INDIANAPOLIS - It turns out the Big Ten tournament championship game didn't mean much.
Wisconsin rolled to a 70-53 win over Illinois for its first tournament title Sunday, then watched as the NCAA selection committee gave a higher seed to the Illini in the NCAA Tournament.
The Badgers (24-6) were seeded sixth and face 11th-seeded Richmond in the first round. Illinois (24-6) got a fifth seed, despite losing to Wisconsin twice this season, and plays 12th-seeded Murray State.
But the Badgers aren't complaining. They'll be playing close to home in Milwaukee.
"I can't see a difference between the three through eight seeds," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "I wouldn't want to be in that room, making those decisions. I'm pretty excited about it."
Devin Harris is even more excited. Sure, his Badgers got seeded lower than they were hoping, but they'll be playing in Harris' hometown.
"We were hoping for Milwaukee," Harris said. "We're playing close to home, so it worked itself out."
Harris was spectacular in the Big Ten tournament, never more so than in the title game. The tourney's most outstanding player led the Badgers with 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting.
The 10th-ranked Badgers also held the Illini to a season-low 32.7 percent shooting to snap 12th-ranked Illinois' 12-game winning streak.
Illinois' last loss came at Wisconsin on Jan. 24.
"We couldn't get shots, couldn't get a run, couldn't get momentum," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "We just could never get over the hump."
Harris had a lot to do with that. He scored Wisconsin's first 11 of the second half and had three steals.
The junior punctuated Sunday's win with an explosive alley-oop dunk as the Wisconsin faithful chanted "One more year! One more year!"
Both teams were shoo-ins for the NCAA Tournament and were more interested in a higher seed than the automatic bid that goes to the tournament winner.
It turns out the Illini had nothing to worry about; they finished with the best seed of any Big Ten team.
Illinois is headed to its fifth straight NCAA Tournament. Last season, the Illini lost to Notre Dame in the second round of the West Region.
