After what one can only describe as a ‘magical’ season, it seemed like some other people showed up wearing Wisconsin jerseys inside Ford Field tonight.

It couldn’t have been the Wisconsin team that beat Texas, in Texas, without their point guard. It couldn’t have been the Wisconsin team who were picked to finish 4th or 5th in the Big Ten - and then went on to set a record number of wins while winning both the Big Ten regular season title and the Big Ten tournament title… all with no “star” player.

It obviously wasn’t the same people.

Somehow, some way, the same group of people who showed up to play UNLV in the second round of the tournament last year showed up. I have no idea who these people are, but I don’t want them stealing away Badger seasons anymore.

I don’t remember a time when we’ve ended a season fighting and scrapping till the end… only bitter losses where we’ve been picked apart by lesser teams. Only sitting and watching in horror as the beautiful structure that is Wisconsin basketball seems more like a house of cards trying to withstand a breeze.

I have no idea who these people are.

I’m done getting upset at the national media who always underestimates Wisconsin and always finds it easy to pick against them. I need to remember that THIS is the team they remember. The team that I have to try and forget every April to October. The team that makes me believe in something all year long, and then act like hypocrites on the floor of their final game.

Lose your last game. By all means, lose. 99% of teams lose their last game. But could you once, just once, go out with the same passion and determination that you lived with all season. Just once?

If I come across ridiculous, that’s fine. If I come across like a whiner, that’s fine too. If you think I should just be happy on an outstanding season - you’re right - I should be. And YOU should be pissed off that this is how Wisconsin ends their season every year.

But then again, I’m just bitching for nothing… cuz it wasn’t even them.