The No. 3-seeded Wisconsin men's soccer team (9-7-2, 3-2-1 Big Ten) begins its Big Ten Tournament run today as it takes on a No. 6-seeded Michigan squad (6-9-4, 1-2-3) at 12:30 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

Following a loss to Indiana in the Big Ten title match this past week, Wisconsin fell into a tie with Ohio State for second place in the conference with 10 points. Unfortunately for the Badgers, the Buckeyes secured the No. 2 seed based on their head-to-head victory over UW earlier this season.

With the NCAA tournament looming over the horizon, this week's Big Ten Tournament could be the deciding factor as to whether or not the Badgers receive a bid.

Following the team's disappointing stretch of three losses to end the season, Wisconsin head coach Jeff Rohrman admits his team might need to win all three games and capture the Big Ten Championship in order to get an NCAA bid.

"We're definitely a bubble team, there's no question about it," Rohrman said. "I think we're disappointed with the results last week, and we're clearly in a position where we have to go to Columbus and, in my opinion, probably win three games."

To a certain degree, Wisconsin's late-season woes may become all the more painful as the Badgers hope for a tournament berth with seven losses to the record.

"There [have] been teams that have been in the [NCAA] tournament with eight or nine losses in the past three or four years," Rohrman said. "So, you never know. As I told the guys [Monday], all you can really focus on is what you can bring and what you can control, and then just let things kind of fall into place as they may."

While the Badgers slipped at the end of the season, the ferocious Wolverines made the most of their final two Big Ten matches, earning a point against Ohio State in a 0-0 draw and bagging all three points in its final match of the season, a 1-0 victory over Penn State, which earned Michigan goalkeeper Patrick Sperry the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor.

When asked about his team's performance in the crucial 1-0 loss to Indiana this past week, Rohrman admits playing the seven-time NCAA champions at home is always as difficult as it gets.

"Winning at Indiana is no easy task — it's a daunting challenge," Rohrman said. "Yet, at the same time, I thought we had two or three very good chances that we just didn't find the frame with. The goal [Indiana] scored was off a long throw — it wasn't off creative, quality attacking play. But, I give them credit, they won the game … and I thought overall they might have played a better game than we did."

In its previous meeting with Michigan this season, Wisconsin won 2-1 in dramatic fashion, benefiting from a fluke own goal in extra time to give the Badgers their first Big Ten win.

"You know, you create your own luck — and that's from persistence and hard work," Rohrman said in reference to the Michigan own goal. "I thought on that day, we did that. I like how we match up against Michigan, and certainly we should be confident in how we played against them earlier in the year."

Although they were victorious, Rohrman believes his squad should have sealed the victory before extra time, and admits his team will need to bring the same emotion and intensity they brought in the last meeting.

"In thinking about that game, I thought we played a pretty complete game," Rohrman said. "We brought the intensity and the emotion that we needed to on that day. I thought we were a little unfortunate not to get away with a win in regulation … but, we've learned from that, we've talked about it, and thankfully we were able to get the win."

As an NCAA bid has not been secured yet, tonight's game could, in fact, be the final match for Wisconsin's seniors. With the stakes higher than ever for eight Badger seniors tonight, the intensity should be high as well.

"I know that [the seniors] are extremely motivated," Rohrman said. "They know this potentially could be their last week to wear a Wisconsin uniform, and, as I told Hamid [Afsari] — I don't want this to be [their] last week. They're going to be really inspired and ready to meet the challenge this week."

The winner of tonight's showdown will play the victor of the No. 2 Ohio State/ No. 7 Michigan St. match in a semi-final on Friday at 6:30 p.m.