Welcome back to Big Ten play.
The first goal of this season is a 25th Big Ten championship. Thanks to the heroics of Ron Harper Jr., Purdue is already up against it with a conference loss. Nebraska couldn’t finish the deal last night and help us by beating Ohio State, nor could Northwestern against Michigan State, so that makes tonight even more critical. We have 18 games left in this journey. It is a long road. We probably need to go at least 15-3 over the next 18 to have a shot, and that would also all but assure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament given our spotless non-conference record.
To get there, Mackey must be defended, and that means keeping it the house of horrors for the Wisconsin Badgers. Wisconsin comes in 5-42 all-time in Mackey Arena. One of those wins came last season… in the NCAA Tournament first round game over North Carolina. Let’s keep that streak of dominance going, shall we?