Marquette has the upper hand over Wisconsin after latest NCAA Tournament win

One NCAA Tournament stat Wisconsin fans do not want to see:

Wisconsin basketball fans likely won’t like this stat about the Badgers’ recent NCAA Tournament woes: with today’s round of 32 win over Colorado, Marquette has as many NCAA Tournament wins in three days as Wisconsin has in seven years.

Marquette’s 81-77 win over No. 10-seed Colorado sends the program to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time under Shaka Smart. The team took care of No. 15-seed Western Kentucky in the first round of this year’s tournament, then narrowly edged No. 10-seed Colorado. That’s two tournament wins so far with more possible in the coming weeks.

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Wisconsin, meanwhile, lost to No. 12-seed James Madison to extend its Sweet Sixteen drought to seven years. The program defeated North Carolina in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, then Colgate in the first round the following year. Every other year has been a first-round exit or a missed tournament. That’s two tournament wins in seven years.

The Badgers have owned the series between the two schools with four wins in the last five meetings. But the postseason success, as fans of the team know, has not followed.

There is some context. Wisconsin was well-positioned entering the 2020 NCAA Tournament before it was canceled due to COVID-19.

But the numbers are the numbers. Consider this further proof of Wisconsin basketball’s recent postseason failures.

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