Wisconsin basketball’s early March Madness exit ends season of what-ifs

PORTLAND, Ore. – Wisconsin men’s basketball wanted to be remembered for its fight. “It’s a group of fighters,” UW guard Braeden Carrington told the Journal Sentinel in the locker room shortly after the Badgers' early exit from the NCAA Tournament.

“I think people counted us out early in the year and didn’t expect us to even be in this position in the first place. ” Wisconsin forward Nolan Winter similarly wanted fans to remember this group for “our competitiveness each and every night. ” Even in the wake of Wisconsin’s stinging first-round exit, a WDJT-TV camera picked up point guard Nick Boyd saying they “got to keep fighting” as he walked back to the locker room for one last time in a Wisconsin uniform.

But Wisconsin’s 2025-26 fight once again ended prematurely with the fifth-seeded Badgers’ 83-82 loss to 12th-seeded High Point in the first round of the NCAA Tournament . Yes, it is the infamous five-12 upset. Yes, High Point is a good team, as evident by its 31 wins and competitiveness against fourth-seeded Arkansas in the second round.

But in a bracket where the 19 other teams seeded No. 5 or better advanced at least to the second round, UW’s season followed an all too familiar script. The Badgers have now suffered three first-round losses, three second-round losses and two March Madness absences since their last Sweet 16 trip in 2017.