Let’s play our own version of March Madness with a focus on Wisconsin but with a slight twist.

Most March Madness predictions involve who wins and loses. The version we can play in Wisconsin is who goes and who stays.

Now, I don’t pretend to understand all the arcane ins and outs of athletic contracts. I don’t know what the "Larry Bird Rule" is and if you ask me about rights of first refusal, my eyes start to glaze over.

So, I’m going to discount all of that stuff and just play "guess who will be here next year." This isn’t a scientific analysis at all, but rather a gut feeling.

Brandon Jennings: He’s making a lot of noise about what he wants and what he thinks he deserves. Talks a lot about wanting to be on a champion and has questioned whether Milwaukee is a place he can get that done. I think that John Hammond is going to convince the Senator that Jennings can be a key element of a contending team and that the Senator will come up with the money. STAYS.

Monta Ellis: One-third of the three-headed rotation that has been a key to the recent outstanding play of the Bucks. Ellis already makes a lot of money, somewhere in the $11 million range. He’s a comparable player to Eric Gordon of the New Orleans Hornets who makes about two and a half million more. I look for the Senator to dig deep to sweeten Ellis’ deal enough to keep him here. I just think people are happy with him and that at some point the Bucks realize that there is a heavy cost to become a contender. STAYS.

J. J. Redick: This is kind of a tough one. He’s making over $6 million this season and that’s a lot of money. But if the Bucks make it past the first round of the playoffs, it’s going to be hard to break up what has worked so well. I don’t totally understand salary caps and luxury taxes, but if you factor in that a successful Bucks team is a huge argument when it comes to building a new arena, this may be a place where the team is willing to bite an expensive bullet. STAYS (with a slight question mark).

Mike Dunleavy: He’s a really good guy who can shoot the ball as well as anybody. But he makes almost $4 million a year and this pot of gold goes only so deep.This is a case of "it sure would be nice" but the Bucks are going to have to say goodbye. GOES.

Jim Boylan: He’s got some things working in his favor. He’s got a Milwaukee connection. He’s paid his dues in the league. He’s a very good guy. Working against him is the fact that he is a Scott Skiles guy. Skiles had hired him twice and each time Skiles left in the middle of a season, Boylan was made the interim coach. He didn’t get the job in Chicago. His future in Milwaukee may well depend solely on the playoffs. If the Bucks win a series he is probably a lock. If they fail to make the playoffs or get booted in the first round by anyone other than Miami, he’s probably on his way out. STAYS.

Buzz Williams: He makes just under $2 million a year, a lot of money for a college coach, but he’s not even the highest paid coach in the state, trailing Bo Ryan by a few bucks. Williams is hot. He’s successful, charismatic, great with the press and as colorful as can be. It’s a given that some big-time programs will beat a path to his door. The money that some school will dangle in front of him could well be too much to turn down. GOES.

Rob Jeter: The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach has been at the helm for eight years and he is just around .500. Under normal circumstances I’d say that’s good enough for a team that nobody on campus or in the community seems to care about. But they have a new athletic director, Amanda Braun, who has experience in athletic capital projects in her last job at Northeastern University. That means she knows how to get buildings built. The leadership at UWM wants to build a facility on campus and it would help if they could figure out how to create some excitement around the basketball program. A new coach might be part of that effort. GOES.

If all of this comes true, there will be some good, bad and average news. If none of it comes true, there will be some good, bad and average news.

Now we just wait.