MADISON, Wis. – The co-Big Ten Champions won’t have far to go as they start their run toward a national championship.
Based on a strong resume of victories, Wisconsin was awarded a No.3 seed in the Midwest Region, earning a Friday trip to Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee to play No.14-seed Colgate in the NCAA Tournament first round.
Tip time will be at 8:50 p.m. CT and be televised by TBS.
It's the fifth time in school history Wisconsin has been selected as one of the top three seeds in a region.
"You never take these days for granted," head coach Greg Gard said. "I know maybe on the outside they get taken for granted, think it's going to be automatic and a layup, and it never is. I see the work these guys put in over the other 11 months of the year, so to be able to have them go on this journey ... and play here in Milwaukee, it's a reward for the last four, five months."
The winner will play the winner of No.6 LSU and No.11 Iowa State Sunday with that winner going to the Sweet 16 in Chicago. Those games will be played on Friday, March 25.
Despite losing back-to-back games for the first time this season entering the tournament, the Badgers (24-7) built one of the better pre-tournament resumes in the country. Owning the nation’s No.11 strength of record against the 17th-toughest strength of schedule, according to ESPN, Wisconsin went 9-3 in Quad 1 games and 16-5 in Quad 1& 2 games (tied third nationally).
Most of Wisconsin’s best triumphs this season have come away from home. The Badgers are 12-3 away from home, including a mark of 9-2 in true road games, both win totals were tops among major conference teams entering the postseason.
Wisconsin won games at Purdue, at Michigan State, and at Indiana in the same season for the first time in school history and was the first Big Ten school to do it in 12 years (Ohio State).
The Badgers were the selection committee's ninth overall seed and the top No.3 seed in the field. Wisconsin is one of nine Big Ten teams to make the field, most of any conference, and is tied with Purdue for the highest seed.
"This is the time of year. This is why you come to Wisconsin," senior guard Brad Davison said. "You want to compete, not only to be in this tournament but to win it. That's the standard we have here now is our goals from the beginning. All the time, all the hard work, and sacrifice we put in are for these moments now."
The Badgers are 39-24 (.619) in 25 previous appearances in the NCAA tournament, having now appeared in 22 of the last 23 NCAA Tournaments. UW has played in Milwaukee twice before in the NCAA Tournament, both games at the razed Bradley Center. The Badgers went 1-1 as a No.6 seed in 2004, beating No.11 Richmond before losing to No.3 Pittsburgh, and were 2-0 as a No.2 in 2014, beating No.15 American and No.7 Oregon on the way to the Final Four.
"I don't think we rally to beat Oregon if we're not there in Milwaukee with the crowd behind us," Gard said. "Although I've talked to these guys the last week about distractions. I have seen close sites work for us and I've seen close sites cause distractions. I've seen remote sites really work for us. Even though it's great for all the people on the outside, they understand to minimize distractions."
This year's Final Four will take place April 2 and 4 in New Orleans.
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