Stanford draws Wisconsin in Battle 4 Atlantis

The bracket for the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis Thanksgiving basketball tournament has been released. Stanford will open with Wisconsin on 11/21 at 11:30 AM PST.

The Wisconsin Badgers are coming off their first sub-.500 season in two decades, but figure to be better in 2018-19. Greg Gard returns essentially everyone from last year’s squad, as he enters his third full year at the helm in the post-Bo Ryan era. Leading the way for Wisconsin is Ethan Happ, one of the most highly skilled big men in America. Happ has 105 starts and a Third Team All-American selection to his name.

Stanford will play again on Thanksgiving day against either Florida or Oklahoma. Last season the Cardinal and Gators hooked up in the PK80, a game which the hot-shooting Florida won 108-87. They bid adieu to some key players, but are still in all likelihood a top 25 squad. Oklahoma is not projected to be particularly strong in the wake of Trae Young entering the NBA draft.

In the other half of the bracket is Butler, Dayton, Virginia, and Middle Tennessee. In 2016 the 15th seeded Middle Tennessee pulled off an upset of 2nd seed Michigan State. College basketball fans, however, don’t let that distract them from Virginia being the first 1 to lose to a 16, as they fell to UMBC by 20 points this March.

It is shaping up to being an exciting tournament, and an opportunity for Stanford to get a quality win or two. There are certainly worse places to be in November than the Bahamas.