The Badgers' quest for an NCAA Championship begins today as Wisconsin takes on Wofford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
As expected for a No. 4 seed, the Badgers (11-5 Big Ten, 23-8 overall) are matched up against a mid-major conference winner in Wofford (15-3 Southern, 26-8). The Terriers enter this game as the clear underdog, but the Badgers said they refuse to take anything for granted.
""Any team in the NCAA tournament there's going to be a favorite and an underdog, and we're going to be a favorite for this one,"" senior guard Jason Bohannon said. ""But that doesn't change how we prepare for anything. We can't take them lightly. They're a very good basketball team.""
A No. 4 seed has already gone down this year with Vanderbilt falling to Murray State. And No. 6 Notre Dame was also knocked off by to No. 11 Old Dominion. Senior guard Trevon Hughes said those types of teams can be dangerous in the tournament.
""The No. 12, 13 seeds plus, they have nothing to lose,"" Hughes said. ""They're just going out there to play like it's their last game, and basically that's how everybody is playing when they're in the tournament. The 65 teams are actually pretty good teams, so they're going to give it their all, plus the underdogs, they want to prove people wrong.""
The Terriers won both the Southern Conference regular-season and postseason championship. They enter this contest with momentum, riding a 13-game winning streak.
Junior forward Noah Dahlman led Wofford in scoring this year with 16.8 points per game, which ranked fourth in the conference. The Southern Player of the Year also shot 58 percent from the field, and hauled in 5.8 rebounds per game.
""[He's a] tough player,"" Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said. ""Good hands, uses angles well ... he's done a very good job of executing his strengths to the team concept, and to become player of the year in a conference, you have to be doing something right.""
Despite being Wofford's greatest threat, Dahlman stands only 6'6"" as the tallest player in the Terriers' starting lineup. With 6'10"" junior forward Jon Leuer and 6'8"" junior forward Keaton Nankivil, the Badgers have a height advantage on Dahlman and Wofford.
""Any time we play, we want to dominate the paint and make our presence felt,"" Leuer said. ""All the bigs on our team want to make our presence felt inside. That's not going to change.""
Wofford is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance ever, but Ryan said he does not expect the experienced Terriers to come out nervous.
""They've played in the conference tournament, they've played together for a while,"" Ryan said. ""It's not like there's a bunch of freshmen for them out there playing. They've been through this. They've played a lot of tough teams on the road.""
Besides Dahlman, Wofford starts two juniors and a senior.
If Wisconsin gets past Wofford, it will take on the winner of the Temple-Cornell game for a chance to play in Syrcause for a trip to the Sweet 16 and a possible matchup against the No. 1 seed of the East region, Kentucky. Hughes said he realizes this is his last chance in the NCAA Tournament and he will not be satisfied with anything less than a deep run.
""We definitely don't want to go home early,"" Hughes said. ""It's a goal. We all want to make it to the Final Four. We all dream about making it to the Final Four. I've been here before.
I've been to the first round, second round, Sweet 16. I want to go deeper than that. I want to go deeper than the Elite Eight. It's me and Jason's last go around, and in past years we've had another year to come back. This is it for us.""
The game, played in Jacksonville, Fla., tips off at approximately 1:50 p.m. and can be seen on CBS.
