Sweet: The Badgers defeated Michigan State on Saturday and Illinois on Sunday to take the Big Ten Tournament. Bitter: Less than three hours later they were given what has come to be known on the Internet simply as "the shaft." The NCAA Tournament Committee, who most Wisconsin sports bloggers seem to believe has nothing but hatred for the Big Ten, placed the Badgers in a number three seed. There was not much rejoicing. We take a look at how it is being discussed below:

Matty takes a look at the screwing of the Big Ten starting with our Badgers, "This is a team that was 16-2 in conference, won the conference tournament convincingly and boasts a road win at Texas. I thought they should have been a #2 seed, but even if they weren’t, could they have gotten a tougher draw? They’ll likely run into USC in the second round, easily the strongest of the #6 seeds and a horrible matchup for the Badgers. For a team that pretty much ran the table in the Big Ten, this is a very crummy deal."

The Wisconsin Sport Rant sees the placement as an "injustice" and maybe even a little biased saying, "a team that went 29-4, won its regular season and tournament conference championships, beat Texas in Austin (a team they made a number 2 seed), and whose only losses were to teams that finished in the top 16..."

Wisconsin Badger Sports is "not in love" with the number three seed, "that's one hell of a 6/11 matchup we're looking at; either we get Mayo (20.8 ppg) and USC or Beasley (26.5 ppg, 12.4 rpg) and Kansas State. Still, these stars are just freshmen, and with an experienced senior like Michael Flowers taking responsibility for these stars, there's a pretty good chance for UW to make the Sweet Sixteen."

The Wisconsin Sports Bar doesn't mince words, "That is why the seeding matters and Wisconsin got fucked by the assholes on the committee who I believe decided a week ago that teams like Texas and Georgetown were going to do no worse than 2 seeds no matter what they did on the court."

Camp Lambeau has an interesting theory behind the royal shafting given to the Big Ten - The Big Ten Network, "Or maybe there's a different reason they seemed to ignored Big Ten regular season performance-- they didn't get to see it. The Big Ten Network is still not available on most cable carriers, and satellites are still not that big a portion of the market. Out of sight out of mind, and apparently out of consideration for decent seeds."

...and it isn't just bloggers that feel shafted. Sports Illustrated's Luke Winn gives some validation to the Badgersphere when he writes, "Wisconsin, like Tennessee, should be feeling shafted. The selection committee must've really hated the Big Ten, seeing that the team that won both the conference's regular-season title and its postseason tournament was handed a No. 3 seed. Duke, meanwhile, which won neither the ACC nor the ACC tournament, is nicely set up in the West Region as a No. 2."

Gary Parish echoes those thoughts at CBS Sports, "Wisconsin should be a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. A No. 3 seed is wrong for a Big Ten regular-season and tournament champion."

Brats and Beer is completely unhappy with the seeding and has faith that big red could go all the way to the Final Four, "UW has been playing so well, though, I think they’ll force their way into the Sweet Sixteen, and luckily then they’ll be in Detroit — not too far from home. I would expect a big cheering section for Bucky to help get them possibly into the Final Four."

Chuckie Hacks is hoping for a Wisconsin versus Georgetown match in the Sweet 16, "If UW makes it to the Sweet 16, they'll likely get a date with Georgetown, the weakest of the #2 seeds in my opinion. That would be a really interesting game, matching the two top defensive clubs in the country against one another."

Nittany White Out equates the battle between Wisconsin and So.Cal Fullerton to surfing, "Many would assume Wisconsin has the best chance out of the four Big Ten teams to make a deep run into the tournament due to their #3 seed, but like surfing, things are a lot harder than they look from a distance. When you are paddling out into the ocean, minute waves look ten feet tall and catching a good wave takes skill, determination and lots of luck. Wisconsin will need alot of luck just to make it out of this regional."

Finally, Dealing in Subterfuges predicts a Wisconsin win over Cal State, why? "When I was but a restless infant prepping for what would evolve into a lifetime of insomnia, my parents used to walk me up and down to a record of Big Ten marches. So I say On Wisconsin! On Wisconsin! Stand up Badgers, Sing!"

On Thursday the University of Wisconsin Badgers will be heading to Omaha to take on Cal State-Fullerton.