Wisconsin Badgers could have easily laid down. They were 5-5 with all sorts of drama around Kobe King at the start of February. Wisconsin could not seem to string together wins. At one point in early February, Jerry Palm of CBS Sports knocked the Badgers out of the NCAA Tournament. Since that game, Wisconsin won five of their last six games and won four straight games. Badgers are one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten and continued that with a dominating win against Rutgers on Sunday. How did this happen?

Step 1: They had a favorable Big Ten Schedule – Without question, this helped Wisconsin make this February push. They had three home games and one road game against Nebraska, one of the worst teams in the Big Ten. Now, these home games were against NCAA Tournament quality teams, therefore, they still needed to win the games. They took care of business. Wisconsin is a different team at home much like many Big Ten teams this season. What should be encouraging is the way Wisconsin won all four of those games. They had double-digit second-half leads in all four of them.

Step 2: Aleem Ford and Brevin Pritzl have become scoring options – With the home schedule, Pritzl benefits the most. He scored double-digits in his last four home games. In his two road games, he scored three points in total. Pritzl has been an assist for Wisconsin and not just a three-point shooter. Ford came through with his best night of the season against Purdue with five 3-pointers. If Wisconsin gets this kind of contributions from their secondary guys, they’re going to be very tough to beat in March.

Step 3: The team bonded together after the drama – King should not be thrown under the bus for this flipped switch. Rather, Wisconsin came together and united as one. Brad Davison, amid his nut-punching, is a great leader and did that. Add in D’Mitrik Trice and Pritzl. They only have one senior and a ton of juniors. No matter what happens in the next month, this could be a springboard for the 2020-2021 season.

Next up: Wisconsin and Michigan play on Thursday in a big game for both teams. Two of the hottest teams in the Big Ten with Michigan winning five straight, and Wisconsin winning four straight. Something has to give. It should be an awesome matchup. It might come down to D’Mitrik Trice versus Zavier Simpson.

Charlie.