Badgers Win Hockey Showdown

When the Badgers’ old winning formula of outshooting and outscoring their opponents by a wide margin was slowed, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team found a new way to win: be resilient.
Facing a No. 9 ranked Yale team that outshot the Wisconsin Badgers Hockey team 42-22, a depleted Badgers team hung on to win the final Badger Hockey Showdown in a shootout. Senior tri-captain Blake Geoffrion got the winning shootout goal as UW overcame a shorthanded roster, sloppy first period and a game misconduct to Jordy Murray to hang on to a 2-2 tie through overtime to force the shootout.
UW head coach Mike Eaves said he was happy with what the Badgers showed him during the tournament.
“Well, I am, because I think we were a resilient group this weekend,” he said. “I mean, we played this game with five defensemen and basically five defensemen last night too. I think the fact that we had to mix our lines up and try to find chemistry as we ran along… but I think the resiliency of this group was something that I think showed up.”
Holding on to a 2-1 lead in the third period, Yale’s Brian O’Neill scored a power play goal with 2:37 to play to tie the game. The Badgers missed opportunities earlier to take a bigger lead when Ben Grotting fired a shot off the post on what should have been an easy goal, as well a botched breakaway by Aaron Bendickson.
So with three of its young guns missing due to the World Junior Championship, it was two seniors who stepped up to push Wisconsin (13-5-2) to a six-game unbeaten streak. Seniors Michael Davies and Geoffrion scored in the shootout, while Yale’s third shooter, Denny Kearney was the only player to convert for the Bulldogs.
I was great to see the Badgers return to championship form. In fact, I am going to purchase some Badger Hockey Tickets right now. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers Beat Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl

The game plan was simple: play tough physical football, control the clock and leave the Champs Sports Bowl with a win and a 10-3 season.
That’s exactly what the Wisconsin Badgers did Tuesday night, dominating the No. 14 Miami Hurricanes 20-14 at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Considering it was essentially home game for Miami, the result was especially impressive on a cold night in Orlando.
“What you have to understand a little bit with Wisconsin is we kind of take a boxer’s mentality offensively,” head coach Bret Bielema said. “Wear you out, wear you out, throw the body punches. Eventually that cumulative effect will be a ‘W,’ and that was what was able to happen.”
After just 23 seconds, however, the game appeared to be headed in a different direction.
On the game’s opening kickoff, Miami’s Graig Cooper took the ball back 84 yards to the Wisconsin 6-yard line. Following a 10-yard penalty for an illegal block in the back, Cooper took the ball outside for 16 yards and the score, putting the Hurricanes up 7-0 early.
The game’s final 59:37 was all Wisconsin, though.
Behind quarterback Scott Tolzien and running back John Clay, the Badgers did exactly what Bielema wanted them to do: they wore Miami down until they were unable to stop the UW rushing attack.
Clay, who was named the game’s MVP by the media, finished with 121 yards rushing on 22 carries and a pair of touchdowns despite missing significant portions of the second half due to injury.
Tolzien, a junior who surprised many people when he earned the starting role in fall camp, was poised and effective, passing for 260 yards while completing 19 of 26 attempts. He did have one turnover, an interception in the second quarter, but the Wisconsin defense backed him up as Miami lost 19 yards on the drive and punted after going three-and-out.
After the game, Tolzien credited his strong performance to his development throughout the 2009 season.
It was great to see the Badgers get a 10 win season, not only for the existing players but also for recruiting. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas From Bucky Badger

Here is to wishing all fellow Badger fans a Merry Christmas. After a year of living the highs and lows in Badgerland I believe we have many things to be thankful for. As a football fanatic I am sorry to say the number 1 highlight of the year is:

Wisconsin Men’s Basketball vs. Duke, Dec. 2, 73-69 Wisconsin
In college sports, there are not many more exciting moments for fans than when their school brings in a prestigious non-conference opponent for a big home game. That’s exactly what Badger fans got when the Duke Blue Devils traveled up to Madison. Wisconsin jumped out to a 12-5 lead to start the game and didn’t looked back. Propelled by 26 points from Trevon Hughes and some clutch free-throw shooting and defense late in the game, the Badgers never trailed, holding on for the upset victory over the No. 6 Blue Devils.
The victory for the Badgers was a special one on multiple levels, with the most obvious being the fact that Wisconsin beat a program like Duke. Regardless of who is on the team, or even particularly how good the team is that year, a win over Duke is a signature victory the UW fans, players and coaching staff can remember for the rest of their lives.
When one thinks about big college basketball victories, NCAA Tournament games will likely come to mind first. But there is something to be said about a big victory at home. The Duke victory was one thousands of fans could enjoy live, from the tip-off to the final buzzer. The crowd made the most of the chance, bringing the noise volume to an ear-piercing level at numerous points in the game and of course rushing on to the court, creating an unforgettable memory for fans at the Kohl Center.
The icing on the cake was that the game helped secure an unexpected victory for the Big Ten in the Challenge, its first in the 11-year history of the affair, and marked Duke’s loss in the challenge.
Wisconsin’s home win over No. 6 Duke this season should go down as its greatest regular season non-conference win ever. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trevon Hughes Joins 1,000 Point Club

