It probably qualifies as an exaggeration, but not by much.

In the process of outlining why the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team is worthy of its NCAA tournament berth, junior goaltender Shane Connelly acknowledged that the line of detractors is a long one.

"Everyone in the country basically doesn't think we belong here," he said.

Not everyone believes third-seeded UW will be in over its head when it takes on second-seeded Denver in the Midwest Regional semifinals Saturday at the Kohl Center, but based on Internet rhetoric, e-mail volume and casual conversations with those in the college hockey world, the consensus seems very one-sided.

"Everyone doesn't think we belong here," Connelly repeated. "We know we belong here."

It's one thing to say that with conviction. It's another to back it up with performance.

"I believe, and everyone in the locker room believes, that we belong here," Connelly said. "Now we just (need) to go out and show them."

The Badgers (15-16-7) are the first losing team to get an at-large berth for the NCAA tournament since the field was expanded from 12 to 16 teams in 2003. You can count on one hand the number of schools to previously qualify with a record under .500 since the tournament began in 1948: Alabama-Huntsville (13-19-3) in 2007; Colorado College (18-21-1) in 1978; Minnesota (13-16-2) in 1971.

UW sophomore center Aaron Bendickson said he's had numerous chats in the last week in which someone asked how it all happened. He tries to keep it simple.

"That Pairwise (ranking) is confusing to me as well as a lot of people," Bendickson said. "I just tell them that the strength of our schedule and the conference we play in allowed us to get in to it.

"Everyone is always like, 'You guys are lucky. How did you guys get in there?' I say, 'To be honest, that's what you get when you play top level teams all season long.' We deserve it; that's what I say."

The Badgers finished 12th in the final Pairwise ranking, which uses four statistical measures — power rating, record vs. teams under consideration, record vs. common opponents and head-to-head results - to compare schools vying for the national tournament.

Aside from the losing record, what has most people chiding the berth is the fact a fellow Western Collegiate Hockey Association school, Minnesota State-Mankato, was left out of the mix.

Mankato won 19 games, finished ahead of the Badgers in the WCHA regular season, was 2-1-1 in their head-to-head meetings and won the Pairwise comparison between the teams.

But overall the Mavericks won fewer Pairwise comparisons with UW and saw Notre Dame slip past them for the final at-large spot.

UW sophomore defenseman Jamie McBain sent a text message to Shattuck St. Mary's (Minn.) High School chum and current Mankato winger Zach Harrison when the NCAA bracket was announced. When he got no answer, McBain called Harrison.

"He said, 'We're not friends anymore,'" McBain said. "He was kidding, but he's bitter about it."

A year from now, it's expected the NCAA will have a provision requiring at-large qualifiers to have a .500 record or better.

"I could see somebody writing that in saying, 'That can't happen again,'" UW coach Mike Eaves said.

The Badgers not only are in the tournament — despite a 7-11-3 record against the field; despite the fact they never won more than two games in a row during the regular season; despite owning a three-game losing streak — they are playing at the Kohl Center as the host school.

While that's a huge opportunity — two wins and you're in the NCAA Frozen Four — that's also a lot of pressure on UW to prove it belongs.

"People are looking for us to lose to Denver in this first round and we're going to go out there and hopefully prove them otherwise," McBain said.

"We need to make a statement," Bendickson said.

NCAA Midwest Regional

Where: Kohl Center.

Saturday's semifinals: Princeton vs. North Dakota, 2 p.m.; Denver at Wisconsin, 5:30 p.m., My Madison TV (cable Ch. 14).

Sunday's championship: Semifinal winners, 6 p.m., ESPNU.

Tickets: Call 1-800-462-2343 or go to uwbadgers.com.