Wisconsin Gets At-Large Bid to NCAA Tournament; Will Face North Carolina

MADISON, Wis. – The seniors on the University of Wisconsin charted plenty of goals in the offseason, a number of which the program has fallen short of in a maddeningly inconsistent season for all involved.

But an important one – returning to the NCAA tournament and making a run – is still right in front of them.

The Badgers accomplished the first part of that goal Sunday when they were awarded a No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 North Carolina on Friday. The winner faces either No. 1 Baylor or No. 16 Hartford.

Times for all the opening round games will be released later Sunday evening.

Unlike in past seasons, all the tournament games will take place in and around Indianapolis to try and limit travel with a coronavirus pandemic still ongoing. Though the tournament will look different, the Badgers’ goal of piecing together wins remains the same.

“I think our team is on the right track,” point guard D’Mitrik Trice. “I think we have our head in the right space. The coaches have our backs, and we know we’re playing for one another.

Although the Badgers (17-12) are one of just five schools to make 21 of the last 22 tournament, Wisconsin hasn’t won a tournament game since 2017 when Trice and Aleem Ford were true freshmen, the longest winless stretch since 1997-99.

UW missed the tournament in 2018 for the first time in 20 years and lost in the first round as a five seed to 12th-seed Oregon in 2019. The Badgers had won eight straight and were co-champions of the Big Ten last season when the tournament was canceled because of COVID.

This year’s group hasn’t been able to channel the successes of last season, having not won consecutive games since mid-January. UW finished 3-9 against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 and 0-9 against teams that finished above them in the conference standings, but the Badgers played the ninth toughest schedule in the country (per KenPom), are ranked 26th in the NCAA NET rankings with 10 wins in the Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 category and no bad losses.

“It’s definitely going to be good to get out of the Big Ten and play against other teams that are not as comfortable with the tendencies that we like to do and scout us as well as other teams do in the Big Ten,” Trice said. “We’re excited about that, but we have to get back to the drawing board of figuring out how to execute really well down the stretch. We know every team in the NCAA tournament is going to be really good.”

The Badgers are 38-23 (.625) in 24 previous appearances in the NCAA tournament, including a 25-10 mark against lower-seeded teams and 16-6 in the opening round.

“Our backs are against the wall,” senior Micah Potter said. “We have nowhere to go. If you lose, you’re done. If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what it.”