Wisconsin earns No. 3 seed in NCAA Tournament, to host first 2 rounds

The Wisconsin Badgers earned a No. 3 seed in the Texas Regional of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, making the postseason for the 13th straight season. As a result, they will host first and second round matches this week on Thursday and Friday.

Wisconsin is slated to face Eastern Illinois, which went 24-7 and was the Ohio Valley Conference champions this season, in the first round. The winner of that matchup will face the winner of North Carolina and No. 6 UTEP on Friday.

Wisconsin’s first-round match is set for 30 minutes after the conclusion of the UNC-UTEP game. That one is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN+ on Thursday. The second-round matchup will be on Friday at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.

Wisconsin ended the season on a nine-game winning streak, including a sweep over the No. 18 Minnesota Gophers in the Border Battle in the season finale.

Texas is the No. 1 seed, and Stanford is the No. 2 seed in Wisconsin’s bracket. The Badgers were swept by the Longhorns earlier this season back in late August.

Fellow Big Ten teams Indiana and Penn State are also in the Texas Regional. The Hoosiers are the No. 4 seed, and the Nittany Lions are the No. 8 seed.

This year, the Final Four and the Championship will be played in Kansas City. Those dates are December 18th and December 21st.

According to UW, Wisconsin enters the NCAA Tournament with a 66-26 (.717) overall record in postseason play, notching a trip to the NCAA Regional Semifinals or beyond in every year of head coach Kelly Sheffield’s tenure.

They’ll look to do the same with a different squad this year, and that kicks off with Eastern Illinois on Thursday at the Field House.