Wisconsin Basketball: Badgers drop slightly in latest bracket predictions

The Wisconsin basketball team is having a season no one thought they would. Right now, they are 16-3 after 19 games. If you would have told me the Badgers had 16 wins by the end of the season, I would say they probably had a solid season for as young and inexperienced as they were. Instead, they are surprising the college basketball world and are not only competing but are contenders for the conference title and a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Various sports outlets predict the brackets for the tournament and update them weekly. So where does the Wisconsin basketball team stack up in the predictions? Let’s take a look.

Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology – ESPN

Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology was updated this morning (Jan. 28) and he has the Wisconsin basketball team as a 4-seed in the South bracket (San Antonio). He also gives the Badgers the ‘automatic qualifier’ designation, given to the conference champion, so take that for what it’s work.

Their first matchup in this bracket would be the 13th-seeded Chattanooga Mocs. If they win their second-round opponent would be the winner of the LSU and West Virginia/San Diego St. game. Baylor, Arizona, and Kentucky are the top three seeds in the South bracket, respectively.

CBS Sports

CBS Sports released their updated bracket this morning as well. They are higher on the Badgers than Joe Lunardi was. They have the Badgers in the East bracket as the 2-seed. That would give them a first-round matchup with the 15th-seeded Norfolk St. Spartans, out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

This would give a potential second-round matchup with the winner of the Alabama (7-seed) and USC (9-seed). To me, this would be a tough draw having Alabama or USC as a second-round game. The top seed in the East in this prediction is Kansas.