The Wisconsin Badgers were the No. 6 team in the country in the Jan. 29 poll; could a team reaching that perch slide all the way out of the tournament within five weeks?
Though UW has lost seven of nine games since then, those who worry that the Badgers will torpedo all the way out of the NCAA Tournament don’t have the evidence to support such a demise.
Jerry Palm of CBS still sees Wisconsin as a “lock” to make the field, joining Big Ten brethren Purdue and Illinois as the only other teams in the conference fitting that bill.
UW has just two regular-season games remaining, including Thursday at home against Rutgers and Sunday on the road in Purdue, followed by at least one game in the Big Ten Tournament. A loss to Rutgers would hurt the resume, but UW won’t be dinged too badly for losing to a top-three team in the nation at their place.
Jerry Palm: Wisconsin a No. 6 seed against play-in game winner
Palm has the Badgers as a No. 6 seed, playing a play-in game winner 11th seed in Brooklyn. The winner of that game would draw Creighton or Vermont in the next round.
Palm’s 11th seeds battling for a spot are St. John’s, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Badgers leading scorer AJ Storr made the all-Big East freshman team while competing for St. John’s last year.
USA TODAY: Wisconsin a No. 7 seed against Florida Atlantic
The USA TODAY bracket puts Wisconsin at a No. 7 seed against one of the darlings of the 2023 tournament, Florida Atlantic, which went on a run to the Final Four and came within a basket of the national championship game. That game would take place in Omaha, with the winner getting No. 2 Iowa State or No. 15 South Dakota State.
Iowa State is coached by Milwaukee native T.J. Otzelberger, who was at the helm when his Cyclones eliminated the Badgers that last time they were in the NCAA Tournament, in 2022. That game is already a curiosity since Otzelberger also coached at SDSU and led the Jackrabbits to a pair of NCAA Tournaments before leaving for the UNLV job, then moving on to Iowa State after two seasons in Las Vegas.
FAU’s top-three scorers from last year’s tournament run are back — Johnell Davis (18.0 points, 3.0 assists), Alijah Martin (13.6 points, 5.9 rebounds) and Vladislav Goldin (15.1 points, 6.7 rebounds).
ESPN: Wisconsin a No. 6 seed vs. South Florida
Joe Lunardi likewise has Wisconsin facing a Florida team, but it’s 11th-seeded South Florida, with Wisconsin holding the No. 6 seed. The winner of that game would face either No. 3 Baylor or Horizon League qualifier Oakland (No. 14) in Omaha.
South Florida is led by Chris Youngblood (15.0 points per game) and a Packers namesake, Jayden Reed (3.2 assists).
Bill Bender of The Sporting News has Wisconsin as the top No. 6 seed. So does Fox Sports.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Could Wisconsin miss NCAA Tournament? The latest bracket projections
