March Madness: Three Reasons the Badgers Will Win the Big Ten Tournament

It's that time again, when it becomes really hard to focus at work. When men start acting like little boys, and little boys start playing basketball like men. That time of year when the fragrance of a new spring arising, wafts on its balmy breezes the unmistakable sounds of leather bouncing on hardwood and the cheers of college students nationwide.

Yes, it is time for March Madness.

And the Madness this year is made even madder by the probable absence of many of college basketball's regularly elite teams: Uconn, UCLA, Arizona, Indiana, and last year's champ, North Carolina, are all in very grave danger of not making the field of 65. These teams have won 46 percent of the national championships since 1964, or 21 of the last 46 championships.

This leaves the field wide open for teams such as Syracuse, Kansas, Ohio State, West Virginia, and a myriad others.

But I digress.

Before the Big Dance, we have Champ. Week, so aptly named by our esteemed colleagues at ESPN, where the conference champions are determined.

And the Big Ten has at least five teams that have a legitimate shot at the conference tourney crown. Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Illinois all have a strong possibility of running the table and taking home the hardware at the Big Ten tourney.

As a Wisconsin fan, one can sometimes be accused of following a team that promotes a slow, boring style of basketball. And that's fine with me, as long as they continue their success in conference and their annual appearances in the Big Dance.

This season, the Badgers finished fourth in the conference during the regular season, but I would like to set forth, here on the hallowed pages of our beloved Bleacher Report, the three main reasons the Wisconsin Badgers will be your Big Ten Tournament champion.

Defense and Turnovers - Not to beat a dead horse, but the Badgers' continued success this season can be attributed to coach Bo Ryan's defensive philosophy. "Bo's Rules" have dictated opposing teams' tempos and held a remarkable 12 teams to season lows in scoring, including Michigan and Michigan State twice.

The Badgers also lead the nation in turnovers per game, coughing up the rock only nine times per contest. Both of these stats will be major contributors in the Badgers' run in the conference tournament.

Pick Your Poison - Five different Badgers have registered a 20-point game this season: Guard Trévon Hughes (7), Forward Jon Leuer (5), Guard Jason Bohannon (3), Guard Jordan Taylor (3), and Forward Keaton Nankivil (1).

If you try to stop the perimeter game, the Badgers have a stellar inside game. Both of the Badgers' starting big men, Leuer and Nankivil, get excellent position and have great footwork. They are both capable of stepping out and hitting the three as well, which creates matchup issues for opposing bigs.

And if the inside game is not happening, Jordan Taylor and Trevon Hughes have the capability of shredding the defense with dribble penetration.

Overall, the balance of this Wisconsin team is phenomenal.

Experience - Leuer is a Junior, Hughes and Bohannon are Seniors who have been successful in the conference tourney in the past. And most of all, there is Coach of the Year candidate Bo Ryan, who has successfully guided the Badgers to the NCAA tournament in each of his nine years with the team.  

Ohio State has POY candidate Evan Turner, Michigan State has Tom Izzo, Purdue has Etwaun Moore and Jajuan Johnson, the Badgers, however, have something better than any of these: they are the very epitome of the word 'team.'