This year’s Wisconsin men’s basketball team hopes to add to its recent NCAA tournament success when it plays St. John’s in Washington, D.C., Friday.

An eight-seed in the East bracket, the Badgers will make their fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance and the eighth in school history.

Wisconsin made an instant impact when it first entered NCAA tournament play, beating Dartmouth, Pittsburgh and Washington State in its first tournament appearance in 1941, to take home the only national championship in school history.

The Badgers made tournament appearances in 1947, 1994, 1997 and 1999, but never won more than one game in any of the events.

In 2000, though, the Badgers shocked the college basketball community by making an improbable run to the Final Four. Led by Mike Kelley and Jon Bryant, Wisconsin knocked off explosive Fresno State, Arizona, and LSU teams to gain the right to face conference rival Purdue in the Elite Eight.

The Badgers sent Gene Keady and Brian Cardinal home packing after fending off a late Purdue run and squeezed out a 64-60 victory to reach their first Final Four in nearly 60 years. A loss to season-long nemesis Michigan State kept the Badgers from reaching the title game, but did nothing to tarnish their magical run in the 2000 tournament.