Daktronics Screen Comes To Camp Randall And Kohl Center

Fans at Camp Randall will enjoy one of the best video-displays in the country next season. Construction began Monday to replace the decade-old existing system with a state-of-the-art Daktronics unit, considered the standard of stadium entertainment. At five-million dollars, the system is also one of the most expensive of any in the NCAA. The Kohl Center is also receiving the same set-up.
The steep price-tag includes the latest in technological design. Four times the size of the previous board, the main-screen of the new unit measures five-stories high and 170-feet across. Another pair of complementary advertisement panels coming in 50-feet across and 25-feet tall will straddle the larger screen. To further ease viewing of the screens, Daktronics has created a slightly bowl-shaped panel. Revolutionizing the industry, the inward facing perimeters avoid the usually flat surface that is hard to view at angles. Other displays in Camp Randall are also undergoing renovations, including larger secondary displays which feature the score, time, and occasional advertisements.

Badgers are losing confidence

It's no secret that the No. 18 Wisconsin men's hockey team has fallen on hard times. The Badgers are 0-5-1 since their bye week, and have been steadily dropping in the national polls and conference standings all month. A month ago, home ice in the WCHA playoffs and a berth in the NCAA tournament seemed a certainty. These days, not so much.

With the way the past month has gone for the Badgers you would expect the confidence level in the locker room to be dampened, but Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said that what his team is going through right now isn't all that unexpected.

"The confidence level isn't what it has been at other times during the year, I would be lying if I said anything different," Eaves said. "But by the same token what we're going through is what most teams will go through at some point in a season."

For those looking for precedent in this situation, Eaves pointed to the 2006 national champion team, who went through a similar situation as this year's squad.

"Relating it to the story about '06 when we lost [former goaltender] Brian Elliott. Brian came back and we lost two games against Mankato and we were kind of going through the same thing," he said. "We were able to gather ourselves then, win the next series and get on a roll."

"Our hope is that we can do the same with this group," Eaves added.

"They are a young group that has played very well at times. They know they can beat anybody. It's been a tough stretch but we have to gather ourselves like the '06 team did and see if we can get ourselves on a roll."

Eaves refused to label the Badgers' current situation as desperate or crisis-like, instead choosing to remain optimistic by seeing it as a chance for this young team to grow and come together.

"Sometimes when you go through things like this what seems like a negative becomes a positive," Eaves said after Saturday's 7-3 loss to St. Cloud State. "It's how you handle these moments and how you try to right your ship. This is a big growth opportunity for this team."

For Eaves, choosing to be negative in the face of adversity doesn't result in positive results moving forward.

"I don't think being negative in any situation has any benefits," he said. "We can be truthful with one another, we're not going to skirt issues. It's about perspective, and the perspective of the coaching staff and our captains is one of moving forward and figuring this out together, doing the things we need to do and get going again."

A good analogy for what this team is going through, and how it will end positively, is marriage, according to Eaves.

"The value of marriage in real life goes up when you go through hard times," he said. "The value of a team concept becomes more real when you go through hard times. This is part of us becoming closer as a team. It's a good thing to go through and we hope to see the benefits as soon as this weekend."

Let's hope the Badgers can turn it around in time.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badger Hockey is picking up

For No. 16 Wisconsin (5-6-2 WCHA, 9-7-3 overall), the first two and a half minutes of play against Bemidji State (4-8-1, 5-9-1) could not have gone much worse Friday night.

The Beavers scored two goals—on their first two shots of the night— in the opening minutes, as the youthful Badgers continued a season-long trend of starting a step slow. Still, UW got the first of two goals from sophomore center Craig Smith at the 12:16 mark of the first and tacked on a goal in each of the next two periods to earn a 3-2 victory in front of 11,358 spectators at the Kohl Center.

"Let's call a spade a spade," Badger head coach Mike Eaves said. "That was probably a disappointing a start as we've had this year."

Despite the win and two conference points, Eaves said he is considering changing the team's pregame routine to combat the sluggish starts, and might draw from other coaches for inspiration.

"When we were in Finland, there was a Russian coach that had his guys play two-on-two in the corners to make sure his team was ready," Eaves said. "I've never seen that before but I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that we may have to try that with this group."

