The No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers will take on the No. 5 James Madison Dukes in the First Round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. This will be an South Region matchup and will take place on Friday from Brooklyn, NY.
Below we’ll preview both teams, including analysis and key stats while also providing our prediction.
Wisconsin Badgers
NET: 18
KenPom Overall: 17
KenPom O: 14
KenPom D: 39
Record: 22-13
Strength of Schedule: 6
Conference: Big Ten
Conference Record: 11-9
Quad 1 Record: 5-9
The Wisconsin Badgers earned an at-large bid to March Madness after missing last year’s tournament entirely. They grabbed some key wins over Marquette and Northwestern, and held their own against a top-ranked Purdue team. The Badgers shot 46.2% from the field.
James Madison Dukes
NET: 52
KenPom Overall: 59
KenPom O: 56
KenPom D: 79
Record: 31-3
Strength of Schedule: 293
Conference: Sun Belt
Conference Record: 15-3
Quad 1 Record: 1-1
The James Madison Dukes won the Sun Belt’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after a 20-point conference championship win over Arkansas State. After starting their season by pulling off an upset over Michigan State, JMU went on to put together an impressive offensive year, averaging 83 points per game. This marks their first March Madness bid since 2013.
2024 March Madness: Wisconsin vs. JMU odds
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
Spread: Wisconsin -5.5, JMU +5.5
Over/Under: 143.5
Moneyline: Wisconsin -250, JMU +205
Prediction: James Madison
It’s the classic 12 over 5 upset and I’ll pick JMU to take out the Big Ten Tournament runner-ups in Brooklyn. The Dukes have tons of momentum heading into the Big Dance and enter with the nation’s longest win streak at 13. Meanwhile, the Badgers struggled down the stretch of the regular season and while they did pull it together for the Big Ten Tournament, I still don’t trust them in this situation.