Maybe it’s just that whole “forest and trees” cliché, but there are few mortals on this globe that can drive a sane man nutty like a bona fide idealist. Forever takers of the high road, these souls of narrow vision could spin a goofy grin on a four-hour traffic jam sandwiched between two semis.

As for the majority of us, the Monets of the world if you must, are the realists. We are the grandstanders of life, believing we live in a world where profit margins will always take precedence over morals.

Piggybacking that idea to the NCAA tournament, a world that defies all reason of any form, is rather quite simple when thinking like a sane realist.

To put it bluntly, unless Wisconsin can get by St. John’s Friday afternoon in a very winnable game, the Badgers’ one-quarter slice of the Big Ten title amounts to nothing, zero. Is it cruel to say a first-round exit should take something away from the Badgers’ improbable and often mind-boggling run to a conference championship? Sure, but it’s a cold world we live in, and few areas of sports are as chilly as college hoops.

Honestly, is there another sport out there that takes all the accomplishments, sweat and sacrifices of a successful squad and rolls them out on the craps table? Only in college hoops can one bad day, one odd bounce on a neutral site, one hot shooting guard from nowhere college ruin a season. And only in college hoops can the exact opposite be true, and Wisconsin has been exhibit A for such the past four seasons.

In 1999, the Badgers won 20 games for only the second time in more than 60 years and were led by the deft duo of Sean Mason and Ty Calderwood, who kept the Badgers in the top 25 virtually that whole year. But does anyone with a mild bit of intelligence hold 1999 as a great season for UW basketball?

I think 32 points will suffice as an answer.

Same goes for last year, with a Wisconsin team that cracked the top 10, was solid all year, and was placed in a bracket that was set up quite nicely for them to reach the Sweet 16.

I think Brad Soderberg holding a clipboard on the St. Louis bench will suffice as an answer for this one.

Compare those two years to 2000, where the Badgers put up a mediocre 16-12 record and struggled mightily to put 50 points on the board most of the year. Then out of nowhere, they sneak their way into the Final Four, and voila, the 2000 edition of Wisconsin basketball is deemed one of the greatest teams to ever wear cardinal and white.

Like it or not, the real world has put a tremendous onus on the entire Wisconsin basketball program when they take the floor in Washington, D.C. From a national perspective, there isn’t a soul with a working brain who cares or takes any value in a ring or a red banner that were earned during the regular season.

Certainly, those objects look nice on fingers and up in the rafters, but success in college basketball is not a holistic challenge, but a test of the moment when the chips are on the table, and two out of the last three years the Badgers have busted, and busted badly. They have obtained the image of a program that is a one-year wonder, a team that personifies the tournament feeble.

Currently, UW is seen as nothing more than bracket poison, and that image will only persist with another lame first-round exit. All they need is one win, a building block to show the discerning and cutthroat realist a reason to respect Wisconsin as something more than a quad-champion from a destitute conference.

First, a win over St. John’s and a premier player like Marcus Hatten will confirm that Wisconsin can eliminate a premier, legit, 30-points-a-night player, an area that has killed them this season.

Also, and most importantly for Bo Ryan, a win will put them in a glamour game against Maryland in the second round. Although the carnage Lonnie Baxter and the Terps’ front line would inflict on Wisconsin would be rather unsightly, it would provide the Badgers a measuring stick to see how far they really have to go to find success not just in the Big Ten, but on a national level.

Plainly, it is a must that Wisconsin is playing Sunday afternoon. It’s a must for the program, the players and for the entire crowd of idealists to really see what is important in big-time college basketball.