Now that the brackets are out for this year’s NCAA tournament, it’s time to start looking ahead.  As a fan, there is nothing more exciting than filling out a bracket because I know that my predictions will be right…at least until the game’s start being played Thursday (not including the play in game- let’s be honest, nobody really cares about that game besides the teams involved).  So in descending order, here are three dream matchups for the Wisconsin Badgers and their fans:

3.   Wisconsin vs. Kentucky, Sweet Sixteen

If the Badgers can take care of business in the first two rounds, they will likely face the top seeded team in the region, and the number 2 overall team in the tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats.  Led by the freshman duo of John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky seems primed for a national championship run.  However, can the young guns from Kentucky adjust to the slow, half-court game the Badgers will try to impose on them?  Bo Ryan is a master of dictating the game’s pace, and led by an experienced group of guards in Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon, the Badgers have what it takes to rattle the young Wildcats.  Hughes will be tough on Wall, and if this game is played in the 50s or 60s, look for the Badgers to be there at the end.  My guess is that if anybody can beat Kentucky, it’s Wisconsin.

2.   Wisconsin vs. Marquette, Elite Eight

Wouldn’t this be something, an all-Wisconsin East regional final?  It would be a rematch of this year’s earlier game at the Kohl Center, a game that the Badgers won.  However, if any team knows what it’s like to play close games, it’s Marquette.  It seems like every time out for the Golden Eagles the game comes down to the final possession, regardless of who they are playing.  As my brother and Marquette grad noted, MU plays to the talent of the other team, pretty much without fail.  Given that logic, MU will have to play up to the more talented and more experienced Badgers (the more talented part can be debated, but the experienced part, minus Lazar Hayward, pretty much has to go to Bucky).  For the Badgers, if they can use their size advantage in the paint and attack MU down low, it’s a good bet they can pull out another W over the Eagles.  And in a win in the Elite Eight would cement Bo Ryan as one of the great college coaches of our time, and further proof that the Badgers are the best basketball school in the state of Wisconsin.  On a side note, I wonder if Vander Blue will be watching?

1.   Wisconsin vs. Kansas, National Championship

Kansas is merely an arbitrary selection for this spot because any team from the Midwest or West regional’s will do.  The point is, how awesome would it be to see Wisconsin playing on April 5 for the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP?!?!  It would be one of the single greatest nights of my life, win or lose (a win would no doubt make it the best night of my life)!  Now I’m a realist and I know that the odds are against the Badgers making it to Indianapolis, but Bo Ryan’s teams tend to surprise a lot of people, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see this happen.  There’s really no sense in breaking this game down, because by this point I will be too emotionally and physically drained from the sheer euphoria of making it to the Final Four.  But nevertheless, there is no other potential matchup that would be as exciting as this one for Wisconsin.  Until then, I’m going to sit back and enjoy the ride that is March Madness.  It would be impossible for me to do otherwise.