Heading into their final road trip of the season, the Wisconsin Badgers are nearing the end of the regular season, with another NCAA Tournament appearance awaiting them in a few weeks.
Three weeks ago, the Badgers were initially projected by the NCAA committee as a top-four seed, thanks to their resume and strength of schedule. Since then, we’ve seen a few bumps in the road, as well as a ton of growing moments.
The Badgers have gone 4-2 since then, beating four unranked teams in Michigan, USC, UCLA,
and Michigan State, while losing to No. 21 Washington and No. 11 Penn State, both in five sets.
Now, the Badgers sit at 17-7 on the season, including 9-2 in conference play, and they were ranked No. 9 in the latest AVCA Top 25, falling two spots.
Ahead of the tournament, ESPN gave its seeding predictions with selection day just three weeks away. The Badgers were projected as a No. 3 seed, falling after the loss to Penn State over the weekend.
Joining them on the No. 3 line were Wisconsin, Arizona State, Oregon, and Vanderbilt. Ahead of them in ESPN’s projections on the No. 2 line were SMU, Kentucky, BYU, and Penn State, which is now on a seven-game win streak. Wisconsin has losses to both Kentucky and Penn State this season.
Finally, on the No. 1 line, ESPN had Nebraska, Pitt, Louisville, and Florida.
“While the No. 1 seeds remained the same, the shake-up came on the No. 2 line with Penn State making the jump,” ESPN’s Charlie Creme wrote. “Victories at Minnesota and Wisconsin extended the Nittany Lions’ winning streak to seven, and they moved into the top 10 of the RPI.
“With 28 kills in the five-set upset of the Badgers on Sunday, Kennedy Martin now sits third nationally in kills per set and is making a run to unseat Nebraska’s Bergen Reilly as Big Ten Player of the Year. The Big Ten, about to hold its inaugural conference tournament, now has six teams among the top-16 and is easily the top conference in the country.”
There is still a lot of volleyball to play before the selection show. Wisconsin wraps its season against Rutgers and Ohio State on its final road trip this week before hosting Northwestern to end the year. Then, the following week will be the Big Ten Tournament, where a ton of top teams should clash, giving one final chance for resume boosters before the NCAA Tournament.
But for now, ESPN projects the Badgers as the top No. 3 seed going into the final three weeks of the regular season.
