MADISON, Wis. -- The Badgers finished the 2019-20 season on a high note, ranking No. 17 in the final AP Poll.

According to Andy Katz, they'll start 2020-21 even higher.

Katz released his Way-Too-Early Power 36 rankings this week, in which, he skyrocketed the Badgers up to No. 6

"The Badgers got a piece of the Big Ten regular-season title in their final game at Indiana," Katz wrote. "They will be picked with Iowa to make another run by returning the core of the team, a full season from Micah Potter and a heralded recruiting class."

Wisconsin's rise through the ranks right at the end of this last season had everything to do with the Badgers playing their best at the best time. They spent the entire year unranked, and only cracked the AP Top 25 on the week of March 2 after they had logged six-straight wins in what would end up being an eight-game streak. That week, they debut at No. 24, moved up to No. 18 the next week, and ended up ranked No. 17 in the final poll of the year.

You love to see it. https://t.co/U6d0GLEiQI — Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) April 8, 2020

Katz's ranking is based on looking at the success an predicting that it won't drop off next season--not even close. In fact, he thinks things will only get better for the Badgers.

And with good justification. Wisconsin will return just about everyone that made that end-of-season run possible--the Badgers only lost Brevin Pritzl and Michael Ballard. And on top of that, Wisconsin is bringing in its highest-ranked class in the online rankings era (since 2003) in Lorne Bowman, Ben Carlson, Steven Crowl, Jonathan Davis, and Jordan Davis, and preferred walk-on Carter Gilmore.

"On top of a strong returning core, Wisconsin will have one of its best recruiting classes ever, filled with players who can help right away," Badger247's Evan Flood wrote. "The Badgers battled with seven full scholarship players last season, Gard should have the luxury of depth in 2020-21. The two most college-ready prospects are expected to be Davis and Ben Carlson."

And Wisconsin isn't the only Big Ten team Katz foresees doing well next season. In his rankings, Katz included nine conference teams on the whole (including the Badgers): No. 5 Iowa, No. 8 Michigan, No. 12 Michigan State, No. 13 Rutgers, No. 21 Illinois, No. 31 Indiana, No. 33 Purdue, and No. 35 Ohio State.