April 06--INDIANAPOLIS -- With an NCAA tournament championship by Wisconsin on Monday night, the Big Ten could go from being ridiculed to being celebrated.
A victory against Duke at Lucas Oil Stadium would be the conference's first championship since 2000, when Michigan State beat Florida. A victory by the Badgers, who were considered an elite team all season, would give the conference another bragging point to go with Ohio State's championship in football.
"There have been chances for Big Ten teams since 2000," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said on Sunday. "Now we have a chance. For Ohio State to do what they did for themselves, then for the Big Ten, makes a huge statement. So this would be better late than never if we could get it accomplished."
Badgers center Frank Kaminsky said the Big Ten was undervalued from a national perspective all season.
"The Big Ten didn't get as much credit as it deserved," he said. "There were a lot of good teams in the Big Ten beating up on each other. You get to see so many different styles of play, it helps you with runs like this."
Issue 'diffused': Kaminsky said he has no issue with Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison, who was caught on microphone Saturday night whispering an insult about Kaminsky that included an obscenity and the N-word after the Wildcats lost to the Badgers.
Harrison called Kaminsky to apologize, and Kaminsky said he readily accepted.
"I'm glad he wanted to reach out," Kaminsky said. "He's a nice kid. He said he really respects me. He apologized for what he said. I could tell he was sincere about it. Things are said all the time. Things are said on the court. Things are said when microphones aren't on. It's not that big of a deal to me. This situation is completely defused in my eyes."
Layups: If the Badgers win the championship, they would do so against the toughest seeding schedule possible, including defeats of two No. 1 seeds (Kentucky and Duke) and a No. 2 seed (Arizona). ... Kaminsky will set the single-season scoring record at Wisconsin with six more points. He is five behind Alando Tucker's 716 points set in 2006-07. ... Duke is 9-2 in tournament games in Indiana with a 4-1 mark at Lucas Oil Stadium.
