INDIANAPOLIS -- It wasn't too long after the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team concluded its Big Ten tournament championship celebration, that the Badgers turned their attention toward the NCAA tournament.

About 30 minutes after walking off the Conseco Fieldhouse floor following a 61-48 victory over Illinois in the Big Ten tournament title game, eighth-ranked UW watched from a hospitality room inside the arena as the NCAA brackets were unveiled.

And the eighth-ranked Badgers didn't have to wait very long to hear their name called.

Fairly early in the process, UW was announced as the No. 3 seed in the tournament's Midwest Regional. The Badgers will face 14th-seeded Cal State Fullerton in a first-round game Thursday night in Omaha, Neb.

"I'm just excited to keep playing," UW junior swingman Joe Krabbenhoft said. "We couldn't ask for anything more than to be playing next weekend in the NCAA tournament. We're excited. ... We're just going to look forward to playing Cal State Fullerton."

While the Badgers were hoping a 29-4 record, a Big Ten regular-season title and Big Ten tournament title would be enough to garner a No. 2 seed, they didn 't seemed bothered by being a No. 3 seed.

"We felt like we deserved (a No. 2 seed), but we're happy wherever we're playing," sophomore guard Jason Bohannon said. "As long as we keep playing and have a chance to keep winning, we're all for it.

"We're really happy going to the Omaha bracket also. A lot more fans will be able to travel there, and hopefully it will be a homecourt advantage for us."

Cal State Fullerton (24-8) earned an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament by beating UC-Irvine in Saturday's Big West Conference tournament championship game. The Titans, who matched a school record for victories, are making their second trip to the NCAA tournament, and first since 1978.

"I heard they're the Titans, that's about it," senior center Greg Stiemsma said. "We'll probably be looking at the scouting report once we get back (to Madison)."

Said Krabbenhoft: "I'm going to get on the phone and tell my friends to start looking up Cal State Fullerton stats because I want to know everything about them."

The Badgers, though, know this about themselves: They're ready for the next step of the season.

"You just saw us play three games back-to-back-to-back and we came out on top all three games. You saw the depth of the Wisconsin Badgers, you saw the contributions from different people on the team, you've seen us come back from a deficit, maintain the lead. You've seen the true Wisconsin Badgers and hopefully we 'll be able to carry that into the NCAA tournament," senior guard Michael Flowers said. "I feel good about the core group and our mentality about the NCAA tournament. We're not going to take anyone lightly. We're going to stay focused and disciplined and follow our team rules and try to win."

And winning is something the Badgers have gotten accustomed to doing over the course of this season. They would clearly like that trend to continue.

"Obviously we're excited. We're at an all-time high winning two championships right now," Krabbenhoft said. "We haven't lost in a while, but we've got to stay grounded, we've got to stay focused on the task at hand."

Said Stiemsma: "We're ready to make a run. We're not ready to be done yet."