ABOVE AND BEYOND

The preseason predictions from the major publications are in and they are unanimous. The University of Wisconsin men's basketball team is expected to finish in the bottom half of the Big Ten Conference. Athlon, Lindy's and Blue Ribbon project UW to end up seventh in the Big Ten. The Sporting News and USA Today's Sports Weekly see an eighth-place finish. Seventh? Eighth? For a school that hasn't had a losing record in the conference since the 1997-98 season? That lack of respect has got to be painful for a program that has won three Big Ten regular-season and two Big Ten tournament titles, reached one NCAA Final Four and been ranked No. 1 in the nation in the last 10 years. "It hurts a lot of times with what we've accomplished," senior guard Jason Bohannon admitted. UW coach Bo Ryan would probably prefer that his players avoid reading such things, but that's not realistic in today's wireless world. Besides, the low expectations might help the Badgers in the long run. "We read things and those are good things to have because that's bulletin-board material," senior guard Trevon Hughes said. "We put that on the bulletin board and that's going to motivate us. And if it doesn't motivate you, then you're not a real competitor." No matter where they predict the Badgers to finish, the so-called experts don't question their competitiveness, their coaching or the effectiveness of their system. The reasons they're picking UW so low have to do with the strength of the Big Ten, which boasts nine potential NCAA teams, their recollections of UW's rare six-game Big Ten losing streak in January and their respect for graduated warriors Marcus Landry and Joe Krabbenhoft. Replacing the toughness of Landry and Krabbenhoft inside is a formidable task. It is not, however, an impossible one. In fact, the prediction here is that the Badgers will exceed expectations and make a strong run at a spot in the first division. That won't be easy in a conference where six teams - Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois - are ranked in most preseason Top 25s. But it is years like this where the stability of a program such as UW's comes into play. Ryan has senior guards who know exactly what he wants. He has some junior big men who have been waiting their turn and - this is important - will give UW five outside shooters on the floor who must be honored for the first time in awhile. He has an influx of size and athleticism from young players who saw little action or were red-shirted last season. And though he won't admit it, he has players with a chip on their shoulder. "(Do) I think they're playing with a chip? I don't think so," Ryan said. "I just think they're trying to continue the tradition of Wisconsin being a pretty good team. That's what maybe gets forgotten in all this." Indeed, it has. This is Ryan's ninth UW team and the first eight finished with at least 19 wins and an NCAA bid. Some years are better than others, but while the names at UW change, the commitment to the system and the development of players never does. That's how a good program is supposed to work. When it loses players, new ones step in and no one really notices. "You're always going to lose guys to graduation and there's going to have to be guys who step up," Bohannon said. "The programs that consistently win have guys that step up every year. We've had that in the past. When we lost Alando (Tucker) and Kam (Taylor), everyone thought we were going to have a down year and we won (31 games). The year after that when we lost Mike (Flowers) and Brian (Butch), they thought we were going to have a down year and we made the NCAA tournament and won a first-round game. "I think it'll be the same thing this year. Coach gets guys ready and when the time comes, we have everyone on the right page." That time is almost here - UW opens its season against Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Kohl Center - and that's good for the Badgers because it means they can start changing people's opinions about them. "If we're not getting respect now," Ryan said, "there's really nothing you can do about that other than earn it each and every time you go out on the court. That's all we can do." The Badgers have been doing that for a long time and, despite low expectations, there's no reason to think they won't continue doing that this season. Contact Tom Oates at toates@madison.com or 608-252-6172.