As has often been the case lately for Wisconsin, though, senior guard Trevon Hughes was the star of the show as the Badgers cruised to a 48-point victory.
Hughes, a 6-foot native of Queens, N.Y., scored 20 points while pulling down six rebounds, dishing out three assists and grabbing four steals. The co-captain shot 7-of-10 from the floor on the night, including a perfect 6-for-6 in the first half and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc on the night.
With just 5 1/2 minutes into the game, Hughes added to his list of accomplishments this season when he hit a jumper to put the Badgers up 15-4.
Though he thought it should have been a three, the long 2-point basket gave him nine points on the night, and 1,000 in his career a Badger. Hughes became the 34th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark and the first since Marcus Landry in 2008-09.
“It was like a big weight off my shoulders,” Hughes said. “Obviously, I came out tonight and I couldn’t miss the in the first half, the only thing that slowed me down was halftime. We had a joke about it at lunch today — me, Keaton (Nankivil) and J-Bo (Jason Bohannon) — because they reminded me that I was just nine points away.

It looks like the Badgers have rebounded from their loss to UW-GB up in the north woods. I was thinking about getting some Wisconsin Basketball tickets to an upcoming home game. Madison is always a blast. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers VS Miami Champs Sports Bowl 2009 Orlando Florida December 29th

It's official. It will be Wisconsin Badgers VS Miami Hurricanes, Champs Sports Bowl, December 29th 2009. The Badgers will bring their solid run game to Orlando Florida. Miami is better known for their passing attack.

Nick Toon, Scott Tolzien, John Clay all need to bring their "A" game. The crowd will be loud, and decked out in Miami colors. Rest assured, Wisconsin Badgers fans will make the trip, and represent our state, but Miami fans have to drive just a few hours to the Florida Citrus Bowl stadium.

Wisconsin Vs. Duke

Wisconsin basketball senior guard Jason Bohannon assured reporters Monday after practice that while the Duke game Wednesday night will be a great competition, in the end, it is just another game on the schedule.
Yeah, right.
In hosting the Blue Devils as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge — an event the Big Ten conference has lost every year since its inception in 1999 — the Badgers get the chance to score a major nonconference win, along with gaining a little revenge from the last time these two teams met.
Facing off at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the aforementioned challenge in 2007, the Badgers left Duke with an embarrassing 82-58 loss — by far their largest deficit in any defeat that season.
Still, UW head coach Bo Ryan refused to acknowledge how the past could affect his team Wednesday night.
“You know, I really haven’t looked at that one that much because this is a different team,” he said. “We got into a foul trouble. [Duke] shot lights out. … You look at, and you can’t; if you overreact to one game or underplay a game, it’s probably not very good for the overall psyche of your players.”
At the very least, senior point guard Trevon Hughes conceded he was looking forward to the rematch with one of the ACC’s perennial top two teams.
“I was surprised, I didn’t think we would get Duke again, playing them two years ago,” Hughes said. “I’m glad we did — I need to redeem myself. The guys that are here, we lost at their place and we feel like we owe them something.”
Coming in as the No. 6 team in the nation, the Blue Devils have already scored strong wins over Arizona State and, most recently, then-No. 13 Connecticut in the NIT Season Tip-Off last weekend.
It would be awesome if the Badgers could take advantage of their home court and beat Duke. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wisconsin's Rushing Defense Proves to be the Best

As much as the dynamic game of football has evolved since its creation, one simple strategy has remained a constant on every level of play: run the ball to control the game.
While running back John Clay continues to make a case for Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, the Wisconsin defense understands perfectly well how vital it is to put opposing running backs on lockdown.
The Badgers have claimed the top rushing defensive unit in the Big Ten and much of the team’s success this season can be attributed to having not allowed any conference opponents to reach 100 yards of rushing offense in a game.
“We’re very proud of that. It’s something we feel like is a measure of toughness in a game,” defensive coordinator Dave Doeren said. “Our guys take a lot of pride in being accountable for each other and it shows that they’re measuring up to it.”
With the final Big Ten game against Northwestern approaching, Wisconsin could become the first team to prevent all of its Big Ten opponents from reaching 100 rushing yards in one season since Ohio State did so in 1988.
It would sure be nice to have the Badgers finish 10-2 and win thier bowl game. It would help recruting in the off season to potentially get them back to a BCS bowl. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!