Greg Gard pumps the breaks on Wisconsin Badgers' computer numbers

Wisconsin's two most-recent wins have given the Badgers a bump in the NCAA NET rankings with many tough games to go.

Wisconsin players douse head coach Greg Gard (center) with water after the Badgers beat No.2 Michigan, 91-88, in Ann Arbor on January 10, 2026. | UW Athletics

MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard hopes fans will put down the computer, phone, or tablet and simply watch the game.

That was the message he had leading into an important home game against UCLA last week when it was brought up that margin of victory and the NCAA NET ranking has to carry a little bit of weight.

"Sometimes you get caught looking at the final score, and that's always a no-no," Gard said on January 5. "Don't look at the final score, watch the game and how maybe it got closer than it really was or got away from what the meat of the game really was."

Those using Wisconsin's previously sagging computer numbers don't have as strong of leg to stand on anymore with the Badgers registering their two biggest wins of the season.

After knocking off UCLA at home Tuesday night, the Badgers registered one of the nation's biggest upsets when they overcame an early 14-point deficit to beat No.2 Michigan, 91-88, at Crisler Center Saturday afternoon.

Michigan-native John Blackwell scored a game-high 26 points, senior Nick Boyd (22) registered his ninth 20-point game of the season, freshman forward Aleksas Bieliauskas had a career-high 17 points, and senior Braeden Carrington had 12 points and a career-high nine rebounds off the bench.

Wisconsin (11-5, 3-2 Big Ten) shot 63.0 percent in the second half and went 10-for-17 (58.5 percent) from three to win a game that it closed as 18.5-point underdogs.

Winning is the Wisconsin culture.

🎬 Cinematic recap at No. 2 Michigan pic.twitter.com/3mjglV9epY

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 11, 2026

The two wins helped UW's must-talked-about NET ranking skyrocket.

Beginning the new year ranked No.63, the victory over UCLA moved Wisconsin up 10 spots and its triumph over Michigan - the number one ranked team in the NET - pushed them 13 spots up to No.40.

UW also saw its rankings rise in ESPN's Basketball Power Index (37), KenPom (38), and KPI (45).

It's the NET ranking that gets most of the attention, tabulated by a computer algorithm that factors in game results, strength of schedule (SOS), game location (home, away, neutral), and net efficiency (offensive/defensive points per possession). It puts teams into four quadrants that are defined by the strength of opponent and where the game is being played.

Quad-1 wins are the most valuable wins (e.g., beating a top-30 team at home or top-75 on the road) with Quad-2 results (Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135) equally as important.

The victory at Michigan was Wisconsin's first Quad-1 win of the season, while the victory over the Bruins currently falls in the Quad-2 category. If UCLA gets healthy, keeps winning and moves into the top-30 of the NET, the Badgers will add a second Quad-1 win.

All five of UW's losses - vs. BYU (No.9), vs. TCU (42), at Nebraska (11), vs. Villanova (29), and Purdue (5) - fall into Quad-1.

The format was introduced eight years ago for the 2018-19 season and was considered a significant upgrade from the previously used RPI, giving the NCAA Selection Committee access to more granular to assess team strength, especially for teams on the bubble for NCAA Tournament.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that it's not used as a tool to fully select the field, rather to sort teams and put them in their proper seed line.

Tournament selection committee chair Bernard Muir told ESPN in 2019 that a team's specific NET ranking was not intended to be the determining factor in the committee's choices.

"(The NET is) one tool of many that we have. Also, obviously we're watching a lot of games, and that enters into the discussion as well," Muir said. "We were pleased on how the NET performed, but we're not just going down the list one by one. ... We're truly trying to evaluate full body of work, which is committee-speak, and at the same token make decisions who's the best team that belongs among the 36 at-larges."

That's not to say the committee doesn't use the NET to compare bubble teams, especially with team's record and number of games in the first two quadrants. With the Big Ten having half of its teams ranked in the top 40 of the NET and two-thirds in the top 60, Wisconsin will have plenty of opportunities to enhance its profile.

Of its remaining 15 conference games, seven games currently fall into the Quad-1 category: at Feb. 7 at Indiana, Feb. 10 at Illinois, Feb. 13 vs. Michigan State, Feb. 17 at Ohio State, Feb. 22 vs. Iowa, Feb. 28 at Washington, and March 7 at Purdue.

UW's road at Minnesota tomorrow is one of three remaining Quad-2 games.

It's a tough stretch of games, one that will continue to flucuate the numbers until Selection Sunday.

"Win a lot of games," Gard said. "That's an important analytical."

More Wisconsin Badgers News:

• Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell fights 'through the storm' to regain his offense

• Wisconsin Badgers saved their season with shocking upset win over No. 2 Michigan

• Winning big games away from home is nothing new for the Wisconsin Badgers

• Wisconsin Badgers win over No. 2 Michigan is biggest upset of college basketball season so far