March Madness is finally here. The Wisconsin Badgers found out on Selection Sunday that they will be a No. 5 seed in the West Region, taking on the No. 12 High Point Panthers . They will be heading to Portland for the first weekend of the tournament.
Heading into Sunday, several Bracketologists projected Wisconsin to earn the last No. 5 seed after a strong week at the Big Ten Tournament, where they beat the Washington Huskies and Illinois Fighting Illini before falling short in a three-point loss
to the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday.
Wisconsin finished the regular season strong, beating the Washington Huskies (road), Maryland Terrapins, and the Purdue Boilermakers (road), securing another pair of Quad 1 wins.
They jumped up to eight with the Illinois win, while their predictive metrics continued to trend upwards across the board into the high 20s. That allowed the Badgers to jump the Tennessee Volunteers, who got a No. 6 seed in the bracket. Wisconsin was ranked as the No. 20 overall seed in the field.
Wisconsin will be facing a High Point team that went 30-4 during the season before winning the Big South tournament to clinch a tournament berth.
Looking at the rest of the West Region, a potential matchup with the No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks awaits if the Badgers are able to advance past the first round.
As a No. 5 seed, the Badgers would also tentatively line up with the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet Sixteen, should both teams advance.
But first, the focus will be on the High Point Panthers, with the Badgers having to travel to Portland for the first weekend of the tournament.
Stay tuned for our coverage this week!
