Very interesting analysis. You picked Wisconsin but I think that much of this could be said for any team outside of the Big East right now.
Go figure, we obsess over Becky. But let's take a look. I'll use kenpom.com for ratings, because it's the easiest site. Let's look at the five toughest teams we've played on the road, and then compare that to other teams. I’m going to include the average rating of those 5 opponents as well as the record. Let’s see how our road trials stack up against the top 20 teams in the nation. I’ll also bold a few that merit discussion. Those in green are positives, those in red are negatives.
#28 Marquette: 5 Pitt, 13 Villanova, 14 Georgetown, 17 Notre Dame, 23 Louisville; Average: 14.4 (0-5)
#1 Ohio State: 6 Wisconsin, 18 Illinois, 29 Florida, 38 Minnesota, 41 Florida State;
Average: 26.4 (4-1)#2 Kansas: 47 Nebraska, 50 Baylor, 55 Michigan, 57 Colorado, 69 California;
Average: 55.6 (5-0)#3 Duke: 19 Maryland, 40 St. John's, 41 Florida State, 70 Miami, 87 NC State; Average: 51.4 (3-2)
#4 Texas: 2 Kansas, 42 Texas A&M, 48 Michigan State, 60 USC, 82 Oklahoma State; Average: 46.8 (4-1)
#5 Pittsburgh: 13 Villanova, 14 Georgetown, 24 West Virginia, 71 Providence, 75 Rutgers; Average: 39.4 (5-0)
#6 Wisconsin: 18 Illinois, 28 Marquette, 30 UNLV, 48 Michigan State, 52 Penn State;
Average: 35.2 (1-4)#7 BYU: 30 UNLV, 67 Colorado State, 96 Buffalo, 112 Creighton, 127 Air Force;
Average: 86.4 (4-1)#8 Purdue: 1 Ohio State, 6 Wisconsin, 18 Illinois, 24 West Virginia, 25 Virginia Tech;
Average: 14.8 (2-3)#9 Kentucky: 11 UNC, 23 Louisville, 27 Vanderbilt, 29 Florida, 35 Alabama; Average: 25 (0-5)
#10 San Diego State: 7 BYU, 30 UNLV, 43 New Mexico, 49 Gonzaga, 69 California; Average: 39.6 (4-1)
#11 North Carolina: 3 Duke, 18 Illinois, 33 Clemson, 68 Boston College, 70 Miami; Average: 38.4 (3-2)
#12 Washington: 42 Texas A&M, 51 Washington State, 53 UCLA, 60 USC, 69 California; Average: 55 (3-2)
#13 Villanova: 15 Syracuse, 21 Connecticut, 71 Providence, 75 Rutgers, 128 South Florida;
Average: 62 (4-1)#14 Georgetown: 13 Villanova, 15 Syracuse, 17 Notre Dame, 37 Temple, 40 St. John’s; Average: 24.4 (2-3)
#15 Syracuse: 5 Pittsburgh, 21 Connecticut, 23 Louisville, 28 Marquette, 40 St. John’s; Average: 23.4 (2-3)
#16 Arizona: 12 Washington, 51 Washington State, 69 California, 80 Oregon, 81 Stanford; Average: 58.6 (4-1)
#17 Notre Dame: 5 Pittsburgh, 15 Syracuse, 28 Marquette, 40 St. John’s, 128 South Florida; Average: 42.6 (2-3)
#18 Illinois: 6 Wisconsin, 38 Minnesota, 52 Penn State, 64 Northwestern, 66 Indiana; Average: 45.2 (1-4)
#19 Maryland: 3 Duke, 13 Villanova, 52 Penn State, 68 Boston College, 94 Georgia Tech; Average: 46 (2-3)
#20 Missouri: 2 Kansas, 4 Texas, 42 Texas A&M, 57 Colorado, 80 Oregon; Average: 37 (1-4)
Ohio State: Wow, they’ve played a pretty tough road slate, and won almost everywhere. There’s a reason they got up to #1, and looking at this, god only knows why they didn’t stay there despite the loss to Wisco.
Purdue: I am impressed. The only team that is remotely close to us in SOS of their top 5 road opponents, and they’ve bagged 2 wins in those game. Beware the Boilermakers.
Kansas: Egad, they have played no one away from home. Sure, they’re 5-0, but Nebraska is really their toughest road opponent? They don’t remotely deserve their #1 ranking over OSU.
Wisconsin: This should put to rest any real strength of schedule debate. They have played one opponent that is tougher than the 5th toughest opponent we’ve played, and they lost that game. My guess is that if they had played our scheduule, they’d sport the same 0-5 mark we have, seeing as the only top 60 team they’ve beaten on the road.
BYU: This is why I’m not that scared of BYU. They’ve played no one, and still lost one of the games. They haven’t played a single game that is on par with our 5th best roadie.
Villanova: Really? An average of 62? And they’re a Big East team? And while they do play 4 of their last 6 on the road, two of those are Seton Hall and DePaul.
The bottom line is that none of these teams has played a schedule as tough as ours, and only one really comes close. So when it comes to comparing what teams have done on the road, it’s not just Wisconsin, but rather the rest of the country. No one has a tougher top 5 road games than we’ve had, and most teams aren’t even close to that. Our conference schedule hasn’t just been tough, it’s probably been one of the toughest in the country among teams in the running for the tournament. It’s not just who we play, but where we play them. How many of these teams would have a winning record if they had to go play Pitt, Villanova, Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Louisville? And that’s not even mentioning that the sixth best team we’ve played on the road is #27 Vanderbilt, which would rank as the 1st or 2nd best opponent for 9 of the 20 teams on the list. Also bear in mind that they wouldn’t be at that position for any of the Big East teams on the list, so only 6 of the top 20 teams in the country can claim two true road opponents that are tougher than our 6th toughest. Suffice to say, our road schedule has been brutal.