Many things stood out to Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard on the night of March 29, 2014, but a homemade sign in the crowd stood out the most.

The Badgers had just knocked off top-seeded Arizona in the Elite Eight in Anaheim, Calif., sending the program to their first Final Four in 14 years. It was a victory that sent Gard’s mentor – Bo Ryan – to his first Division-1 Final Four in his 13 years leading the program.

And as fate would have it, the victory came on what would have been the 90th birthday of Ryan’s dad, Butch, who went with his son annually to the Final Four before passing away in the offseason.

So, as Gard looked to the crowd, and noticed someone with a sign that said, “This One’s for Butch,” the raw emotions hit him.

“Those moments in time are obviously special,” Gard said.

The stakes won’t be nearly as high this afternoon when No.23 Wisconsin (7-2) faces No.1 Arizona (7-0) at the McKale Center, only a chance to add a quality win to its resume. That usually isn’t the case when these two teams meet.

In the previous seven meetings, six have come in tournaments, four coming in the NCAA Tournament. The two teams split the first two meetings, No.8 Wisconsin beating No.1 seed Arizona in 2000 on its way to a miracle Final Four run and the eighth-seeded Wildcats bouncing No.9 Wisconsin in the 2006 opening round.

The meetings in 2014 and 2015 are etched among the greatest games in Wisconsin history and bitter pills to swallow with the Wildcats.

When the two teams met in Anaheim, top-ranked Arizona had a roster that future first-round NBA Draft picks Aaron Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Pac-12 Player of the Year Nick Johnson, All-Pac 12 guard T.J. McConnell and 7-foot center Kaleb Tarczeweski. Second-ranked Wisconsin had Frank Kaminsky.

Neither team led by more than five points in the second half, but Kaminsky was the difference with 28 points and 11 rebounds. He scored the go-ahead basket on a spinning hook shot with 2:21 left and scored six of UW’s final seven points. Arizona had the final possession, but UW’s defense prevented Johnson from giving a shot off by pushing him away from the basket as the final 2.3 seconds ticked off the clock.

The rankings were flipped the next season with the results the same. Trailing at halftime, Wisconsin scored 55 points in the second half by hitting 10 of 12 three-pointers. Sam Dekker had five 3-pointers and was named most outstanding player of the West Regional after his career-high 27 points. Twice the Wildcats got within five points in the last 2½ minutes, and Dekker connected on 3-pointers to, as McConnell put it, “crushed our dreams.”

Kaminsky added 29 points on his way to being named national player of the year.

Gard hasn’t brought up the history between the two schools and had no plans to do so. While those results do not affect what happens Saturday afternoon, those games certainly put Wisconsin in the position to be a nationally recognized program.

“Two terrific games that came down to the wire,” Gard said. “Final Four level game with high-level play at each end. You talk about two teams that could have been a national championship matchup in either one of the years.”

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