The Wisconsin football team conducted practice without Bret Bielema at the helm of the program for the first time in seven years Saturday afternoon. With Barry Alvarez adding interim head coaching duties to his standing duties as the school’s director of athletics, the energy level appeared to be high throughout.
If it was not for a meeting put together by team captains following the news that former head coach Bret Bielema had bolted to Arkansas, Barry Alvarez would still be carrying out normal duties of Director of Athletics and searching for a new head football coach. Now, Alvarez’s next month will be even busier.
The Wisconsin men’s basketball team (6-3 overall) will play what is perhaps its most important non-conference game of the season when it travels to the Bradley Center Saturday to face in-state rival Marquette (5-2).
When I went out to get this story, I was hoping to uncover some kind of sports hierarchy, with football at the pinnacle and smaller sports like rowing and rugby forming the base of the pyramid, kind of like the sturdiest four cheerleaders of the squad—they perform just fine, but everyone knows the crowd’s eyes will be drawn to the top.
Coming off of an impressive three-point weekend on the road against Denver, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team (2-5-3 WCHA, 2-7-1 overall) is looking to continue turning their season around at home this weekend against Michigan Tech (3-6-1, 4-8-1).
After being swept on the road against archrival and top-ranked Minnesota last weekend, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team (6-6-2 WCHA, 10-6-2 overall) would usually be looking to wind down the following weekend against inferior competition. That won't be the case however, as the Badgers must regroup to welcome another rival, the No. 8 ranked North Dakota Fighting Sioux (8-4, 11-5), to La Bahn Arena.
Like many who watched the Penn State-Wisconsin football game a few weeks ago, I couldn’t avoid thinking about last year’s horrifying revelations of former Nittany Lions Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky’s crimes against children. From the infamous 23-page grand jury indictment to the cringe-worthy phone interview with Sandusky on NBC’s “Rock Center”—I will never forget a sullen Bob Costas speaking of “rhythmic slap, slap, slapping sounds”—the news story was unlike anything I’d ever come across before. The lurid accusations, the high-profile figures, the institutional failure—it all seemed so surreal.
Bret Bielema’s seven-year tenure as the Wisconsin football team’s head coach came to a sudden, unexpected end Tuesday when he was hired by the Arkansas Razorbacks, throwing the UW program into a state of turmoil four weeks before the Badgers face Stanford in the Rose Bowl.
Saturday night in Indianapolis, Bret Bielema hoisted the Stagg Championship Trophy, his Badgers having just throttled Nebraska 70-31 to win their third-consecutive Big Ten title and claim their third-straight Rose Bowl appearance.
The atmosphere inside the Kohl Center is always a little bit different when Marquette comes to town.
Five Badgers scored in double digits and two recorded double-doubles in Wisconsin’s 86-40 win over Nebraska-Omaha (2-8 overall) Tuesday night.
UPDATE: UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez has issued a press release stating:
INDIANAPOLIS—Moments after Montee Ball hoisted the Grange-Griffin trophy, presented to the Big Ten Football Championship Game’s most valuable player, he tried to hand it off the stage to Melvin Gordon.
INDIANAPOLIS—It isn’t hard to imagine Wisconsin (4-4 Big Ten, 8-5 overall) offensive coordinator Matt Canada licking his chops leading up to the rematch with Nebraska (7-1, 10-3) in the Big Ten Championship game.
INDIANAPOLIS—When No. 14 Nebraska (10-2 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) and Wisconsin (7-5, 4-4) square off here tonight, an appearance in the Rose Bowl will be on the line. The Badgers have made the trip to Pasadena, Calif. and lost each of the last two years, while the Cornhuskers—previously of the Big 12 Conference—have made just two appearances in school history, losing to Stanford in 1941 and Miami in 2002.
If sitting in his Kingsport, Tenn., home watching the Badgers pull off a stunning 42-39 victory over Michigan State in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game last year didn’t add even more motivation to Curt Phillips’ comeback attempt, it’s likely nothing would have.
INDIANAPOLIS—As kickoff between No. 14 Nebraska (10-2 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) and Wisconsin (7-5, 4-4) approaches, The Daily Cardinal will have full coverage of the 2012 Big Ten Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Check back this afternoon for more pregame coverage. Here are some quick hits about the matchup.
Thanksgiving: A time to get together with family and friends to appreciate all the things we have and find one last moment of respite before the hectic holiday season.
Normally the Wisconsin men’s basketball team (4-3 overall) thrives in tight, slug-it-out type games, but Wednesday, the Badgers were given a taste of their own medicine, falling to Virginia 60-54 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Hidden behind overtime thrillers, records being broken on offense and costly missed field goals lies a Wisconsin defense that may be quietly peaking just in time for Saturday’s rematch against Nebraska (7-1 Big Ten, 10-2 overall) in the Big Ten Championship game.
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