NCAA Tournament, Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball vs. Colgate: how to watch, game preview and open thread

Since we have had almost a week to discuss this Wisconsin/Colgate game, I won’t bore you with a long game preview here. I linked all of our posts about the 3-seed Badgers and the 14-seed Raiders below if you’d like to dive deep into the matchup.

Hopefully your bracket survived the first day of the NCAA Tournament, mine most certainly did not, and you are sitting pretty in the B5Q Bracket Challenge. Thursday was a truly excellent day of college basketball and hopefully reminded you why you care so much about this dumb sport.

We have another long day of hoops ahead of us as the Badgers and Raiders are one of the last games of the first round to tip-off, so make sure you pace yourself, drink some water and maybe catch a mid-afternoon nap if you ‘re old.

Here are all of the preview posts about the game:

How to watch/listen

TV: TBS, 8:50 p.m. CT, Spero Dedes, Deb Antonelli, AJ Ross

streaming: March Madness app; March Madness Live

Radio/Satellite: WIBA 1310 AMSirius/XM 84; Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas; Westwood One, Jason Benetti, Will Perdue

Livestats: Here!

Sand: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wis.

Draft Kings Line: Wisconsin-8
(Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sports book for details.)

KenPom Wisconsin win percentage: 76%
Torvik Wisconsin win percentage: 82%

Fun facts (according to the media guides)

• Wisconsin is one of five schools in the nation that can say it has played in at least 22 of the last 23 NCAA tournaments, joined by only Kansas, Duke, Michigan State and Gonzaga.
• The Badgers have won 11 of their last 13 opening-round NCAA tournament games, holding teams to 57.7 points per game in those initial tourney games.
• Wisconsin has advanced to the Sweet 16 or better in six of the last 10 NCAA tournaments. Only Kentucky (seven) has made more second weekend appearances over the decade.
• The Badgers are 39-24 (.619) all-time in “The Big Dance,” advancing to four Final Fours and winning the 1941 NCAA title.

• UW has made 26 NCAA Tournaments including a run of 19 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances for Wisconsin (1999-2017), which ranks as the sixth-longest streak in NCAA history.
• The only streaks longer than Wisconsin are Kansas (32, active), North Carolina (27, 1975-01), Duke (24, 1996-19), Michigan State (24, active), Gonzaga (23, active).
• Wisconsin has won 14 NCAA tournament games since 2014, trailing only Michigan (16) for the most among Big Ten teams and seventh-highest total in the nation.
• As a 3-seed, the Badgers are 2-1 all-time. They are 2-0 and vs. 14-seeds as well.
• This marks the eighth time the Badgers have been a top-4 seed in the last 15 NCAA tournaments.
• The Badgers are 12-6 (.667) against the 2022 NCAA Tournament field. Wisconsin’s 12 wins is tied with Purdue for the most in the nation.
• Wisconsin has played four previous NCAA tournament games in Milwaukee, going 3-1 at the Bradley Center in 2004 and 2014. The Badgers are 0-2 at Fiserv Forum, losing to Marquette in 2018 and 2020.

• Over the last 30 years, Wisconsin has combined for more NCAA tournament and bowl game appearances (51) than any school in the country. Florida is second with 48 and Texas is third with 47.
• Wisconsin won a share of the Big Ten regular season title for the second time in three seasons.
• Wisconsin totaled 24 regular-season wins for just the fifth time in program history. The Badgers also won 15 Big Ten games for just the third time in program history.
• The Badgers are 12-3 away from the Kohl Center this year and are 15-3 in games decided by six points or fewer, the most “close” wins in D-1.
• Greg Gard won Big Ten Coach of the Year.
• Johnny Davis won Big Ten Player of the Year and is a consensus first-team All-American.
• In addition, Brad Davison earned second-team All-Big Ten honors, Chucky Hepburn earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and Tyler Wahl was awarded All-Big Ten honorable mention.
• Wisconsin leads the NCAA averaging just 8.5 turnovers per game.

• Wisconsin and Colgate have met just once before, with the Badgers claiming a 68-41 home win on Nov. 16, 2011.
• UW is 6-0 all-time against current members of the Patriot League, including two NCAA tourney wins.
• The Badgers defeated No. 14 Bucknell, 71-62, in the second round of the 2005 Tournament and No. 15 American, 75-35, in the opening round of the 2014 Tournament in Milwaukee.
• Earlier this season, the Wisconsin volleyball team opened the 2021 NCAA Tournament with a 3-0 win over Colgate en route to winning the volleyball national championship.
• Wisconsin’s men’s hockey team defeated Colgate, 7-3, in the 1990 NCAA Championship Game.
• Colgate has won back-to-back Patriot League titles.
• The Raiders are on a 15-game winning streak currently.
• This is their third NCAA Tournament appearance in the past four seasons and during this four years they have had their program’s first three 20-win seasons.
• Five Raiders are averaging double figures this season, led by Nelly Cummings (14.5). Colgate has had six different leading scorers in a game this season.
• We all know about Colgate’s shooting prowess, but the also are No. 5 in the country in total assists, No. 8 in assists per game, and No. 11 in assist-turnover ratio.
• Head coach Matt Langel became Colgate’s all-time winningest coach with his 166th career victory on Feb. 9, 2022.

Potential Starters

Wisconsin

• Johnny Davis, 6-foot-5, sophomore, guard, No. 1
• Tyler Wahl, 6-foot-9, junior, forward, No. 5
• Steven Crowl, 7-foot, sophomore, forward, No. 22
• Chucky Hepburn, 6-foot-2, freshman, guard, No. 23
• Brad Davison, 6-foot-4, super senior, guard, No. 34

Colgate

• Nelly Cummings, 6-foot, senior, guard, No. 0
• Ryan Moffat, 6-foot-6, junior, forward, No. 4
• Jack Ferguson, 6-foot-3, senior, guard, No. 13
• Keegan Records, 6-foot-10, junior, forward, No. 14
• Tucker Richardson, 6-foot-5, senior, guard, No. 15