The Wisconsin Badgers kick off the NCAA Tournament with a matchup against the No. 12 High Point Panthers on Thursday, with tip-off slated for 12:50 p.m. CT at the Moda Center.
Heading into the tournament, Wisconsin was on a five-game winning streak before falling just short in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals to the Michigan Wolverines. While they fell short of accomplishing their goal to win the Big Ten Tournament, the Badgers certainly put their name on the map with marquee wins over the Purdue
Boilermakers and the Illinois Fighting Illini over the past two weeks.
Earning a No. 5 seed and the No. 20 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Badgers enter March Madness as one of the more dangerous teams in the country, and are seen as 10.5-point favorites to beat High Point.
With how hot they are, the Badgers are seen as one of the most dangerous teams in the NCAA Tournament, given how elite their offense can be.
Should they advance to the second round, the Badgers could face another one of those hot teams: the Arkansas Razorbacks. Arkansas is led by one of the best players in college basketball this year, Darius Acuff Jr., who led the Razorbacks to an SEC Tournament Championship.
That could be one of the best games in the tournament overall, pitting two of the best guard duos in the country against each other (Nick Boyd and John Blackwell vs. Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas).
Wisconsin’s size advantage could be key there in an entertaining affair, and could be key to them advancing to the Sweet Sixteen, where a potential matchup with the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats awaits.
Matchup-wise, that would be the toughest one for the Badgers against a top National Title contender. Arizona has great size, shooting, defense, and depth, which make it the clear favorite to come out of the West Region.
But if there was a team to beat them in the West, there’s a strong argument that could be the Badgers, whose ability to get hot and shoot as well as they do makes them a tough out for any team.
With the matchups at hand, a good question heading into March Madness is what the Badgers ceiling is this year. Well, ESPN’s Myron Medcalf sees the ceiling for the Badgers as the Elite Eight.
“At the top of Wisconsin’s résumé are three of the best wins in college basketball this season: at Michigan (Jan. 10), at Illinois (Feb. 10) and vs. Michigan State (Feb. 13),” Medcalf wrote. “Let this sink in: The Badgers handed the top-seeded Wolverines the first of their two regular-season losses. They hit 16 3-pointers in their overtime win against the Fighting Illini. And they beat the Spartans by 21 points — the most lopsided loss of the year for Tom Izzo’s team.
“The Badgers are led by a player with experience in postseason clutch moments: Nick Boyd, then at Florida Atlantic, hit the game winner against Memphis in the first round on the way to taking the Owls to the Final Four in 2023. He, along with John Blackwell (18.3 PPG) and Nolan Winter (13.3 PPG, 8.6 RPG), will enter the NCAA tournament as leaders of a team with a lot of bravado from facing some of the best teams in the field — and beating them.
To me, Wisconsin’s ceiling feels like a Final Four this year with how the bracket is constructed. Arizona is an extremely tough matchup and I don’t foresee myself picking the Badgers to win that. But we’ve seen this team just find a way to beat any team in the country, as seen in the last two weeks (but really over the last two months).
If they can find a way to beat the Wildcats, that could set up a potential Elite Eight matchup with the Purdue Boilermakers, who Wisconsin already beat this year without Nolan Winter.
After that, Wisconsin probably runs into another extremely difficult matchup, but if everything (and I mean everything) goes right, the Badgers have a chance to make a run to Indianapolis.
The action all starts on Thursday, when the Badgers take on High Point to kick off their NCAA Tournament. Do the Badgers have what it takes to make a deep run this season? Let us know in the comments below.
