On Saturday, the Marquette and Wisconsin men’s basketball teams are set to clash at 12:30 p.m. at Fiserv Forum.
Journal Sentinel Golden Eagles beat writer Ben Steele and Badgers beat writer Mark Stewart recently provided a comparison of the teams before the in-state rivals meet for their nationally-televised showdown on Fox.
We also asked fans to provide their input on the game by voting which team has the edge in a variety of categories.
Here’s how fans voted in the poll:
In the battle of the frontcourt, the vote was nearly deadlocked. The Golden Eagles received just one more vote than the Badgers, 122-121. Marquette’s David Joplin and Ben Gold received the slightest edge against Wisconsin’s Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter.
In the backcourt, however, Marquette’s Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell and junior Chase Ross were the clear favorite among voters, with the Golden Eagles receiving 72% of the total vote (179), against 28% for the Badgers (69). Wisconsin is led in the backcourt by John Tonje, Max Klesmit and John Blackwell.
More: Will Marquette’s Chase Ross play vs. Wisconsin? Shaka Smart gives update on ankle injury
Among the coaches, fans also gave the edge (for this game, at least) to head coach Shaka Smart and Marquette with 76% of the vote compared with 24% for Greg Gard and his Wisconsin staff.
Marquette also got the edge for its bench with 62% of the vote, compared with 38% for Wisconsin.
And, if the mascots have any impact on the game’s outcome, then Wisconsin should be sure to bring Bucky Badger, who collected a mighty 72% of the vote, with 28% of fans voting for Marquette’s Iggy.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: POLL: Marquette has edge over Wisconsin, but Bucky Badger is a winner
