Badgers Dancing on Michigan's Grave?

For one half, the Michigan Wolverines were all but trying on their dancing shoes. One half later, they were all but watching Wisconsin waltz into the NCAA tournament.

Michigan's DeShawn Sims-Manny Harris combo did all it could to build on the Wolverines' win over Purdue Thursday, but Wisconsin turned the Wolverines away with their trademark physical defense in the second half. The pressure went up, and the Wolverines' offense went down, managing just 21 points in the second half.

So, can Wisconsin sleepwalk into March Madness and are the Wolverines done, just days after they were all but called a shoo-in?

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The two teams are part of an amoeba in the middle of the conference standings -- most of whom reside on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Penn State, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Northwestern join these two teams in a group of six teams separated by a measily two games in the conference standings. Outside winning the conference tourney, Northwestern is too far behind at this point, but of the other five teams, the Big Ten is probably going to get four in.

Wisconsin has now won six of seven, virtually erasing that potentially devastating six-game losing streak. They travel to Minnesota before getting Indiana at home. A 10-8 conference record is their worst-case scenario at this point -- since they aren't losing at home to IU -- and if they take down the Gophers it will be 11-7. With their solid RPI, you can bet their now annual spot in the NCAA Tourney is secure. I guess we should have never written off a Bo Ryan team in early February.

While Michigan still has a really good shot at making the dance, gathering a quality road win in Madison Sunday would have likely cemented their spot. They have a few really good wins, but have left people scratching their heads with some inconsistent play. Personally, I don't see how a team with two absolute studs like Harris and Sims can't fill out enough of a supporting cast to win more than eight of 17 conference games. In fact, with only a trip to Minnesota remaining, they are in serious danger of finishing 8-10 in conference play -- which might mean a decent run in the Big Ten Tournament would be necessary to go dancing. It appeared, after a victory over Purdue this past week, that things were falling into place for the Wolverines. As everything currently stands, though, you'd have to assume either Penn State or Michigan will be the proverbial odd man out.

Michigan could have really used a victory at Wisconsin. Instead, they were given a taste of their own medicine.

Sunday, the Badgers worked much more efficient one-two punch of their own, as Trevon Hughes and Marcus Landry beautifully played an inside-outside duo. Hughes and Landry combined for the same 32 points Harris and Sims did, but they took 10 less shots from the floor (and, actually, two less free throws as well).

Despite the futile second-half offense, Michigan was right in this game to the end. They could not, however, muster a tie in the final minutes when only trailing by one possession quite a few times. Their late possessions were heavily defended by the tenacious Badgers, and ended in reckless three-point attempts several times, including two from Sims, who shoots less than 30 percent from behind the arc. They found success a few times with Harris slashing into the lane, but even that approach came up short against the stingy Badger defense when it mattered most.