dame might already have might be the X factor,” she said.

The Badgers are a young team, with no seniors in their active rotation. Notre Dame’s players, on the other hand, have more postseason experience.

O’Neil said their opposing styles will make for an exciting match up.

“They’re kind of different in some regards in that Notre Dame is pretty offensive-minded. They’ve got a lot of guys that can shoot 3-pointers. They like to get out and run if they can. They’ve been pretty good offensively all year,” said O’Neil. “Wisconsin’s a little bit more deliberate in how they do things, but they can also shoot the ball well.”

O’Neil has been watching the Badgers practice in Philadelphia this week, and she said the team appears laser focused. She said that’s essential, but not always easy, especially coming down from Wisconsin’s buzzer-beating win on Sunday.

Tipoff Friday is at 6:27 p.m.