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Ryan speaks up on longevity of mid-major successes

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Also by Ben Solochek:

Home 'Field' advantage (November 30, 2007)
Salow matures, sees role expand for Wisconsin (November 15, 2007)
Wisconsin survives, wins another 5 game match (November 12, 2007)
UW to host IU, UM (November 7, 2007)
Wisconsin splits weekend set (November 5, 2007)

by Ben Solochek

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Last weekend, the No. 12 Wisconsin men's basketball team suffered a loss to Missouri State, 66-64, in the South Padre Invitational.

The fact that a team from the mid-major Gateway Conference defeated a Big Ten powerhouse adds to the recent success that the lesser known conferences have found in being able to beat up on teams from major conferences, such as the ACC, Big East, and Big Ten.

For instance, in the 2006 NCAA tournament, George Mason went to the Final Four, to everyone's surprise, by beating Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut.

Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said that the success of mid-major teams is not a recent phenomenon, but something that has been going on for years.

"It has been going on ever since I was in diapers," Ryan said. "When a powerhouse team would come up into Philly and get knocked off, nobody said, 'Oh, how about this team from an unknown conference.'"

Ryan attributed the added buzz around mid-major schools to the increase of national media attention granted to such upsets around the country.

"This has always been going on, but there are more lips moving now," Ryan said. "It has gotten so much attention because of the Internet and everything else. There are a lot of good teams in basketball, and a lot of us have known this for a very long time."

Wisconsin still has to play some teams from mid-major conferences, particularly in-state rival University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a school previously coached by Ryan for two years from 1999-2001.

Not only do the Badgers face many other mid-major teams before Big Ten play starts, but the mid-majors also tend to be bracket busters when tournament time comes. Ryan acknowledged that these teams come to play and will not be intimidated by teams from major conferences.

"I know that every time we play, especially if you are marked as a team that has this or has that, you still have to play and perform," Ryan said. "The other guys are always looking to knock someone off in that position, but that's not new."

Joe Everything This season, sophomore Joe Krabbenhoft has been playing the role of sixth man for the Badgers. He is averaging 21.3 minutes per game and has played in all six games this year. All of his playing time comes off the bench, and he is averaging 6.2 points per game.

Although Krabbenhoft's stats may not be that high, he takes on a crucial responsibility in Bo Ryan's swing offense. He can play in the post or out on the perimeter.

"Your average Joe, he's anything but average," Ryan said. "He works hard. He is constantly trying to learn as much as he can. You can see that in his improved play. You always like those guys who listen and get better. That's what you hope for in players is to see development and to see the absorption of information that you are trying to pass out."

So far, Krabbenhoft is showing improvement over last year. He already has a better turnover-to-assist ratio and is averaging more rebounds per game than he did to this point in the 2005-06 season.

Mr. 500 With his win over Auburn, Bo Ryan received his 500th career victory. He is only one of 15 active coaches that have tallied 500 or more wins.

Ryan has a .766 career winning percentage, the best out of the other 14 coaches. Over his 23 years of coaching, he learned some very important lessons early on in his 15-year stint at UW-Platteville.

"I didn't realize that the game was played differently on the other side of the Mississippi," Ryan said, referring to his first career loss against Dubuque. "Every time we went back over the Mississippi over the next 14 years, we won. So I leaned how to coach on the other side of the Mississippi."

When asked what kind of conversation Ryan would have with himself if he could go back in time, he said that there wouldn't be much of a conversation because he would be preparing for the next game, and offered up one of his quirky remarks he has become so famous for in Madison.

"I don't want you guys to think that I talk to myself out there," Ryan said.

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Anonymous (November 28, 2006 @ 8:41am):

Hey Ben, You are certainly correct about this "mid-major Gateway Conference" being one of the "lesser known conferences." Can you tell us more about it? Now, the Missouri Valley Conference - you know, the conference that had two teams in the Sweet 16 last year while the Big Ten had none - is a little better known.

Anonymous (November 28, 2006 @ 8:56am):

Ben:

Missouri St. is a member of the Missouri Valley Basketball Conference. The Gateway conference is a football only conference. Nice to know our journalists are doing research on what they are writing about. I hope you feel like an idiot after rushing this story to print...