Teams do play non conference games. Wisconsin was a completely different team to begin the year. One obvious missed call at the buzzer from beating Kansas. Their Q1+Q2 wins are (were) better than a lot of teams considered safely in the tourney. The reason their net ranking is so shitty is because of their offensive efficiency and barely winning vs terrible teams like UW-GB.
With all of that said, they're a shitty team who is seemingly both somehow over and underrated, depending on the metric. I said it earlier this month that the Gophers will beat them at the Barn and I'm sticking to it. They have no composure late in close games and I found it funny they arent fouling up 3 with 2 seconds left, especially with Dickinson getting the pass. I laughed at the thought of Gard getting canned, but holy crap he's either a moron or the team doesn't listen to him. I'm not sure what's worse.