Badgers will make 25th appearance in the last 27 Big Dances
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin men’s basketball team received the No. 5 seed in the West Region and will face 12-seeded High Point in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 19 at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore. The game time and TV designation will be announced later.
The Badgers are making their 29th trip to the Big Dance overall and are one of just five schools to appear in 25 of the last 27 NCAA tournaments. This is Wisconsin’s third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and the eighth under head coach Greg Gard. Nationally, only eight schools have been to more NCAA Tourneys than Wisconsin during the Gard era (2016-present).
Wisconsin will play in Portland for the first time in its NCAA Tournament history. The Badgers will play in the West Regional for the seventh time in program history, having advanced to the 2000, 2014, 2015 Final Fours from that Region.
The Badgers will take on No. 12 High Point (30-4, 15-1), the Big South Conference Tournament champion. The two teams have never met in men’s basketball. The winner of the first-round matchup will face the winner of a game between No. 4 seed Arkansas and No. 13 seed Hawaii in the Round of 32 on Saturday, March 21.
Wisconsin earned a top-5 seed in the Big Dance for the 11th time in its last 14 appearances dating back to 2010. The Badgers are 41-27 (.603) all-time in the NCAA tournament, reaching 10 Sweet 16s, four Final Fours and winning the 1941 National Championship.
