CHICAGO—Some of the pain of losing the Big Ten Championship went away shortly after the NCAA Tournament seedings were announced Sunday, as the UW men's basketball team received the No. 2 seed in the Midwest bracket and will play in Chicago next weekend.
After losing to Ohio State 66-49 Sunday, it appeared that the Buckeyes were a lock for the No. 1 seed in the Midwest bracket and Wisconsin would be a No. 2 seed in one of the other regions. Surprisingly, OSU was given the No. 1 seed in the South regional, and Wisconsin could be playing in St. Louis after all if the Badgers advance to the Sweet 16.
""What better situation can you ask for if you're not a No. 1 seed?"" senior forward Alando Tucker said. ""We're not complaining, we are definitely happy. For one, we are happy to be playing again, but to be the No. 2 seed in the Midwest [and play next weekend] in a place where we just played, we have to be happy.""
UW will return to Chicago next Friday for the first and second rounds. Wisconsin's opponent is Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the No. 15 seed. Tucker did not deny the fact that the team does not know a whole lot about the Islanders (26-6).
""Yeah, I've heard of Texas A&M and then they added [Corpus Christi],"" Tucker said. ""So when I heard we are playing Texas A&M, I was like, ‘Wow that's a tough matchup right off the bat' and then they said Corpus Christi and I was like, ‘Oh, okay.'""
Tucker did add, however, that the coaching staff does a great job of finding film and that the team would spend much of the next few days watching tapes on the Islanders.
""We'll know a lot more in 24 hours. We know they are good. They are here, they're in the tournament,"" head coach Bo Ryan said.
One thing is sure about Friday's matchup—Wisconsin will have more fans than Corpus Christi. UW arguably had the most fans in Chicago for the tournament and Ryan expects them to be back next weekend.
""Our people are good fans and they are very supportive and know how to have a good time,"" Ryan said. ""[They] enjoy sports no matter what sport it is. Our fan base has got to be one of the best in the country, so hopefully we will get some help from them next weekend.""
Also in the bottom-fourth of the Midwest bracket is UNLV (No. 7 seed) and Georgia Tech (No. 10 seed), who will battle for the right to play the winner of the Wisconsin-Corpus Christi game.
Florida grabbed the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region, and the upper half of the bracket includes Purdue, which earned the No. 9 seed and will meet Arizona in the first round. After much debate, the Big Ten received six bids as Illinois got in as the No. 12 seed in the West region, while Indiana grabbed the No. 7 seed in the same bracket and Michigan State earned the No. 9 seed in the East.
""[The Big Ten coaches] thought six,"" Ryan said. ""Five minimum, seven max, but six is pretty much the target area. So more than half our teams are in the NCAA Tournament.""
If Wisconsin is able to earn a Sweet 16 berth by winning twice next weekend, potential opponents include Oregon (No. 3 seed), which won the Pac 10 Tournament Saturday, or Notre Dame which grabbed the Midwest's No. 6 seed. The Irish play Winthrop in the first round, a team that forced the Badgers into overtime back in December.
Fans who are heading down to Chicago for the first and second rounds next weekend will also get the chance to see Kansas, which earned the No. 1 seed in the West region. UNLV and Georgia Tech will tip off at 11:25 a.m. The Wisconsin game is set to begin 30 minutes after the UNLV-Georgia Tech conclusion.
Tuck breaks UW scoring record
Lost in the excitement of playing in the Big Ten Championship game and earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament was the fact that Tucker broke Michael Finley's UW scoring record in the Badgers' win over Illinois Saturday.
Needing just two points to break the record, Tucker opened the game by burying a 15-foot jump shot. The basket gave him 2,147 career points, and he finished the weekend with 2,176 points.
""It's one of those things that it's helped me out, confidence-wise, the way everybody has been playing,"" Tucker said. ""It happened unselfishly and in the manner [I've] been doing it, we've been winning.""
Tucker hit his first four attempts Saturday and finished the game with 21 points.
