Wisconsin men's basketball learns NCAA Tournament seed and opponent
Wisconsin basketball earns a No. 3 seed in the East region and will face Montana in the first Round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Wisconsin men’s basketball program is back in the NCAA Tournament—this time as a No. 3 seed in the Denver region.
After making a run to the Big Ten Tournament championship game, Greg Gard and company locked in their highest NCAA Tournament seed since the 2014-15 team that made it to the National title game—tying the best seeding the program has earned since that historic run.
"You just go wherever they send you," Gard told reporters. "I don't know what goes on in those rooms and their logic or reasoning. There are a lot of other moving parts to it. So obviously, a really good seed is a No. 3, and that's a credit to our guys and the 26 wins that they put together."
Wisconsin (26-9) will begin its March Madness run against 14-seed Montana on Thursday. The Grizzlies, who went 25-9 this season, punched their ticket by winning both the Big Sky regular season and conference tournament titles.
According to KenPom, Montana ranks 98th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency but just 250th on the defensive end—an area the Badgers will look to exploit when the teams meet in Denver.
The road to the second weekend won’t be easy. If the Badgers advance against Montana, they’ll face the winner of 6-seed BYU and 11-seed VCU in the Round of 32, both ranked among KenPom's top 30.
Wisconsin’s postseason matchup comes on the heels of an exhausting four-day stretch at the Big Ten Tournament, where they knocked off Northwestern, UCLA, and Michigan State before falling to Dusty May and the Michigan Wolverines, 59-53, in the conference title game.
The Badgers enter the NCAA Tournament with a No. 14 NET ranking—thanks to eight Quad-1 wins—the third-best mark in the Big Ten—and a résumé that proves they can win meaningful games on the road.
Wisconsin went 12-6 outside the Kohl Center this season, posting a 6-5 record in true road games and an impressive 6-1 mark in neutral-site contests.
Defensively, Wisconsin was sharp during the Big Ten Tournament, holding opponents to just 85-of-240 (35.4%) shooting from the field. Further, John Tonje and John Blackwell were named to the Big Ten all-tournament team.
More importantly, the Badgers are about as healthy as you could ask for this time of year. Max Klesmit is back in the starting lineup after working his way back from a lower-body injury, and Nolan Winter was cleared after hurting his shoulder in the regular-season finale against Penn State.
With both available, Gard and Wisconsin's coaching staff have their full nine-man rotation intact for the NCAA tournament.
They'll head into the Big Dance with the nation’s No. 13 offense in terms of adjusted efficiency and a defense that ranks 29th.
This will be Wisconsin’s 28th NCAA Tournament appearance and its 24th trip in the last 26 years—one of just five programs nationally to achieve that feat, alongside Duke, Gonzaga, Michigan State, and Kansas. Under Gard, the Badgers hold a 6-6 overall record in the tournament and will look to avenge last season’s Round of 64 exit against James Madison.
Wisconsin opens as a 17.5-point favorite against Montana. Did the Badgers get the short end of the stick playing Thursday? Absolutely. Would it be nice for them to be in Milwaukee instead? No doubt.
But that's not their reality.
“You’ve got to do what you need to do to take care of business and put yourself in a position to be able to move on,” Gard said.
“Like I said, nobody’s been able to crack that code of what goes on with the committee—and how all of the pieces fit together. We aren’t privy to that information. I just appreciate being in it, and let’s get ready to go.”
Now, the real work begins. The Badgers have the talent, experience, and offensive firepower to make a deep run, but the margin for error shrinks in March.
It's time for Gard and the Badgers to prove this team can break through and get back to the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
Wisconsin tips off at 12:30 PM CT on Thursday, with the game broadcast nationally on TNT. Plan accordingly—extended lunch, mysterious illness, last-minute “meeting,” whatever it takes.
We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become a leading independent source for Wisconsin Badgers coverage.
You can also follow Site Publisher Dillon Graff at @DillonGraff on X.
I had wishful-thinking hopes the Badgers could endure through four games in four days, but I sure can understand why they ran out of gas against the Wolverines. Not nuts about where they have to play in Round 1; Denver's altitude creates an issue with stamina that doesn't exist at other venues(Been there, done that). I hope they get there a couple days ahead with some time to adjust.