BY MATT LEPAY
Voice of the Badgers
MADISON, Wis. — It never comes close to getting old.
It's March, and once again, the Badgers are headed to the NCAA tournament. For the 18th-straight year.
In other words, the streak began the same year your average college freshman was born.
For the record, this is the fourth-longest active tournament run in major college basketball, and it is the fifth-longest stretch in history.
Not bad for a program that once went 47 years between trips.
For someone a little older, yours truly, I will always have a soft spot for a couple of Badgers teams. The 1988-89 group that made the NIT (which was the school's first postseason bid since 1947), and the 1993-94 squad that earned the long-awaited invite to the Big Dance.
Howard Moore could tell you all you need to know about the '94 Badgers. The current assistant was a member of that Stu Jackson-coached squad. We actually had a casual chat about it the other day. That team had an 8-10 Big Ten record, which was good for seventh place in a very tough league. An 11-0 start to the season was huge, as was an early March victory against third-ranked Michigan at the UW Field House.
It was heck of a year to be a Badgers fan. For the first time in school history, the football team won the Rose Bowl. A couple of months later, the basketball boys were dancing.
At the time, it was very fresh material.
I want to think about that now. Why? Because seeing your favorite teams win at such a high level is anything but a guarantee. Seeing those teams become annual participants in bowl games and postseason tournaments is something most of the rest of the world can just dream about.
Be proud. This is really good stuff. If you are in my age bracket, feel free to inform the young bucks that it wasn't always this way. Some very good players never had the opportunity to experience performing on big stages. Some very loyal fans never had the chance to witness all of the fun.
But we get to see it. Again.
On Jan. 12, the Badgers lost at Northwestern. On the way back to Madison, I thought maybe it just wasn't in the cards for this team, this year. Frankly, I was OK with it. I mean, 17 straight years in the NCAAs is one heck of a stretch. This group was going through a lot. Players from the Final Four years who moved on. A coach who retired in mid-December. A young team that split its first 18 games and dropped four of its first five in the Big Ten. We have been a bit spoiled, so maybe it was time for some harsh reality — that a season might conclude in the conference tournament.
It had to end sometime, right?
Just not this time. This team would have none of it. Simply put, the culture is too strong. This year's Badgers had no intention of being that team. You know, the team that fell short of making the field.
The players and coaches deserve all the credit in the world. The streak is alive and well.
I will always remember the excitement of walking into the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah, for the Badgers' first-round game with Cincinnati.
This week, your friendly broadcaster and part-time columnist is fortunate enough to experience his 20th NCAA tournament following the Badgers. When the travelling party walks into the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, that feeling of excitement will return.
It will return because this March Madness thing never comes close to getting old.
