When the Badgers take the floor this Friday at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, they will not have played in eight days and will have only played one game since February 17th — a span of 19 days. Most teams in the league will have played at least three times during that span, and it remains in question whether the long layoff will equal rest or rust.

The Badgers did look sharp after their last eight-day rest when they soundly beat Michigan last week to clinch a share of the title, and according to UW’s head coach Bo Ryan, the team is treating the extra preparation time as an advantage.

“We’ll take it as an advantage, but if (the schedule) would have happened the other way, we would say that was an advantage,” said Ryan. “We still try to create enough in practice to simulate what their bodies go through and mentally what decisions they would have to make.”

Still, Ryan acknowledges that there is no way to precisely simulate game situation during practices.

“There are some things that you obviously can’t reproduce, and I’ve done this before, where I’ve put crowd noise in the gym and that isn’t the same either,” commented Ryan. “We just try legs and lungs-wise to keep them ready and as finely tuned as much as possible.”

The Badgers, who have the first seed in the tournament, won’t be playing until the second day of the tournament. When they do finally take the court they will be facing an opponent that played, and won, just a day earlier. Once again the question will be raised whether or not it is advantageous to have played the day before.

“You play to get a position,” said Ryan. “Is it to somebody’s advantage to play a game before they play the second game when the other team hasn’t played a game? That’s way too much information for me, I don’t know if that’s an advantage or disadvantage.”

Improved play in Wisconsin: Fans of college basketball in Wisconsin are enjoying a level of success from their teams that has been rare in recent years. Both Wisconsin and Marquette are locks to make the NCAA tournament. Marquette finished the season second. in Conference USA and ranked number nine in the country, while the Badgers earned their first Big Ten championship since 1947.

The two teams met on Dec. 22 at the Kohl Center where the Badgers prevailed in front of one of the most electric crowds of the season. The game, and the seasons that the respective teams have gone on to have, has left many people excited about basketball in the state of Wisconsin in the future.

Ryan recognized that the success of these two schools is representative of high school coaches and young players statewide. The improvement has led to a deeper recruiting pool where, for a time, recruiting in Wisconsin kept the Badgers near the bottom of the Big Ten and made coaches reluctant to come here in the past.

“I’ve attributed the success of basketball in the state of Wisconsin to the high school coaches and the dedication of young people going to camps and trying to get better for years,” said Ryan. “All the kids in the state of Wisconsin, all the tournaments they are playing, they are playing more basketball. For 20-some years that I know of I have watched it grow and have tried to be a part of it. It has been great to see that.”

The improved play has clearly benefited the Badgers, as they were able to have a successful season utilizing several young in-state recruits during their championship run.

“I have seen basketball in the state get better,” said Ryan.

The Big Ten Championship: From the beginning of Bo Ryan’s stay as the head coach at Wisconsin, he has preached to players and media that the most important goal for a team is the regular-season conference championship. After becoming just the eighth Big Ten coach to win the league, and now readying for what promises to be an exciting postseason, Ryan still believes that the regular season championship is the best true measurement of a team.

“Trying to get the conference championship was extremely important to me as a player and has been for me as a coach,” said Ryan. “It is not a thing I just decided to say this year, this is something I have said for a long time. I consider that a very important part of the season because it is the guts of the season.”

The Badgers had a very successful season in the league and are now looking to duplicate their success in what some think of as the second season of college basketball.

“This is the other half of (the season),” commented Ryan. “Now we will see how we play in the next season.”