When the calendar switches to January, the college basketball season starts to heat up. This isn’t to knock the first two months of the season. More so, it means that conference play is starting to take over and the games mean more.

It is also the time when teams start jostling more for the ever-so-coveted spots in the NCAA tournament, and one team has been causing headaches for the top teams in the Big Ten.

Wisconsin returned to the polls this week — it’s now ranked No. 24 — after topping then-No. 8 Illinois on Feb. 10 in a 92-90 overtime win. That was followed by the biggest win in school history over a top 10 team in a 92-71 victory over then-No. 10 Michigan State, Feb 13.

This made the Badgers the first team to defeat three top 10 teams this year: They beat then-No. 2 Michigan, 91-88 on Jan. 10. That is still the only loss for Michigan this season, which is now No. 1 following Arizona’s recent struggles.

But, if there’s a reason this surge has come on is because of the success of the 3-pointer. In those three games, Wisconsin has made at least 15 threes. In four losses against ranked teams, the Badgers averaged 6-of-29 from beyond the arc.

After a 76-66 overtime loss to Villanova, Wisconsin fell to 7-4 on Dec. 19. After the game, Nolan Winter said the team was much better than its record and was full of winners.

Since that moment? The Badgers have gone 11-4 and won seven of their past 10. Two of those losses were by a total of three points.

After an 86-69 setback at Ohio State on Tuesday, Wisconsin’s remaining schedule — 11th hardest in the Big Ten — concludes with a trip to No. 7 Purdue on  March 7.

A bigger tournament?

Thursday, NCAA President Charlie Baker reiterated his support for an expanded tournament but was non-committal about 2027.

Baker has long been an advocate for expanding the event, consistently citing the absence of Indiana State and Seton Hall in the 2024 men’s tournament as one of the reasons behind his stance. He added that he’s not concerned about how the NCAA would fund an expanded tournament.

There has been plenty of debate and discussion on expanding the tournament to 72 or 76 teams, which gathered momentum last spring. Baker says the biggest obstacle is logistics. The tournament has to start after conference tournaments and end by Tuesday before the Masters.

Toppin out

It hurts for Texas Tech. During the Red Raiders’ loss to Arizona State on Tuesday, junior JT Toppin went down in a heap of players in the waning minutes. An MRI later confirmed a torn ACL, knocking him out for the rest of the year.

It’s tough for the preseason All-American, who leads the No. 13 Red Raiders in scoring (20.8 per game), rebounding (10.8 per game) and blocked shots (1.7 per game).

Only once before has a Big 12 player finished a season averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. That was Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin in 2008-09.

Toppin’s 47 career double-doubles are the second-most among active players, trailing the 51 by Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg. Toppin has 16 double-doubles this season and 35 in his 58 games for the Red Raiders over two seasons.

He transferred to Texas Tech after playing his freshman season at New Mexico.

Key games

Saturday

Tennessee at No. 19 Vanderbilt, 2 p.m. ET on ESPN

No. 4 Arizona at No. 2 Houston, 3 p.m. ET on ABC

No. 5 UConn at Villanova, 5:30 p.m. ET on TNT

No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 3 Duke in Washington, 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

No. 6 Iowa State at No. 23 BYU, 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Monday

No. 21 Louisville at No. 16 North Carolina, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN

No. 2 Houston at No. 8 Kansas, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN