How much did Wisconsin's win over Purdue impact the Badgers' March Madness seeding

The Wisconsin Badgers continued it's trend of knocking off the Big Ten's top programs on the road, besting Purdue at Mackey Arena on Saturday.

While the Badgers were already firmly in the NCAA Tournament field, the victory may have helped ease concerns that stemmed from Wisconsin's loss to Oregon while giving the program a leg up over others in the 5-7 seed range.

Selection Sunday is less than a week away, and it seems like bracketologists are coming close to a consensus on where the Badgers will be seeded in March Madness.

Purdue win solidifies Badgers as six 6-seed, opens door for five seed

According to some of the highest rated bracketologists on bracketmatrix.com, Wisconsin is likely to be a 6-seed.

Of the 57 brackets reported on March 8 or 9, 46 had Wisconsin labeled as a six. 10 had the Badgers up on the five line, and just one had Greg Gard and co. as a 7-seed.

Wisconsin is ranked No.23 in the final AP poll of the regular season, tied for its highest ranking of the season.#Badgers are sitting No.26 in the NET rankings, having won eight of their last 10 Quad-1 games.
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) March 9, 2026

Not all bracketologists projected matchups for each team, but there are clear favorites for Wisconsin to face at this point. As a five seed, USF, Stephen F. Austin and High Point were each mentioned as possible Badger opponents.

As a 6-seed, Wisconsin is linked to bubble teams like SMU, Santa Clara and Texas, who could have to win a First Four game in order to reach the Round of 64. Past that trio, Miami (OH) and UCF were the only opponents to be listed multiple times in a 6 vs 11 matchup.

No matchups were provided on the bracket that listed the Badgers as a 7-seed.

The opponent will be the most important factor for Wisconsin's chances of avoiding a first-round upset, but from a statistical standpoint, one of the three seed lines have performed significantly worse over the past 10 tournaments.

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6-seeds have gone 19-21 in the first round during that stretch, and have performed significantly worse against teams that didn't play in the First Four (9-14).

The Badgers haven't been a six seed since 2005, when they made the Elite 8.

5-seeds, despite the perception of 12-seeds being very dangerous, have gone 27-13 in the first round over the past 10 tournaments.

Two of those 13 losses have been by the Badgers, who were blown out by James Madison in 2024 and fell to Oregon in 2019 by 18 points.

While it's unlikely Wisconsin would drop to the seven line even with a loss in its first game of the Big Ten Tournament this week, 7-seeds have also performed well recently.

7-seeds have come out on top in 25 of the 40 first-round games during the 10-year span.

Given recent trends, Badgers fans should be hping for a 5-seed on Selection Sunday. However, Wisconsin may have to do some damage in the Big Ten Tournament to move up to the five line.

Related: Wisconsin Badgers know their path to a Big Ten Tournament Championship

But if there's one thing the Badgers have proven this season, it's that they're more than capable of making noise and taking down the nation's best teams.