The Badgers tied the game just after the mid-point of the second period when senior forward Podge Turnbull took a break-out pass and, with a defender in front of him, fired a wrister at the net. The puck took a strange hop and handcuffed junior Beavers goaltender Dan Bakala, skipping by him and into the net.

"I'm not sure if it hit the guy's stick or if I just kind of muffined one in there, but it went in and that's the important thing," Turnbull said.

Smith added the game-winner at the tail end of a five-minute power play early in the third period. Junior Bemidji forward Shea Walters earned an ejection along with the penalty for checking sophomore Badger defenseman Justin Schultz into the boards.

"It's a good sign when your team battles back," Smith said. "But it's not good when you're putting yourself in a hole right away."

Both of Smith's goals Friday came with a man-advantage and the team finished two-for-five on the night, improving their conversion rate to a WCHA-best 30.0 percent. The Badgers have scored a power play goal in 16 of 19 games this season, but have struggled to produce offense in even-strength play.

Between the slow start and power play-reliant offense, Friday's game continued multiple trends that have plagued UW through the first half of the season, but ended with the Badgers earning their first one-goal victory of the year.

"It was a frustrating night as a coach," Eaves said. "But you know what, we won a game where we played ugly. We'll put that in the bank, come back tomorrow and hopefully be better."

Let's hope Bucky can keep it rolling.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badger Hoops take charge

The Wisconsin men's basketball team returned home and earned a statement victory over NC State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, helping the Big Ten to its second consecutive win in the annual competition.

The convincing 87-48 win over the Wolfpack helped erase the negativity of last weekend's offensive struggles in Orlando.

Though they weren't alone, the Badgers struggled mightily from the field in Orlando, shooting under 40 percent from the field and under 30 percent from behind the 3-point arc.

Returning home for the first time in more than two weeks, Wisconsin was a different team on Wednesday, shooting at a 50 percent clip (28 for 56) including 55 percent (11 for 20) from downtown.

"I think a lot of guys got into the gym, got some jump shots up," sophomore forward Mike Bruesewitz said. "Plus it's always nice to be back home."

"[We] just ran good offense, got good looks, and knocked them down," head coach Bo Ryan said. "You have to believe that when you shoot, the next one is going to go in."

Although much of the improvement was simply the result of Wisconsin having one a when seemingly every shot falls, there was a definite increase in the aggression with which the Badgers played on the offensive end, especially from the guards.

"I think everybody is being more aggressive as a whole," junior point guard Jordan Taylor said. "I was trying to get in the lane more, open up for other people."

That renewed aggression, not only offensively but on the defensive end as well, allowed UW to turn what was a tight contest early on into a halftime blow-out. The Badgers held NC State scoreless in the last 6:36 of the first half and extended a ten-point lead into a 44-21 laugher at the intermission.

The NC State scoring drought would extend into the second half, eventually coming to a close on a Scott Wood steal and lay-up that ended a 23-0 UW run over 10:12 of playing time.

After failing to hold onto a late lead against the Fighting Irish, this Badger run to put away a young NC State team showed that Wisconsin remains adept at holding onto and building leads.

"We always want to get off to a good start because we feel if we can play with a lead it is to our benefit," senior forward Jon Leuer said. "It's hard for teams to come back against us."

After building and adding onto that lead, Wisconsin stayed true to its principles and grinded down an NC State team that started just one upperclassman.

The Wisconsin victory—their third straight in the annual challenge—helped the Big Ten claim just its second overall victory since it started in 1999. The first came last year.

"It means a lot, we take pride in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge," Leuer said. "[And] it builds up our conference RPI which is a positive."

