The Wisconsin Badgers come into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed, yet may have a rough draw to get past the round of 32, where they fell last season to BYU. They may have got the toughest No. 12 matchup, followed up by the toughest No. 4 seed matchup. Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard will need to go to the drawing board immediately to get through the gauntlet.
Wisconsin will start the tournament in Portland, Oregon, against the No. 12 High Point Panthers. It's one of the deadliest offenses in the country. The Panthers are the 4th-highest-scoring offense in the country at 90 points per game. High Point can absolutely score the ball and can do it from every single level. That's a tough draw for the Badgers.
Wisconsin will have to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks if they pass through High Point
To make matters worse, if the Badgers were to advance, Wisconsin would take on (most likely) the red-hot No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks, who just won the SEC Tournament. A John Calipari-coached team that knows how to win NCAA Tournament games. It's hard to fathom a tougher draw for a No. 5 seed. But maybe that's the way it needs to be.
Wisconsin plays way better when they have juice. When the team feels like they are the underdogs or dismissed by the national narrative. Having Clark Kellogg immediately put the Badgers on upset alert against No. 12 High Point was good news, not bad news, for the way this Wisconsin team functions.
Wisconsin fans actually should be rooting for the Badgers to be discounted and dismissed the entire way through the tournament. That might be the only way this team makes it to the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, or the Final Four. As soon as Wisconsin feels like it's the hunter, they get beat, but they win when they embrace the role of the rabbit, as Nick Boyd puts it, "It ain't no fun when the rabbit has the gun."
Though he's also called this team the Villains, a moniker the team has embraced. Being the underdog and causing havoc against the favorites and home teams. That's the juice this team needs, and the committee just gave it to them.