MADISON – A team can’t lose to one of the worst squads in its conference without suffering repercussions in the national rankings the next week.

Wisconsin took a hit this week.

The Badgers men’s basketball team, which was upset by Penn State on Saturday at the Kohl Center, dropped six spots in the Associated Press poll to No. 18. The voters for the USA Today coaches poll were kinder to UW, dropping it just two spots for the 86-75 loss to the Nittany Lions.

Both polls were released Monday.

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Despite the fall, Wisconsin, which is 23-8 and finished the Big Ten tied for fourth place with a 13-7 record, is ranked in both polls for the eighth straight week.

UW is one of seven Big Ten teams in the top 25 this week. Here is how the rest of the conference stands in the polls: Michigan State (No. 7 AP/ No. 6 coaches), Maryland (11/11), Purdue (20/20), Michigan (22/21), Oregon (23/not ranked) and Illinois (24/25).

The Badgers are the No. 5 seed for the Big Ten tournament. They will face the winner of the Northwestern-Minnesota first-round game at approximately 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

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The top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team will be the overall No. 1 seed for the 2025 NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament.

The Badgers host Clarkson and Boston University beginning Thursday, with the winner of that contest advancing to face Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Wisconsin has now qualified 12 straight times for the national tournament and 19th overall – which is second-most in NCAA history. They have captured seven championships, which leads the country.

LaBahn Arena, home to the Badgers, has been a perfect place to open tournament action, as Wisconsin is 7-0-0 all-time, outscoring the opposition a combined 32-2 in those games. 

All-time, the Badgers are 6-0-0 vs. Boston University, including two wins in the NCAA tournament, with one of those coming in the 2011 NCAA Championship. In seven meetings vs. Clarkson, Wisconsin is 5-1-1, winning the last three including in the 2022 NCAA Regional Semifinal and 2019 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four.

The 2025 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four is set for Minneapolis on March 21 and 23. 

Last year, Wisconsin lost in the finals to Ohio State, 1-0, after beating the Buckeyes for the championship by the same score the season before.

Wisconsin also won it all in 2021, 2019 and 2009, advancing to the finals three other times since 2008. They won back-to-back golds in 2006-07 for the first two titles in school history.

Wisconsin won its second straight WCHA Final Faceoff title this past Saturday with a 4-3 win over No.4 Minnesota, improving to 35-1-2 on the year.

Spring is underway in Wisconsin — clocks have jumped forward an hour, and temperatures will climb into the 60s and possibly reach 70 degrees in some parts of the state by Friday.

The beginning of the week will bring southwest winds that will push temperatures up to 60 degrees on Sunday and 65 degrees on Monday.

“Our temperatures are abnormally warm,” National Weather Service meteorologist Marcia Cronce said. “We have a prolonged period of southerly winds going on, even extending all the way from Texas up into the Northern Plains.”

A cold front will move through Monday night, causing cooler temperatures on Tuesday down to around 46 degrees in Milwaukee.

You might notice temperatures drop significantly in the middle of the day, but it depends when the cold front arrives, Cronce said.

Warmer air will return and steadily raise temperatures Wednesday through Friday, possibly reaching 70 degrees or higher by the end of the week in areas further west, like Madison.

Counties that aren’t along Lake Michigan, such as Waukesha County, will see the warmest conditions. The Milwaukee area is expected to see its warmest high on Monday.

That’s because the lake is just above freezing — 32 degrees — this time of year, Cronce explained. When land temperatures get into the 50s or 60s, that’s a “huge temperature difference,” she said.

“When we have any onshore wind off the lake, or if the winds are close to parallel to the shore, then the cold air will spill into the land area,” Cronce said. “This is very common every spring.”

Highs in the 60s are well above normal for this time of year. The average high is around 44 degrees for the second week of March, according to NWS data.

Cronce said this time of year is a battle between cold air to the north and warm air to the south.

“We become more in that zone where we’re going to see all the extremes. That’s typical March weather in Wisconsin,” she said.

But it would be a high bar to set any new records. Milwaukee has hit 68 degrees on March 10, and 78 degrees on March 14 in 2012.

No chances for rain — or snow for that matter — are in the forecast until Friday night and Saturday. And most days this week call for sunny or mostly sunny skies. Get out there and enjoy the first few days of spring.

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