The characteristics that have come to define Wisconsin basketball over the years are not the traits most would associate with watchability. Bo Ryan's swing offense is perhaps most notable for the way it bleeds the shot clock, choosing to use every possession with the care of a someone building a ship inside a bottle. The big, burly athletes Wisconsin recruits have never been known for foot speed or above-the-rim athleticism. There's beauty in a glacier, it just takes awhile before anyone really notices it.

In some ways, this year's Badgers are playing the way Wisconsin always plays. They're moving at the speed of a crawling toddler, ranking No. 337 out of 351 teams in pace. Ryan's beloved swing offense is very much still around. Frank Kaminsky isn't Brian Butch or Greg Stiemsma, but a stranger might have trouble picking the right one out of a lineup.

Wisconsin still looks like Wisconsin, which is why it's difficult to wrap your head around what this year's team is actually doing. The Badgers aren't just 20-2 with a comfortable lead in the Big Ten, they're also putting together the best offense in college basketball. In fact:

If the season ended today, Wisconsin would have the best adjusted offensive rating (124.8) of any team ever. — HSAC (@Harvard_Sports) February 4, 2015

As of Wednesday, Wisconsin's offensive rating is now 125.1, per KenPom. That's 3.3 points higher than second place Notre Dame, a team that routinely plays four guards. What makes Wisconsin so scary is that the Badgers are doing this while going 7', 6'9, 6'8 across the front line, and they're only getting better without their injured starting point guard.

No matter how you slice it up, Wisconsin's offense is incredible. From Synergy Sports:

Spot up .974 PPP 69th percentile Post-up 1.071 PPP 99th percentile Isolation .983 PPP 97th percentile P&R ball handler 1.059 PPP 100th percentile Transition 1.288 PPP 99th percentile Cut 1.31 PPP 96th percentile Offensive rebounds (put backs) 1.182 PPP 88th percentile P&R roll man 1.206 PPP 95th percentile Hand off 1.278 PPP 99th percentile

What makes Wisconsin so scary is that all five players have to be guarded from every spot in the halfcourt. The Badgers aren't the best three-point shooting team in the country, hitting 36.2 percent of their shots from downtown, good for 85th in America. Opposing defenses can't leave anyone alone, though. The Badgers starting lineup essentially features four 40 percent three-point shooters -- we'll round up on Bronson Koenig's 39.4 shooting percent from deep -- plus Sam Dekker, who is certainly capable of hitting a jumper as a 33 percent three-point shooter.

Spreading the floor with that type of shooting usually requires a team to go small the way Notre Dame or Indiana does. Wisconsin does it with a jumbo lineup that ranks No. 6 in the country in effective height, per KenPom.

Tuesday's game against Indiana was a good example of what the Badgers can be at their best. Wisconsin scored on its first four possessions to jump out to a 9-0 lead. The Badgers took an eight-point lead into the break before opening the second half with a 13-0 run. Eventually Ryan's team had built a 32-point lead and probably could have scored 100 if they felt like it (instead, Wisconsin won 92-78).

It's always been easy to make jokes about Wisconsin's pace, but it's a style that helps prevents turnovers. No team in the country is turning the ball over less frequently than the Badgers, according to KenPom. Teams aren't able to block shots or get steals, which helps the Badgers keep the pace where they want it. When that happens, it's pretty much game over.

Koenig has been about as good as we suspected since taking over for the injured Traevon Jackson on Jan. 15. In the five games since he's moved into the starting lineup, Koenig is averaging 12 points per game and has turned the ball over only four times. He's been great from three-point range, making 12 shots from deep at a 54 percent clip.

For as well-rounded as this team is, Kaminsky will still be built up as the star of the show. He's a fitting poster boy. The senior center was incredible against the Hoosiers undersized front line, finishing with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting. That sort of game is becoming the norm from him. At the moment, Kaminsky is leading KenPom's Player of the Year tracker by a healthy margin over freshmen Stanley Johnson and Jahlil Okafor. He's posting a true shooting percentage of 62.9 and a defensive rebound rate of 26.6. He's No. 30 in offensive rating.

March is always unknowable, but the Badgers have to like the position they're in. They have experience after reaching the Final Four last year with the same group of players, minus guard Ben Brust. They have size and shooting. They have a superstar at this level in Kaminsky and one of the country's best coaches.

Is it enough to beat Kentucky, Duke, Virginia, Gonzaga or Arizona in March? Who knows. The postseason in college basketball has a way of outweighing all the hard work that comes before it. Whether Wisconsin gets back to the Final Four or not, this has still been an incredible campaign. Being boring has never been this effective.