Excitement over Final Four game ramps up in Madison

MADISON (WITI) -- The Wisconsin Badgers face the Kentucky Wildcats on the court in the NCAA Tournament's Final Four in just three days! The Badgers need two more wins to achieve a national championship for the first time in 73 years. As the Badgers continue to prepare for the big game -- the excitement level continues to grow in Madison.

Retailers say the demand is high for Wisconsin Badgers merchandise -- that seems to be flying off the shelves!

"I want a medium shirt, but there's only larges left, but I really want one, so I guess I'm just going to have to go with the large," one Badgers fan said Tuesday, April 1st in Madison.

With a basketball team bound for the Final Four, everybody wants to be seen sporting Badgers red!

"Sunday at noon, we had 35 boxes of product that came in. By 3:00, it was all gone. More stuff came in Sunday afternoon and it's been coming in ever since," Pat McGowan with the University Book Store told FOX6 News.

McGowan says business has been off the charts -- even when compared with past Final Four runs.

"It was awesome in 2000. It's three times that this year. The business has been really, really good," McGowan said.

McGowan says much of the merchandise is going straight to the online marketplace. There, it's selling so quickly that some of the items aren't even making it into the store.

It's not just the Badgers base that's hopping on the bandwagon. FOX6 News found a student from nearby Edgewood College looking for a shirt to commemorate the team's success.

"I think it's all of Wisconsin. I don't know if it's just Madison," that student told FOX6 News.

If the national championship were decided by the faithfulness of the school's fans, UW might take the top prize.

The University of Wisconsin sold all of its tickets for student seating at Saturday night's game in less than one day.

They're now selling standing room only spots, and have three buses full of students planning on making the trip to Texas.

"In 2000 it was great, but I think the event has grown exponentially since then. It's a much bigger deal. It's pretty much on par with the Super Bowl."

FOX6's Tom Pipines is headed to Texas to cover the Badgers in the Final Four! Watch for his reports starting Thursday night on FOX6!