By ,
Published May 02, 2016
(SportsNetwork.com) - Frank Kaminsky and Wisconsin trailed Michigan State by 11 points with less than eight minutes remaining in the Big Ten title game on Sunday.
With a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament on the line, the Badgers rallied to force overtime, where they shut out the Spartans to capture the conference championship for the first time in seven years.
"To go out the way we did and fight back and really take the Big Ten title was awesome," said Kaminsky, the star 7-foot senior.
He and his teammates took more than that.
Wisconsin will be a No. 1 seed for the first time in program history when it takes the floor in Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday to play Coastal Carolina in the West Region.
The Badgers will make their 17th consecutive appearance in the NCAAs riding a six-game winning streak and carrying a school-record 31 wins.
As for the pressure that comes with all that, Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said it's business as usual for his players.
"I'm sure it'll sink in later," Ryan said, "Pretty much right now, the main thing is get these guys off their feet, get back. Fortunately, we play Friday and not Thursday, so what we need right now is to get these guys back. We have class tomorrow. Some of these guys have tests. They've got midterms this week."
Getting past Coastal Carolina shouldn't be a problem for Ryan's disciplined and talented Badgers. Waiting in the third round will be the winner of the 8-9 game between Oregon and Oklahoma State.
At the bottom of the bracket sits Pac-12 champion Arizona, the No. 2 seed, which will open against Texas Southern in Portland on Thursday.
No. 3 seed Baylor will face Georgia State and No. 4 seed North Carolina gets Harvard, also on Thursday.
The rest of the matchups are as follows: No. 5 Arkansas vs. Wofford; No. 6 Xavier vs. the winner of a First Four game between Ole Miss and BYU; and No. 7 VCU vs. Ohio State.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/wisconsin-in-west-earns-first-no-1-seed