Wisconsin claims No. 1 seed in Big Ten tournament

March 8, 2020
|In Badgers
|By Zach Heilprin

For the fifth time in school history, the Wisconsin basketball team will be the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

The Badgers claimed it after Maryland beat Michigan on Sunday afternoon. It meant no matter how Michigan State fared later in the day against Ohio State, there would either be a two-way or three-way tie at the top of the conference with Wisconsin holding the tiebreaker in either scenario.

Coach Greg Gard’s club earned its share of the Big Ten title on Saturday with a win over Indiana. It is Wisconsin’s first since 2015 and its fifth since 2002. Only Michigan State has more in that timeframe.

The Badgers have had mixed success as the No. 1 seed. In 2002 and 2003, they lost their first game. But the other two times — 2008 and 2015 — they won the tournament.

Wisconsin won’t play until Friday morning when it gets the winner of the Thursday matchup between No. 8 Michigan and No. 9 Rutgers.