Milwaukee and March Madness: A History of NCAA Tournament Involvement
Basketball has deep roots in Milwaukee, dating back to the sport's early days. From its introduction in the late 19th century to the rise of high school, college, and professional teams, Milwaukee has been a consistent hub for basketball activity. This article explores Milwaukee's rich basketball history, focusing on its connection to the NCAA Tournament and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's (UWM) journey within collegiate basketball.
Early Basketball in Milwaukee
The game of basketball quickly found its way to Milwaukee shortly after its invention in 1891. By 1896, the city already boasted five organized teams, including the first high school team at East Division High School. Milwaukee was also a pioneer in women's basketball, with the first girls' games played around 1896. In 1898, four teams formed the city's first high school basketball league.
College basketball emerged around the same time, with the Wisconsin State Normal School (now UWM) starting its men's program in 1895. Marquette University launched its men’s basketball program in 1916. Non-scholastic amateur teams began to flourish in the 1910s, with dozens of neighborhood and company teams competing in local tournaments and leagues. In 1966, the top amateur players in the city formed the Milwaukee Zip Codes, who competed in play sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
Professional Basketball in Milwaukee
Milwaukee's first professional basketball team was formed in 1921. In 1951, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the NBA relocated to Milwaukee and became the Milwaukee Hawks. The Hawks, however, relocated to St. Louis after only a few seasons due to poor attendance. In 1968, Milwaukee was granted an NBA expansion franchise, the Bucks. Led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Bucks won the NBA Finals in 1971. Milwaukee was also home to the Milwaukee Does, a professional women's basketball team, from 1978 to 1980.
UWM Panthers: A Collegiate Journey
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) has a long basketball history, dating back to its predecessor institutions. The program has gone through several transformations, including changes in mascots and affiliations.
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- Early Years: UWM's predecessor institutions, Milwaukee Normal and Milwaukee State, played basketball since 1896 and were members of the Wisconsin State College Conference.
- Mid-20th Century: The modern era of Milwaukee men's basketball began with the 1956-57 school year. In honor of joining the University of Wisconsin System, they sported the cardinal red and white colors and adopted "Cardinals" as their nickname.
- Establishing an Identity: Seeking to establish their own identity, Milwaukee adopted the colors of black and gold on September 1, 1965, and became known as the Panthers.
- Conference Changes: They left the Wisconsin State College Conference (now the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), of which they had been members since 1913, to form a conference with other urban public universities in the Great Lakes region such as Illinois-Chicago and Cleveland State.
- Divisional Changes: The team moved again to NCAA Division III in 1980. Between 1985 and 1987, Milwaukee competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. In 1987, the program moved to NCAA Division II. Since 1990, Milwaukee Men's Basketball has competed in NCAA Division I.
Rise of the Panthers in Division I
The Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Horizon League for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The team competed under the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee name for the first time for the 1956-57 season.
- The Bo Ryan Era: In 1999, the Panthers hired Bo Ryan, a highly successful Division III coach at UW-Plattville, as the team's new head coach. Under Ryan, the Panthers had their first consecutive winning seasons since 1993.
- Bruce Pearl and NCAA Success: After Bo Ryan's departure, Milwaukee hired Bruce Pearl as head coach. Milwaukee reached new heights of success during the mid-2000s, making its first NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship appearance in 2003 under Pearl, followed by a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2005 and a second-round appearance in 2006.
- Horizon League Success: The Panthers won three straight regular-season Horizon League championships from 2004 to 2006 as well as the Horizon League tournament championship in 2003, 2005, and 2006. The Panthers' most recent Horizon League regular season championship came in 2011. In 2014, the Panthers won the Horizon League tournament, making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2006.
- Recent Years: In 2021, the Panthers made national news when they were able to successfully recruit Baldwin's son Patrick Baldwin Jr., who was rated by ESPN as the number four-rated recruit in the country, becoming the highest-rated player to commit to a Horizon League school. In 2022, the Panthers hired Bart Lundy as the team's next head coach. In Lundy's first season, the Panthers won 20 regular-season games for the first time since 2004-05, finishing second in the Horizon League.
NCAA Tournament Appearances
The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Division I tournament four times. The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament two times. The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Division III tournament one time. The Panthers have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) two times. The Panthers have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) two times.
Milwaukee as a Host City
Milwaukee has also served as a host city for NCAA Tournament games. In 1992, the city hosted early-round games at the Bradley Center, featuring coaching legends like Bobby Cremins, George Raveling, and Nolan Richardson. The event also featured Al McGuire, the Marquette coaching legend, as a commentator for CBS.
The NCAA Tournament: A National Phenomenon
The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the Division I level in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
- History: The tournament was first conducted in 1939 and currently consists of 68 teams. The 68-team format was adopted in 2011; it had remained largely unchanged since 1985 when it expanded to 64 teams.
- Evolution: The field was restricted to conference champions until at-large bids were extended in 1975, and teams were not fully seeded until 1979.
- Broadcasting: All tournament games are broadcast by CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV under the program name NCAA March Madness.
- Revenue: The NCAA distributes revenue to participating teams based on how far they advance, which provides significant funding for college athletics.
- Cultural Impact: The tournament has become part of American popular culture through bracket contests that award money and other prizes for correctly predicting the outcomes of the most games.
Tournament Structure and Selection
The tournament consists of 68 teams competing in seven rounds of a single-elimination bracket. Thirty-two teams automatically qualify for the tournament by winning their conference tournament, played during the two weeks before the tournament, and thirty-six teams qualify by receiving an at-large bid based on their performance during the season.
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- Selection Committee: The Selection Committee determines the at-large bids, ranks all the teams 1 to 68, and places the teams in the bracket, all of which is revealed publicly on the Sunday before the tournament, dubbed Selection Sunday by the media and fans.
- Regions: The tournament is divided into four regions, with each region having sixteen to eighteen teams.
- First Four: Before the first weekend, eight teams compete in the First Four to advance to the first round. Two games pair the lowest-ranked conference champions, and two games pair the lowest-ranked at-large qualifiers.
- Rounds: The first and second rounds are played during the first weekend, the regional semifinals and regional finals during the second weekend, and the national semifinals and championship game during the third weekend.
- Seeding: The top four overall seeds are placed as No. 1 seeds in each region. The regions are paired so that if all the No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four true seed No. 1 would play No. 4 and No. 2 would play No. 3.
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tags: #milwaukee #regional #ncaa #tournament #history
