Wisconsin Badgers know their path to a Big Ten Tournament Championship

Wisconsin earned the fifth seed in the conference tournament for the third straight year and will begin postseason play on Thursday.

Nick Boyd (2), John Blackwell (25) and members of the Wisconsin Badgers celebrate their 97-93 victory at No.15 Purdue. | UW Athletics

MADISON, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin is hoping the fifth seed gives them some magic for a third straight season, although they were a near Sunday upset away from getting an extra day off.

No.11 Illinois hung on for a 78-72 victory at Maryland to finish one game ahead of Wisconsin and clinch the final triple bye into Friday's quarterfinals. Finishing solo fifth, the Badgers (22-9, 14-6 Big Ten) will play the second game of Thursday's afternoon session between the winner of No.12 Washington and No.13 USC (approximately 1:30 p.m.).

The conference tournament tips off with the first round on Tuesday, and all games will be played at the United Center in Chicago.

Related: Biggest takeaways from Wisconsin's 97-93 victory at No.15 Purdue

Wisconsin lost its only matchup against the Trojans, 73-71, in Madison on Jan.25. The Badgers won the only meeting with the Huskies last weekend in Seattle, a 90-73 victory in Seattle where the Badgers hit 17 three-pointers. That was a school record for a road game that latest one week, as UW connected on 18 threes in yesterday's 97-73 victory over No.15 Purdue at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana.

It was the Badgers' fourth top-15 win of the season and just the third time in program history they have beaten three top-25 teams on the road in one year. UW could see three of those opponents as it chases its first tournament championship since 2015.

A victory by UW would match them up with the Illini in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon. it would be the eighth meeting between the two schools in the conference tournament, half of which have come in the tournament finals. UW won at Illinois, 92-90 in overtime, on February 10.

The winner of that quarterfinal could face regular-season champion Michigan in the semifinals. The Wolverines finished the regular season 29-2 and won the league by four games with a 19-1 record. Their only loss came at home to Wisconsin, 91-88, on January 10.

Wisconsin knocked off the conference tournament's top seed the last two seasons in the semifinals. The Badgers beat third-ranked Purdue, 76-75, in overtime in Minneapolis in 2024 and topped seventh-ranked Michigan State, 77-74, last season in Indianapolis behind 32 points from All-American John Tonje.

Nebraska (No.2) and Michigan State (No.3) are the other teams to earn triple byes, while UCLA (No.6), Purdue (No.7), and Ohio State (No.8) earned double byes.