Wisconsin vs. High Point: NCAA Tournament Predictions & Preview

The 2026 NCAA Tournament is officially here! The March Madness Bracket is set, and first-round NCAA Tournament matchups are in place. It’s time to make your picks and predictions for the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament! We’re here to help as we’ll have picks and predictions for each of the first round 2026 NCAA Tournament games. Here are our NCAA Tournament predictions and preview for Wisconsin vs. High Point.

2026 NCAA Tournament Predictions & Preview: Wisconsin vs. High Point

Here are the odds for this opening-round matchup of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Let’s dive into our preview and predictions for this NCAA Tournament matchup.

Wisconsin 2026 NCAA Tournament Preview

Greg Gard has built one of the more fascinating two-sided profiles in the field. On offense, Wisconsin plays at a Final Four level. Nick Boyd has been one of the most consistent players in a loaded conference all year, earning All-Big Ten second-team honors. John Blackwell as the second scorer gives the Badgers two engines who can get hot simultaneously, as they showed in a monster road win at Purdue, where the two combined for 48 points, and in a win over Illinois in the second round of the conference tourney, where they combined for 69 points. Mix in Austin Rapp and Braeden Carrington's ability to microwave from deep, along with the third-lowest team turnover percentage in the nation, and it adds up to one of the best offenses in D-I hoops. This is a team that went 7-3 ATS as an underdog this year. The Badgers live and die by the three, with over 42% of their points coming from deep, fourth-most in the nation, which can be good and bad. When Wisconsin shot under 33.3% from deep this year, they went 3-8. They went 21-2 in all other games, including wins over Purdue, Michigan, Illinois, and Michigan State.

The problem is the defense, which ranks 50th in adjusted efficiency. Wisconsin was been beaten handily in games where the offense didn’t show up early in the season. Against non-con opponents, the Badgers went 8-3 and dropped to 49th overall before figuring out their offense. Another concern entering the tourney is Nolan Winter’s ankle injury, which has left him day-to-day. Per Hoop Explorer, Winter has one of the biggest impacts on team efficiency in all of college basketball. With Winter on the court, Wisconsin ranks 12th overall, sixth offensively, and 37th defensively. With him off the court, those numbers drop to 74th, 29th, and 224th, respectively. But Wisconsin showed it can survive without him, beating Purdue in Mackey on senior night, upsetting Illinois in the Big Ten quarterfinals, and going toe-to-toe with Michigan in the semis. Since a Feb. 8 loss to Indiana in Bloomington, the Badgers have ranked eighth overall, with the second-best offense in college basketball, per Bart Torvik. The Badgers are playing their best basketball right now.

But sustaining that against bigger, more physical opponents over the course of an entire tournament is a tall task. If Winter is available and functional, this team is a legitimate threat to make a run all the way to Indianapolis. The offense alone is good enough to carry the Badgers past anyone on a good night. It's just a matter of how much, if at all, their defense holds them back.

High Point 2026 NCAA Tournament Preview

The Panthers became the first team in Big South history to win 30 games and are back-to-back conference champions. Their identity is built on ball security, ranking among the nation’s best in turnover rate on both ends, and no player on the roster is a real liability with the ball. Head coach Flynn Clayman has High Point playing controlled, intelligent basketball, and the Panthers have clearly built up the kind of pressure tolerance that comes from being the hunted team all season, having entered the conference tournament with the nation's longest winning streak of 14 games. Terry Anderson is the general of the team as the leading scorer returning from last year's tournament team. Rob Martin and Cam'Ron Fletcher add double-digit scoring, and this team is deep, ranking 90th in bench minutes. Chase Johnston comes off the bench and shoots almost nothing but threes at a 48% clip. If you squint, you can see the next Jack Gohlke.

The concern is size and rebounding. High Point is among the shorter teams in the country and consistently loses the battle on the glass against top-200 competition. The Panthers didn't face a single top-100 opponent and went 0-2 in Quad 2 games, but they did beat 105th-ranked Loyola-Chicago on a neutral court. Opponents have also found some success getting close shots against High Point, which could be exploited by a power-conference team with a real frontcourt. If the turnover battle stays in the Panthers’ favor and they can survive the rebounding disadvantage, along with some shot luck, this group has the composure to make whoever draws them uncomfortable.

More NCAA Tournament Predictions & Previews

#1 Duke vs. #16 Siena
#8 Ohio State vs. #9 TCU
#5 St. John’s vs. #12 Northern Iowa
#4 Kansas vs. #13 Cal Baptist
#6 Louisville vs. #11 South Florida
#3 Michigan State vs. #14 North Dakota State
#7 UCLA vs. #10 UCF
#2 UConn vs. #15 Furman

#1 Arizona vs. #16 LIU
#8 Villanova vs. #9 Utah State
#5 Wisconsin vs. #12 High Point
#4 Arkansas vs. #13 Hawai’i
#11 Texas vs. North Carolina State
#3 Gonzaga vs. #14 Kennesaw State
#7 Miami (FL) vs. #10 Missouri
#2 Purdue vs. #15 Queens

#16 UMBC vs. Howard
#8 Georgia vs. #9 Saint Louis
#5 Texas Tech vs. #12 Akron
#4 Alabama vs. #13 Hofstra
#11 Miami OH vs. SMU
#3 Virginia vs. #14 Wright State
#7 Kentucky vs. #10 Santa Clara
#2 Iowa State vs. #15 Tennessee State

#16 Prairie View A&M vs. Lehigh
#8 Clemson vs. #9 Iowa
#5 Vanderbilt vs. #12 McNeese
#4 Nebraska vs. #13 Troy
#6 North Carolina vs. #11 VCU
#3 Illinois vs. #14 Penn
#7 Saint Mary’s vs. #10 Texas A&M
#2 Houston vs. #15 Idaho

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