Sports News
Badger Basketball is Back in the Big Dance
It’s back to the dance for the Wisconsin Men’s Basketball team, as they will play in the NCAA Tournament for the 21st time in the last 22 seasons after hearing their name called Sunday when the field of 68 was revealed for the 2021 tournament.
The Badgers earned a #9 seed in the South Regional, and will play eighth-seeded North Carolina in the round of 64 on Friday.
Wisconsin finished sixth in the Big Ten, and closed the season with a 17-12 record. The Badgers fell to Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday night.
North Carolina finished sixth in the ACC, closing the season with an 18-10 record. The Tar Heels lost to Florida State in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament on Friday night.
The winner of Friday’s matchup between Wisconsin and North Carolina will have their work cut out for them in the second round, with a potential matchup against #1-seed Baylor looming on the horizon. The Bears open against #16-seed Hartford, also on Friday.
Friday’s game will tip off at 6:10 PM central time and will be played at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana. Radio coverage on KFIZ from the Badger Sports Network will begin at 5 PM Friday.
The Big Ten had the most teams out of any conference make the NCAA Tournament, with nine schools reaching the Big Dance this year. Two of them (Illinois, Michigan) earned #1 seeds, while two earned #2 seeds (Iowa, Ohio State). First Round matchups for other Big Ten teams are:
All Times Central
#1 Illinois vs. #16 Drexel – Friday – 12:15 PM – TBS
#1 Michigan vs. #16 Mount St. Mary’s or #16 Texas Southern – Saturday – 2 PM – CBS
#2 Iowa vs. #15 Grand Canyon – Saturday – 5:25 PM – TBS
#2 Ohio State vs. #15 Oral Roberts – Friday – 2 PM – CBS
#4 Purdue vs. #13 North Texas – Friday – 6:25 PM – TNT
#7 Clemson vs. #10 Rutgers – Saturday – 8:20 PM – TBS
#7 UConn vs. #10 Maryland – Saturday – 6:10 PM – CBS
#11 Michigan State vs. #11 UCLA – Thursday – “First Four” game. – 8:57 PM – TBS – Winner advances to play #6 seed BYU on Saturday