More often than not, Wisconsin basketball rebounds from first-round losses

The University of Wisconsin has made three trips to the Final Four in the last 25 NCAA Tournaments, both as a Cinderella No.8 seed and a top-two seed in its region. The seasons are etched in the program's lore, but what's sometimes forgotten is what happened the season before.

The Badgers have lost their opening round game only eight times in 29 tournament appearances, including last Thursday's 83-82 loss to No.12 High Point. Of the seven previous instances, Wisconsin has gone on a deep postseason run, won a championship, or achieved new heights as a program.

The 2026-27 Badgers are hoping to go that route, as opposed to what happened the other three times.

Here's a look at how Wisconsin responded the following season after a one-and-done experience in the national tournament.

1997 - Lost 71-58 to No.10 Texas
1998 - Missed the tournament
The Badgers were in their infancy of becoming program regulars after appearing in the 1994 NCAA Tournament for the first time in 47 years and again three seasons later.
True to head coach Dick Bennett's style, Wisconsin led the Big Ten in scoring defense (62.6 ppg), but the Badgers, not having point guard Ty Calderwood (Big Ten leader in steals in 1997) and Sam Okey's suspension, back spasms, and eventual departure, forced Wisconsin to rely heavily on freshmen. After winning its inaugural game at the Kohl Center over Northwestern in January, the Badgers lost their final 11 Big Ten games of the season.
Finishing 12-19 and 3-13 on the season, the Badgers went 0-7 in games when scoring under 50 points

Former head Wisconsin basketball coach Dick Bennett, center, is introduced along with his 2000 Final Four team. — Former head Wisconsin basketball coach Dick Bennett, center, is introduced along with his 2000 Final Four team before the Wisconsin - Oregon game aturday, February 22, 2025 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

1999 - Lost 43-32 to No.12 SW Missouri State
2000 - Final Four as a No.8 seed
The freshmen Bennett relied on in 1998 made their first NCAA Tournament in 1999 and promptly set a record for the fewest points in an NCAA Tournament game since the shot clock was added in 1986. UW shot a season-low 25.5 percent with a lineup that featured Andy Kowske, Mike Kelley, Charlie Wills, Marc Vershaw, and Jon Bryant.
Those five players returned next season, and while their 18-13 regular season and sixth-place finish in the Big Ten was far from inspiring, Wisconsin knocked off three AP Top-25 teams on the way to its first Final Four since 1941.

2001 - Lost 50-49 to No.11 Georgia State
2002 - Round of 32 as a No.8 seed
Wisconsin's 2001 season was tumultuous. Bennett retired after three games, Brad Soderberg took over, and the Badgers blew a 13-point second-half lead in a loss to Georgia State. The Badgers lost seven of their final 12 games, likely costing Soderberg the full-time job.
Instead, then-athletic director Pat Richter hired Milwaukee head coach Bo Ryan. Installing the Swing Offense and having only nine scholarship players, UW started the season 1-4 and was 3-6 when it beat No.14 Marquette. From that point, the Badgers won 13 of their last 18 games to win a Big Ten championship for the first time since 1947.
UW knocked off St. John's in the opening round in Washington, D.C., but got pummeled by 30 by No.1 seed Maryland, which went on to win the national championship.

2006 - Lost 94-75 to No.8 Arizona
2007 - Round of 32 as a No.2 seed
Wisconsin had a strong returning group of juniors Kammron Taylor and Alando Tucker and up-and-coming sophomores, Brian Butch and Michael Flowers, from a successful 2005 team that went down to the wire with eventual champion North Carolina in the Elite Eight. With only one senior (Ray Nixon), UW leaned on young frontcourt players Joe Krabbenhoft, Marcus Landry, and Greg Stiemsma to round out the rotation.
Wisconsin started 14-2 in 2006, 4-0 in Big Ten play, and ranked No.15 in the AP poll. Things drastically changed in January when Landry and Stiemsma were each ruled academically ineligible for the second semester. With their rotation jumbled, UW went 5-10 the rest of the season.
Other than Nixon, Wisconsin returned its entire roster and added three-point shooter Jason Bohannon. Tucker became the school's all-time leading scorer and was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American. UW beat No.2 Pittsburgh and No.5 Ohio State, wins that eventually led them to the school's first No.1 ranking in the Associated Press poll.
That proved to be the high point of the season. The Badgers were upset at Michigan State in their first game as No.1 and lost the Big Ten title that weekend in a No.1 vs. No.1 game at Ohio State. That game was the turning point when Butch injured his elbow and missed the rest of Wisconsin's season.
Without their third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Wisconsin limped into the tournament and was knocked out by UNLV in Chicago.
The following year, even without Tucker or Taylor, the Badgers swept the Big Ten titles and made the Sweet 16.

2013 - Lost 57-46 to No.12 Ole Miss
2014 - Final Four as a No.2 seed
Wisconsin failed to score more than 60 points in 14 of its 30 games against power-conference and Big East schools in 2013, including playing seven games in the 40s. One of those was the loss to Ole Miss, when the Badgers shot 25.4 percent against the Rebels.
With the help of then-associate head coach Greg Gard, Wisconsin began to tweak and revamp the offense. After averaging 65.0 ppg in 2013, the Badgers’ more free-flowing offense averaged 73.5 ppg, increased its three-point percentage from 33.0 to 37.6, and improved from a 63.4 percent free-throw team to 74.6.
Wisconsin won its first 16 games, won eight of its final nine in the regular season, and earned a No.2 seed, using a favorable starting pod in Milwaukee to take Bo Ryan to his first Division 1 Final Four.

2019 - Lost 72-54 to No.12 Oregon
2020 - Tournament canceled
Two subpar years in 2018 and 2019 had created some swirling doubt about whether Greg Gard was the right coach for Wisconsin entering his fourth full-time year, doubts that only intensified with UW having a 13-10 record in early February. Not only were there on-court problems, but leading-scorer Kobe King quit the program and was critical of Gard's coaching on his way out, and strength coach Eric Helland resigned after using a racial epithet.
Instead of folding, Wisconsin reeled off eight straight victories to end the season, closing the season with a 60-56 victory at Indiana to clinch a share of the regular season conference title and the No.1 seed for the Big Ten Tournament. There would be no postseason, as the COVID-19 pandemic canceled all sports activities, creating the biggest "what-if" of Gard's era.

2024 - Lost 72-61 to No.12 James Madison
2025 - Round of 32 as a No.3 seed
Wisconsin was in the early stages of revamping its ball-screen offense to modest success, scoring nearly 10 ppg more than 2023's NIT season, but the Badgers were banged up following a run to the Big Ten Tournament finals and played poorly against one of the nation's hottest mid-major programs in James Madison.
With a full season to implement the offense and a veteran roster, Wisconsin hit a program-record 366 three-pointers, and its 122.9 adjusted offensive efficiency was the second-best in program history (12th nationally).
Unfortunately, two late-season home losses to Oregon and Penn State likely cost the Badgers the chance to open the tournament in Milwaukee. Getting shipped to Denver instead, the Badgers started off slow against No.6 BYU and couldn't complete a furious comeback when Tonje's contested shot didn't fall in the final seconds.