Let's hope Bucky can keep it going. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Duke to visit Madison again

For the second straight year, Duke will visit Madison for the first time as part of Big Ten/ACC Challenge competition.
Only this time, it's the women who get a shot at knocking off the national power.
The Badgers will host the Blue Devils on Dec. 2 at the Kohl Center, UW announced Monday. Tip-off time and TV information will be announced at a later date.
Duke is coming off a season in which it went 30-6, shared the ACC regular-season title and won the league's postseason tournament, and advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Baylor.
The Blue Devils are entering their fourth season under coach Joanne P. McCallie, who previously coached at Michigan State. Former Badgers assistant Al Brown serves on her staff.
The Duke men made their first appearance at the Kohl Center last year, and UW upset the eventual national champions 73-69 for its first-ever victory over the Blue Devils.
Likewise, the UW women are seeking their first win against Duke. In the only previous meeting between the programs, the Blue Devils prevailed 86-66 on Nov. 27, 1987 in Durham, N.C.
This year marks the fourth annual ACC/Big Ten women's basketball challenge, which began as a four-year agreement and has been extended until 2012.
The 2010 Challenge will take place over two days beginning on Dec. 1. See the full schedule below.
Wisconsin is 2-1 all-time in the event. The Badgers dropped their inaugural game on the road against Virginia in 2007 but were one of four Big Ten teams to win in 2008. Wisconsin defeated N.C. State 53-48 on the road in last year's challenge.
Wisconsin returns three starters, and much of its depth, from a team that went 21-12 in 2009-10 and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in eight years.

Lets hope the Lady Badgers can take it to the house. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-11 Badger Hockey Schedule

There are all sorts of new faces, places and formats to embrace when it comes to the University of Wisconsin men's hockey schedule for 2010-11, which was released Thursday.
It all starts with the fact the Badgers will have two more challengers for the MacNaughton Cup, given annually to the regular-season champion in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Bemidji (Minn.) State and Nebraska-Omaha make their debuts in the 12-team league, having been absorbed from College Hockey America and the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, respectively.
The Beavers play at the Kohl Center Dec. 10 and 11, while UW travels to Omaha Feb. 11 and 12.
Bemidji State is one of two schools on the home schedule that have never played in Madison, much less the Kohl Center. The other is Canisius, an Atlantic Hockey entry which skates here Jan. 7 and 8.
The Badgers will open the 38-game regular season Oct. 8 and 10 in St. Louis facing Boston University, the 2009 NCAA champion, in the Ice Breaker Tournament.
UW, fresh off advancing to the NCAA title game, will make its home debut under odd circumstances. The non-conference series with Alabama-Huntsville Oct. 15 and 17 is a Friday-Sunday affair to accommodate a Big Ten Conference night football game at Camp Randall Stadium between the Badgers and Ohio State Oct. 16.
UW coach Mike Eaves apparently likes the balance of the schedule, which includes five home series before final exams and five after.
"And for one of the rare years, we are at home for the last series of the (regular) season," he said of a meeting with Colorado College that marks the third time in the past seven years the Badgers have finished up at home.

Let's hope the Badgers can continue thier winning ways. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UW Seniors go out with a win

In their last game at the Kohl Center senior guards Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes said farewell the only way they know how: with style.
Bohannon and Hughes hit back-to-back shots to open a game-long celebration of their Badger careers and finished the game on pace to become the highest scoring backcourt in Wisconsin history.
Hughes finished with 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting and Bohannon added 11 on 5-of-8 and also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds. Both became members of Wisconsin’s 1,000-point club this season and, depending on how the rest of the season plays out, they have a chance to become two of the most winningest basketball players at the university.
“If I was a director I couldn’t write a better script for tonight,” Hughes said. “Our team came out firing, [the way] the two teams opened up the game, and especially with [Bohannon]. The very first possession once he touched it I knew it was going to be a good night.”
If it was not clear by how they interact on the floor, Hughes and Bohannon share a unique bond. They were roommates in the dorms freshman year, which brought them closer together socially and helped form the chemistry on the court that gave them the opportunity to grow into such an impressive duo. It is only fitting that they also got to share all of the achievements they’ve accomplished with the team these past four years.
“Just think about two guys going over 1,000 points in the same year, playing on NCAA tournament teams, conference championship teams, conference tournament champion teams,” head coach Bo Ryan said of his two departing seniors. “That’s pretty exciting. There are a lot of people who would like to be Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes. I would.”
Both Hughes and Bohannon also shared the night with their families. Hughes’ mom got the chance to see her son play at the Kohl Center for the first time since he played in the Wisconsin state high school tournament. And because Hughes’ team didn’t win the title back then, he was glad his mom got to see him lead the Badgers to a victory.
Sometimes it’s funny how things work out and in what Bohannon called a “cool situation,” he got to finish his career at the Kohl Center against his home-state team in front of his dad, the quarterback of Iowa’s 1982 Rose Bowl team, and his mom.
The most difficult part of the night for Hughes, Bohannon and their families was not winning the game, but trying to hold back the tears.
“It’s very tough,” Hughes said of the emotions. “You just have to suck it up sometimes or sometimes let it go. There’s nothing wrong with shedding a tear. The emotion did play a role in the tonight’s game and I think that’s the energy we need to come out and play with in every game.”
The performances by Hughes and Bohannon were special, but in his fourth game back from a wrist injury a junior forward took over some of the spotlight. Consider it a passing of the torch to the Orono, Minn. native as it will be his team next year without Hughes and Bohannon. The heir-apparent to the Wisconsin leadership throne, scored 10 straight points, thanks to assists from both Bohannon and Hughes, in an 18-0 run and left no doubts that he is back to full form.
Let's hope that the Badgers are peaking at the right time. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!

