Where does Wisconsin basketball sit in the latest NCAA Tournament projections?

Riding a hot start, Wisconsin is a No. 5 seed in the latest NCAA Tournament projections from Joe Lunardi

Wisconsin and John Tonje already have one resume-builder win having topped Arizona. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Wisconsin basketball fans might want to look away at the latest NCAA Tournament projections from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.

A year after being stunned as a No. 5 seed at the hands of James Madison, Lunardi currently has the Badgers slotted right back on that same line. 

And he has them locked up with one of the hottest teams in the country at the moment.

It is still early in the season, but Wisconsin is projected to be the fifth-seed in the East bracket with Drake on the opposite side. The Bulldogs recently posted wins over Miami, Florida Atlantic and Vanderbilt in a four-day span, showing they are still a mid-major threat even with the loss of head coach Darian DeVries and star player Tucker DeVries to West Virginia.

Tennessee is the top-seed in the projected East with two-time defending national champion Connecticut the No. 2. Fellow Big Ten rivals Illinois (seventh) and Nebraska (11th/play-in game) are also in the bracket. 

Wisconsin kicks off conference play on Tuesday at home vs. Michigan. 

Lunardi has 11 teams from the Big Ten in the field, tied for most with the SEC. The Wolverines are a projected No. 10 seed, playing Xavier in the opening round. 

A year after missing the field, the Badgers suffered their earliest exit since 2013 when they were bounced in their first game by Ole Miss. They followed that up by reaching the Final Four the following season, losing a heartbreaker to Kentucky, who was an eight-seed led by current NBA standout Julius Randle. 

CBS expert Jerry Palm currently has Wisconsin as one of the first four teams out despite being 18th in the Net rankings. He has Big Ten schools Oregon, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Rutgers, Purdue and Indiana all in, with Maryland one of the last four in.