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Aaron Rodgers and Olivia Munn celebrate Wisconsin's advance to Elite Eight

Aaron Rodgers went to Cal for college, but he's been the Green Bay Packers' quarterback for 10 years and he's become a big fan of the Wisconsin basketball program while calling the state home.

Rodgers and his girlfriend, actress Olivia Munn, watched the Badgers beat North Carolina 79-72 on Thursday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

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Rodgers has become close with the Wisconsin players and coaches over the years, including forward Sam Dekker, who had one of the best games of his career against the Tar Heels. Dekker scored a career-best 23 points and 10 rebounds in the game and gave Rodgers partial credit for inspiring him.

“He was talking to me this morning, saying he wants a good show,” Dekker said of Rodgers in a postgame interview with TBS. “He’s been so supportive all year. He’s really behind our backs and reaching out to me if I’m playing well or not playing well and just staying behind me as a good friend. When you have the MVP of the NFL doing that for you, it’s pretty cool.”

Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan (jokingly) had a bit of fun at Rodgers' expense before lavishing praise on him when asked in the post-game press conference what he thought of the NFL MVP cheering on Ryan's team.

"Aaron Rodgers? The guy that – not Erin Andrews? Really? I didn't notice he was there." Ryan said. "...No, he's been great all along. He's been very supportive.

"Actually, he's got better jokes than most. But it was nice he was there. I didn't get a chance to see him. I had to ham it up in the locker room with him last year making faces. Hopefully he sticks around [for Saturday's game]. Is he going to be around? He doesn't have anything else [going on]."

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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!