Madison, Wis (WFRV) – Roars of happiness flooded the space the Wisconsin men’s basketball team had set up shop to watch the 2022 NCAA Selection Show and see what the committee would seed them in the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The Badgers won a share of the Big Ten regular season title with Illinois and secured a three seed. They will face 14th-seeded Colgate at Fiserv Forum on Friday, March 18.
“Happy for our fans, happy for our alums that we’re in Milwaukee,” head coach Greg Gard said. “But when that ball goes up on Friday, we’re going to have to be ready to play against a really good team.”
The Colgate Raiders are the 2022 Patriot League champions. They finished the season 23-11 overall, 16-2 in their conference and on a 15 game win streak. The Badgers know they’ll have a great challenge on their hands. As their head coach said, “the bad teams are at home with their toes in the sand.”
“I think playing in front of our home team crowd will get us going offensively, defensively,” freshman guard Chucky Hepburn said. “I’m excited for it.”
The Badgers finished their season 24-7 overall, 15-5 in conference play and on a two game losing streak. Wisconsin fell in the regular season finale to Nebraska and then lost in their opening game in the Big 10 tournament to Michigan State. According to Tyler Wahl, getting a chance to play at home has calmed some of the Badgers’ nerves.
“I think we got a really good draw, we’re going to be playing close to home,” Wahl said. “It’s definitely part of the game when you got a lot of the stadium filled with your fans. You can definitely lean into them. Get some emotion and energy from them.”
The time of the Badgers game with Colgate is still up in the air. Local 5 will keep you updated with all Badgers information.
