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No. 5 Badgers will play No. 12 Oregon in NCAA tournament

Wisconsin has won both previous games vs. Ducks
Posted at 6:38 PM, Mar 17, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-17 19:39:19-04

March Madness is on, and the Wisconsin Badgers are dancing.

The Badgers will be a No. 5 seed, facing 12th-seeded Oregon in the South Region in San Jose, California, on Friday.

“No team is going to say they can’t win it all," said Ethan Happ. "We genuinely feel that, but we’re looking at the first ball game right now.”

Wisconsin has played Oregon twice in the tournament before: in 2014's second round in Milwaukee, winning 85-77, and in 2015's second round in Omaha, winning again, 72-65.

The Atlantic Coast Conference claimed the top three seeds in the tournament, but it was the Big Ten leading the nation in tournament bids.

The Big Ten had eight teams make the field: No. 2 seeds Michigan and Michigan State, No. 3 seed Purdue, No. 5 seed Wisconsin, No. 6 seed Maryland, No. 10 seeds Minnesota and Iowa, and No. 11 seed Ohio State.

The ACC had led the country with nine bids in each of the past two seasons, but slipped to seven this time to tie the Southeastern Conference, while the Big 12 had six.

The American Athletic Conference and Big East each had four teams, while the Pac-12 ended up with three after looking at times like it might be a one-bid league this season.

On Saturday night, Duke, led by freshman sensation Zion Williamson, won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and positioned itself as the favorite in Vegas to win it all when the nets come down at the Final Four on April 8.

The Blue Devils are an early 9-4 favorite.

The tournament starts Tuesday with a couple of play-in games, then gets into full force Thursday and Friday with 32 teams playing each day at eight sites around the country.