There was little suspense as to whether or not they'd make it, but Sunday night, Wisconsin and Marquette learned that they were, in fact, headed to the NCAA Tournament.

Wisconsin (23-8, 13-5 Big Ten) earned a No. 4 seed in the east and will face No. 13 Belmont (30-4), the Atlantic Sun Conference champ, at 6:27 p.m. Thursday in Tucson, Ariz.

The Badgers have made the tournament in each of the last 13 seasons but have advanced to the Sweet 16 just once in the last four -- losing to a lower-seeded team each time.

Two ugly losses -- 93-65 to top-ranked Ohio State in the regular season finale and 36-33 to Penn State in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal -- have left the Badgers with a chip on their collective shoulder.

"You always have to play with a little chip on your shoulder but in the NCAA Tournament, where every team you play is going to be a grind, you need to have that swagger coming in," Jordan Taylor said.

"I'm sure it's going to be like last year where a lot of people picked us to lose. We have to come out, play good basketball and get back on track."

Belmont finished 11th in the nation, averaging 80.4 points a game and averages just under 10 three-point attempts. The Bruins are also very good on defense, forcing 19.2 turnovers per game -- the second-best mark in the county.

Wisconsin may have to take the court without a key member of its rotation. Sophomore forward Mike Bruesewitz suffered a sprained right knee and is listed as day-to-day.

Golden Eagles head East

It had been an up-and-down season for Marquette (20-14, 9-9 Big East), which was unsure of its post-season fate after losing back-to-back games against Cincinnati and at Seton Hall to finish the regular season.

But victories over Providence and West Virginia in the conference tournament -- and a regular season resume that included victories over four-Top 25 teams -- was enough to earn the Golden Eagles the No. 11 seed in a tough East Region and a second-round meeting with No. 6 Xavier (24-7), the regular season champion in the Atlantic 10.

Marquette faced Xavier last season at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando. The Golden Eagles won that game, 71-61, and head coach Buzz Williams says a lot of the same players in that game will be on the court when the teams meet again Friday at 6:27 p.m.

"I think they're a real good team," Williams said. "I haven't studied them much this year. Coach (Chris) Mack has done an unbelievable job and I know they have one of the best guards in the country."

Williams is speaking of junior Tu Holloway, who averaged 20.2 points and 5.5 assists per game. Both figures were second-best in the A-10.

ESPN commentator Jay Bilas is looking forward to the contest, posting on Twitter that the game will be a "bare knuckle brawl." The winner of that game advances to a third-round match-up with either No. 3 Syracuse or No. 14 Indiana State.

New look, broadcasters: The NCAA Tournament has a new look this year after expanding to a 68-team field. Four teams will compete Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio, with the winners moving onto second-round match-ups.

CBS Sports will handle the bulk of the broadcast duties for the 30th straight year, but games will be spread over three other networks in 2011, part a 14-year broadcast contract between the NCAA, CBS and Turner Broadcasting worth nearly $11 billion.

In addition to CBS, games will also be broadcast on TBS, TNT and truTV.

Both Wisconsin's and Marquette's second round games will be carried on truTV, which is available on Time Waner Cable (49) and in HD for AT&T UVerse customers (1164).

Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller and Dan Bonner will handle the call of Wisconsin's Thursday game on truTV. Gus Johnson and Len Elmore will handle the Marquette-Xavier game, also on truTV.

You can find a complete schedule and list of broadcasting assignments here.

Venues: Second and third-round venues this year are: the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., the St. Petersburg Times Forum in St. Petersburg, Fla., the Pepsi Center in Denver, the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz., the Time Warner Arena in Charlotte, N.C., Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, the United Center in Chicago and the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Regional round games will be played in New Orleans, Anaheim, Newark and San Antonio and the Final Four will be played at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

UWM heads south: The UW-Milwaukee Panthers did not receive an at-large bid but will participate in the National Invitation Tournament after winning the regular season Horizon League championship.

They'll open the NIT Wednesday, on the road against Northwestern. The Wildcats went 18-13 and finished eighth in the Big Ten with a 7-11 record.

The game tips off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3.com. The winner advances to face either Boston College or McNeese State in the second round.

A complete, printable NIT bracket is available here.

Women's field announced Monday night: Both Marquette and UW-Green Bay are expected to receive bids when the women's tournament field is announced Monday evening.