Tournament time: A look at how the Wisconsin Badgers have fared under Greg Gard in the NCAA Tournament
The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball program has been one of the most consistent entities in college hoops.
The Badgers have missed the NCAA Tournament only once, dating back to 1999, a feat accomplished only four times in the previous five decades in program history.
Under the leadership of Greg Gard, Wisconsin has maintained excellence and has managed to obtain at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title two of the past three seasons. This season has gone better than expected for Wisconsin, and the Badgers secured the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region on Sunday afternoon.
On Friday night, Gard and the Badgers will begin their postseason quest to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament with a first-round matchup against Colgate with their best seed in the Greg Gard era.
In the spirit of the NCAA Tournament, let's look back at how the Badgers have done in the Big Dance under coach Gard.
2016
In 2016, Greg Gard took over midway through the season for head coach Bo Ryan and helped lead the Badgers into the tournament as a No. 7 seed. From there, Wisconsin would manage to knock off the No. 10 seed Pittsburgh during the first round in a low-scoring slugfest 47-43. In the second round, Bronson Koenig would hit a miraculous three-pointer at the buzzer to knock off No. 2 Xavier to send Wisconsin to the Sweet 16. The Badgers would ultimately fall to Notre Dame in a nailbiter, but the ability for Gard to steer the team to the third round of the tournament after a rocky start was incredibly impressive.
2017
Gard would have the Badgers right back in the Big Dance in 2017 as a No. 8 seed. Wisconsin would open the tournament with a 10-point win over Virginia Tech and followed that up with a massive upset over No. 1 seed Villanova. Nigel Hayes was the hero in that game thanks to a pretty head fake that led a reverse layup late in the contest. Wisconsin's tournament run would be cut short in the Sweet Sixteen by Florida in an overtime thriller that ended with Florida hitting a devastating buzzer-beater.
2019
After missing the tournament in 2018, the Badgers returned in 2019 as a No. 5 seed behind the strong play of Ethan Happ. Wisconsin's time in the NCAA Tournament was short-lived, as the Badgers got blown out by Oregon in the opening round 72-54.
2020
Wisconsin was a shoo-in to participate in March Madness before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the tournament. While the Badgers did not officially win it all, they did win an ESPN simulation of the bracket and won the Big Ten in real life.
2021
Last season the Badgers got back to the tournament as a No. 9 seed and hammered North Carolina by 23 in the opening round. Wisconsin would proceed to lose against Baylor in the second round. The Baylor Bears would go on to win the national championship.
2022
To be continued...
