Wisconsin basketball fell to 15-4 on the season and 5-3 in Big Ten play with an 85-83 loss to UCLA on Tuesday.
The result ensured a 1-1 split during its two-game Los Angeles road trip. While the narrow defeat ended the Badgers’ seven-game winning streak and paused their surge to the top of the conference standings, it did not negatively impact their KenPom, ESPN BPI, or NCAA NET ranking.
Related: Updated game-by-game predictions for Wisconsin basketball after UCLA loss
Wisconsin held its same No. 21 spot in KenPom, rose four spots to No. 24 in the BPI and remained at No. 21 in the NET.
That dynamic is due to UCLA‘s perceived quality — the Bruins sit No. 31 in KenPom despite recent struggles in Big Ten play. A two-point road loss to a fringe-top-30 team in the country won’t initiate a significant downgrade.
The loss to UCLA is a Quad 1 defeat. Wisconsin is now 4-4 in such games this season, compared to 11-0 against everybody else.
As a reminder, here is a reminder of how the NET classifies each game:
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Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
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Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
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Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
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Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353
The Badgers actually received a boost just before the UCLA loss, as Ohio State won on the road at Purdue and jumped to No. 30 in the NET. That pushed the Badgers’ recent home victory over the Buckeyes back into the Quad 1 category.
Wisconsin is now the mentioned 4-4 against Quad 1, 4-0 against Quad 2, 2-0 against Quad 3 and 5-0 against Quad 4. That resume is the fifth-strongest in the Big Ten, only ranked behind Illinois (No. 8), Michigan (No. 12), Purdue (No. 13) and Michigan State (No. 16). It has the team in the 5-seed range in most bracketologies.
That standing has the chance to rise considerably over the next six weeks. Wisconsin has Quad 1 games remaining against Maryland, Northwestern, Iowa, Purdue, Illinois, Oregon and Michigan State, and Quad 2 games against Nebraska, Indiana, Minnesota and Penn State. Its only remaining Quad 3 game is a home contest against Washington.
That quest begins on Sunday when Nebraska (NET No. 57) visits the Kohl Center.
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