Jason Bohannon Scores 30 points in win over Indiana

With a pair of former Badgers sitting behind the bench wearing their jerseys Saturday, senior guards Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes had one of the best combined performances of their careers.
Bohannon — whose jersey was worn by current New York Knicks forward Marcus Landry — put up a career-high 30 points while Hughes — whose jersey was the choice of Minnesota Timberwolves guard Alando Tucker — added 16 points, all in the first half.
Combining for 46 points, the UW senior captains helped No. 11 Wisconsin cruise past the Indiana Hoosiers in Saturday’s decisive 83-55 victory at the Kohl Center.
With the win, the Badgers managed to remain undefeated in games immediately following losses, as Wisconsin has yet to lose consecutive games during the 2009-10 season.
“We just hate the way it feels — we hate losing,” Hughes said. “The way we lose is when we get away from our game plan. If we stay in tune to that throughout the whole 40 minutes of the game, then we’ll be fine. That’s what we did.”
As they have several times this season at home, the Badgers quickly jumped out to a big lead over the Hoosiers. UW went up 8-0 in the first two minutes, 20-5 in the first six minutes and led by as many as 28 in the first half following a layup by Hughes with 2:55 remaining in the period that made it 46-18 in the Badgers’ favor.
The difference, though, between Saturday’s win and Wisconsin’s loss Tuesday to Illinois — a game in which the Badgers also led 8-0 in the opening minutes — was the ability of UW to maintain its hot start and to keep a young Hoosiers squad from getting back in it.
“You get that run, (and) you’ve got to sustain it,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “You’ve got to stay after it, and I thought we did a good job of that. They chipped away a little bit, but we got it back and then extended it again.
“It’s tough when you’re playing from behind, and we tried to make sure that we didn’t make it easy for them to chip into the lead.”
For the third time in four games, UW made more shots than it missed in the first half, as the Badgers shot 53.1 percent from the floor, including 46.2 percent from 3-point range. Six players scored in the period for Wisconsin, including Hughes, who led all scorers with 16 points at the break, and Bohannon, who had 14 first-half points.
It is great to see the Badgers rebound after a loss and continue to prepare themselves for a run at the Final Four. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#16 Wisconsin Vs. #5 Michigan State

When Duke came to the Kohl Center in December, Wisconsin basketball players downplayed the game as a fun non-conference opponent to help prepare UW for conference play.
The Badgers then knocked off the Blue Devils with an intensity normally reserved for March.
When Purdue traveled to Madison three weeks ago head coach Bo Ryan passed the game off as another tough Big Ten game.
UW proceeded to play with a fire fans hadn’t seen since, well, the Duke game.
With No. 5 Michigan State (19-3, 9-0 Big Ten) coming to Wisconsin (16-5, 6-3) Tuesday, UW players and Ryan are once again making light of a game with huge Big Ten and possible NCAA Tournament ramifications.
While the cliché responses are easy to understand, it is a lot more difficult to believe them.
“Every game is big,” UW junior Keaton Nankivil said. “We don’t look at it differently. This is a chance to play against a very good team at home… so it is a good chance to prove ourselves on the home floor.”
I hope the Badgers hand Michigan State their lunch. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frozen Four Preview?

