(Screw you, I'm an anteater!)

The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 20-13, 10-8 Big Ten

2009-10's toughest games: Duke, at Michigan State, at Purdue, at Ohio State

Primary attraction: Wisconsin is boringly awesome, each and every year, which ironically makes them interesting. But is 2009-10 the year they're just boring?

1. Bo Ryan, model of consistency. You've watched Wisconsin basketball games before. You don't need me to tell you. There's something about them, isn't there? Something about the players they recruit. Not the stars, like Alando Tucker and Devin Harris; those sorts of guys could fit in anywhere. I'm talking about the Joe Krabbenhofts and Brian Butches and Marcus Landrys of the world, the guys that, for whatever reason -- whether a lack of athleticism or a quiet productivity or whatever it is -- somehow seem like they belong only at Wisconsin. They're Wisconsin players. It's weird and difficult to define, but you've watched Wisconsin basketball. You know what I mean.

That sort of weird, boring productivity is still productivity, and Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan milks it for all it's worth. Each year, despite a seeming talent deficit, Wisconsin competes in the Big 10 and makes the NCAA tournament and often goes further than expected. But what about 2009-10? This year, the Badgers are more talent-bereft than usual. Does Ryan's streak of boring NCAA tournament victories end? Do the Badgers -- gasp -- become just one of 20 or 30 untalented NIT teams you wouldn't flip back to even if nothing else was on?

2. Marcus Landry and Joe Krabbenhoft leave big shoes to fill. Former Wisconsin forward Landry and Krabbenhoft got things done. They scored on the offensive end -- Landry with an outside jumper and effective seal-off post moves down low, Krabbenhoft with putbacks -- and they rebounded. And now they're both gone. Who steps up? Wisconsin does have an interesting prospect in Jon Leuer scored 8.8 points per game last season in relatively limited minutes off the bench; a starting spot should see him blossom into a productive guy. The Badgers also have their top recruit of 2008 (who was No. 75 overall in his class, which doesn't bode well for Wisconsin's immediate future), 6-foot-10 center Jared Berggren, ready to run.

3. It ain't the thing if it don't have that swing. The swing offense! Fun! Actually, the swing offense isn't all that fun. It's very methodical and slow; that sixth-grade team you volunteer coach will not adapt well to its intricacies. Yet, thanks to the premium it puts on inside shots from big, tall dudes, the swing offense is very effective, and no one runs it better than Bo Ryan and Wisconsin. What the offense also manages to do, besides get good shots on the offensive end, is force opposing defense to switch a ton of screens and beware of all sorts of back cuts, the kind of thing that wears opponents down. Wisconsin was No. 334 in adjusted tempo last season; if the Big Ten ever wants to blame someone for its entire league being slow, they should blame Wisconsin. 

Anyway, if you're really interested in the swing, have a go. In fact, take it to your buddies and tell them to study up, because you're putting it in your rec league's repertoire. You will have very little fun, but you will win. A lot. 

Mateen Cleaves still wants to fight everyone in red.

In 1998, Michigan State guard Mateen Cleaves was busted for underage drinking. Oh well. It happens. But if you're a college basketball player, and you have to play at Wisconsin the next day, you can expect a bit of student section ribbing. Mateen apparently did not. From Sports Illustrated:

Before playing at Wisconsin in February 1998, Michigan State guard Mateen Cleaves was arrested for underage possession of alcohol (a misdemeanor for which he completed a first-offenders program). After the Grateful Red student section serenaded Cleaves with 99 Bottles of Beer, Spartans coach Tom Izzo had to restrain Cleaves. "I had to drag him off the floor because he wanted to fight the whole place," Izzo says. "Then again, maybe he had some of it coming."

Two things: Mateen Cleaves is too sensitive. And Tom Izzo is too awesome.

Related: Big Ten Basketball, The Hunt