MADISON, Wis. – The bubble has officially burst for the University of Wisconsin.

Four days after failing to earn the Big Ten’s automatic bid, the Badgers did not receive one of the 38 at-large selections from the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee for inclusion in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

After making the tournament for 19 consecutive seasons (1999-2017), the Badgers have missed the tournament twice in the last four tournaments. It’s the first time UW has missed the NCAA Tournament with a winning record since 1996.

The Badgers (17-14) were instead selected to the NIT as the No. 2 seed in the bottom left bracket and will play Bradley (25-9) at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The first three rounds are played on campus sites. First-round games are Tuesday, March 14 or Wednesday, March 15. The second round is Saturday, March 18 and Sunday, March 19. The quarterfinals are played Tuesday, March 21 or Wednesday, March 22.

The March 28 semifinals and March 30 championship game are at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Wisconsin has appeared in the NIT four previous times and not since 1996, never advancing past the second round.

Wisconsin’s profile is strong for a postseason tournament but had too many blemishes. The Badgers went 9-3 in Quad 1 games and 16-5 in Quad 1& 2 games (tied third nationally) to earn a No.3 seed last season but couldn’t replicate that success a year later with a 5-7 record in Quad 1 games, 11-13 in Quad 2 and the third-worst NET ranking (80) in the conference. The Badgers played the 12th-toughest schedule in the country, according to ESPN, but were 6-12 in their final 18 games, didn’t win consecutive games over the final two months of the season, and lost their last five regular season games by fewer than two possessions or in overtime.

UW finished 9-11 and in a tie for 11th place in the Big Ten, its worst conference finish since placing in a tie for ninth in 1998 when the league had 11 teams.

Likely needing multiple wins in the Big Ten Tournament to solidify a bid, the Badgers fell behind by as many as 27 points in the second half in a 65-57 loss to Ohio State, a team that started four freshmen and had gone 3-15 since January 1.

“It hurts because we knew what we were getting ourselves into,” senior Tyler Wahl said. “We know the position we put ourselves into, and we had to come out here and win the game. We definitely did not start with the urgency that we needed to.”

This story will be updated as news continues to develop.

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