For hockey fans who just can’t wait until April’s Frozen Four, heading to the Kohl Center this weekend might not be a bad idea, when No. 1 Denver takes on No. 3 Wisconsin. Both teams could find themselves earning No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament come late March.
The Pioneers (14-5-3, 10-3-3 WCHA) are riding a four-game unbeaten streak. But more important than the current unbeaten streak is DU’s recent domination of UW in Madison.
Denver is 11-2 at the Kohl Center since 2002 and only one of those losses was in the regular season. Although UW is 8-2-2 at home this season, DU plays well on the road, with a 6-3 mark. The Pioneers currently have a five-game winning streak over the Badgers, including a 3-0 victory in the WCHA Final Five last March.
Lets hope Bucky Badger can sweep the Pioneers. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Team USA visits the Badgers

With a record crowd in attendance Tuesday, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team welcomed the U.S. Olympic National Team to the Kohl Center for an exhibition matchup.
The Olympic squad, comprised of six current or former Badgers and lead by sabbatical Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson, left no doubt about who was the best team in the land by delivering a 9-0 victory over the Badgers.
It was a special night in the Kohl Center as four graduated Badgers were welcomed back as well as current UW athletes Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan, who elected to take a year off to participate in the approaching Olympics in Vancouver.
“Honestly it was the highlight of my career,” Wisconsin interim head coach Tracey DeKeyser said. “I’m such a sucker for the Olympic games, and I cry every time it’s on, and for some reason I found myself kind of teary-eyed during the national anthem.”
After a ceremonial puck dropping to mark the occasion, Johnson’s crew wasted no time taking the speed of the game to a level the Badgers were not accustomed to.
“It was really fast. They dumped the puck in and they were on you right away,” junior Geena Prough said. “You had to really think on your toes.”
Senior Alannah McCready occupied the net for the Badgers in the first period while former Badger and Patty Kazmaier award winner Jessie Vetter stood her ground for Team USA.
From the looks of it to me Team USA will do well in the Olympics. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bucky Beats Ohio State

On Saturday night, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team edged out the Ohio State Buckeyes 55-50 at the Kohl Center, extending its winning streak to four games and keeping its NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
Although the Badgers allowed the Buckeyes to shoot 55.3 percent from the field for the game, Wisconsin was able to force 19 Ohio State turnovers to keep the game within reach.
“Down on the defensive end, we don’t take any wishes or hopes there; you just have to play hard,” Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said. “Fortunately, we got them to turn it over because they were shooting it so well. If we don’t get them to turn it over, we have no chance.”
Senior forwards Marcus Landry and Joe Krabbenhoft led the Badgers to the victory, combining for 26 of the team’s 55 points. Krabbenhoft also registered a career-high six steals to pave the victory for Wisconsin. On a side note Athletic Director Barry Alvarez introduces U.S. Airways Copilot Jeff Skiles, a hero of January’s Hudson River crash, at Saturday night’s Ohio State-Wisconsin game. I think it is pretty cool that the copilot is from the Madison area( Oregon, Wisconsin to be exact, which is about 10 minutes south of Kohl Center.) GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!

Can The Men's B-Ball turn it around?

Following yet another heartbreaking defeat against Purdue, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team looks to end its five-game losing streak tomorrow evening at Welsh-Ryan Arena against the Northwestern Wildcats.
Wisconsin’s loss on Jan. 27 marked the first time in Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan’s career at UW that he has lost five in a row and the first time he has lost consecutive home games.
The Badgers (12-8, 3-5 Big Ten), whose last victory came against the Wildcats (10-7, 2-5 Big Ten) Jan. 7, will be looking to shut down a Northwestern team that has won three of its last four games, including a huge upset over previously No. 7 Michigan State in East Lansing.
Leading by five points with just under five minutes left against Purdue, the Badgers broke down again, leaving them with another distressing loss against a conference opponent.
The Badgers return to the Kohl Center on Feb. 5th. I look forward to the Badgers resuming their winnings ways and regaining their home court advantage