Heading in different directions

It was March 1997. The University of Minnesota men's basketball team was ranked No. 2 in the nation and had lost just one game heading into the final Big Ten game of the season against Wisconsin in Madison.

Dick Bennett led the Badgers at the time and the former UW-Green Bay coach seemed to have the Wisconsin program on the right path. Make no mistake, Wisconsin was definitely a football school (and still is), but there seemed to be hope for a program that had been mired in mediocrity (at best) for decades.

At the same time, however, Minnesota was turning itself into a nationally respected program under then-popular coach Clem Haskins. The Gophers had coasted through the Big Ten schedule and appeared ready to challenge for a national title. The Badgers -- awaiting the opening of the shiny, new Kohl Center the following year -- needed a win to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament.

The Badgers treated their fans that day to a thrilling 66-65 victory to lock up only their second trip to the NCAAs in 50 years and, in effect, closed out the old UW Fieldhouse with a bang. The Gophers went on to make a nice run that year, losing in the Final Four to Kentucky, but the two programs have gone in very different directions since.

After falling back to the pack in 1998, Minnesota's program was hit with devastating NCAA sanctions the following year after it was learned that Haskins had been the ringleader of academic improprieties for years in Minneapolis. Although the Gophers were lifted from their postseason ban following the 2000-01 season, the program really never has recovered and is currently brandishing a 0-9 conference record.

Wisconsin, on the other hand, has not only caught up to its neighbors to the west, it has left Minnesota in its dust. And that's putting it conservatively.

The Badgers made their own trip to the final four in 2000 (one that actually counts in the NCAA record books) and have a golden opportunity to earn their third consecutive Big Ten championship this year while enjoying a top-20 ranking nationally.

It isn't Bennett calling the shots in Madison anymore -- that duty belongs to Bo Ryan -- but the coach who got his start at UW-Platteville has clearly done a brilliant job of bringing Wisconsin to the promised land that not so long ago seemed like a pipe dream. In fact, the entire state of Wisconsin is quickly turning itself into a basketball powerhouse with Marquette's success last year and the state's other two Division I programs Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee. Both mid-major schools have enjoyed trips to the "Big Dance" over the past decade.

Make no mistake about it -- the Badgers have something special brewing. Something that doesn't come along every year... or every 50 years for that matter. Sure, the injury to Alando Tucker didn't help, and Boo Wade's recent arrest didn't exactly put the program in a positive light for the time being, but Wisconsin has as good a chance as anyone to be playing in this year's Final Four. That's because the Badgers have one of the top playmakers in the country in Devin Harris and they always play good defense.

On the other hand, Minnesota is going nowhere fast this year, largely because a roster full of talented players doesn't seem to know what the meaning of the word "defense" is. Let me try to clear this one up. Memo to Minnesota players not named Kris Humphries: Defense is where you put out maximum effort in an attempt to stop the other team from scoring. It's a strange concept indeed these days in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

So while Minnesota continues to toil in the aftermath of one of the worst scandals in NCAA history, and its fans continue to (rightfully so) call for the head of coach Dan Monson, the Badgers continue to win conference championships and sign top-notch recruiting classes. Oh, and by the way, next year Wisconsin will suit up a guy named Brian Butch.

Who would have thought on that snowy March day seven years ago that the two programs would be where they are today.