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.

Bielema talks about the NCAA rules

Speaking Thursday at the Big Ten's media days in Chicago, UW head coach Bret Bielema more than chimed in on the recent NCAA investigations involving allegations of major violations at several noted programs, most prominently the Big Ten's own Ohio State.

Bielema took a hard stance against flagrant disregard for the rules throughout the offseason and showed no change of heart Thursday morning. While dancing around questions involving specific programs, Bielema managed to sneak subtle commentary on the situation into seemingly every one of his answers throughout the 15 minute question and answer session.

Beyond the issues involving specific violations and legal technicalities, Bielema expressed a true displeasure for the lack of integrity he and many others have begun to associate with the college football community. Describing the recruiting of Badger transfer quarterback Russel Wilson, Bielema noted that he could not have much contact with the former NC State starter "because of NCAA rules, which we follow".

Bielema's subtle commentary continued throughout his time on the podium. In seemingly every answer, the sixth year coach made a point of the belief that the integrity of a program is fully within the control and responsibilities of the head coach.

"I can control, handle, and manage the things on my desk," Bielema said. "When you are consciously abusing an NCAA rule, there's no excuse for that."

The problem with today's game, as the Wisconsin coach pointed out, is not the technicalities the pervade NCAA regulations, but rather with the flagrant disregard with compliance with the rules. Coaches across the country have shown a willingness to consciously choose the "competitive" solution, rather than sticking to the rules when it comes to recruiting, practice, and player "compensation."

While Wisconsin's insistence on doing things the right way may have taken them out of the running for the nation's top recruits Bielema has managed to turn UWs' clean program image into a positive recruiting tool.

It is good to see how Wisconsin athletics work.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!

New Hockey League is Taking Shape

Another major shakeup is on the horizon for NCAA men's college hockey.

Four months after it was announced that the Big Ten Conference would sponsor the sport starting in 2013-14, an affiliation that includes the University of Wisconsin, multiple reports Thursday say another league will debut in that same time frame.

In a story first reported by the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, five Western Collegiate Hockey Association schools will join forces with Miami (Ohio) out of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association to form a new partnership.

Citing unnamed sources, the Herald said Colorado College, Denver, defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota are leaving the WCHA, which has existed since 1951 and produced 37 national champions.

It's possible that Notre Dame and Western Michigan also could join the new league, which is expected to be officially unveiled next week in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The development comes in the heels of the Big Ten's announcement in March that UW and Minnesota from the WCHA and Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State from the CCHA would hook up with Penn State to form a new league.

Thanks to an $88 million gift from billionaire alum Terry Pegula, Penn State is introducing men's and women's hockey in 2012-13, giving the Big Ten the six members on the men's side needed for NCAA sanctioning.

Such a mass exodus - seven teams leaving the WCHA, six leaving the CCHA - would leave the two established conferences with five members apiece, which isn't enough to maintain NCAA sanctioning. It's expected that they would join forces in some fashion.  

It will be interesting to see how things shake out.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ohio State Situation not good for the Big Ten

As tempting as it might be, University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez doesn't view the ongoing ethical storm atop the Big Ten Conference summit as a good thing.

Allegations of major rules violations at Ohio State led to the resignation of football coach Jim Tressel earlier this week. The NCAA is investigating the flagship school of the league a year after another premier program, Michigan, was placed on NCAA probation for the first time in school history.

"You never want to see that, particularly with one of your brand schools," Alvarez said Wednesday. "I don't feel good about it for our league."

Speaking at the Badger Day fan event at the Harley-Davidson Museum, Alvarez said he understands why some might view this as a great opportunity for UW and its football program to take advantage of two vulnerable rivals.

"If I were the coach," he said, referencing his 16 Hall of Fame seasons overseeing the Badgers from 1990 to 2005, "that's maybe how I'd be thinking."

But that's not how it is.

"You don't want someone to get their legs knocked out from under them and look for that to give you an opportunity," Alvarez said. "It shouldn't have to be that way.

"I don't want to sit there and lick my chops and say, ‘Wow, that opens the door for us.' I just don't think that's right."

UW football coach Bret Bielema, who led his club to share of the Big Ten title with Ohio State and Michigan State last season, said turmoil elsewhere in the league will not be a distraction much less as motivation.

"Wisconsin is going to worry about Wisconsin," he said.

Let's hope Wisconsin will win the Big Ten this year.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers out of NCAA Tournament

In the Badgers first two possessions Thursday night, what seemed like reason for optimism actually served as a grim foreshadowing of what was to come.

On each of UW's first two trips, Wisconsin worked the ball into the post and got good looks from senior forward Jon Leuer. He missed each, but usually going inside ensures some level of consistency.

Not on this night.

Wisconsin fell behind early and looked flustered throughout. It was a bad shooting night from its two top scorers until late in the second half, but Butler opened up a commanding lead and held on late to top UW 61-54 and end the Badgers' season.

The Bulldogs will face Florida Saturday night for a trip to the Final Four. 

Wisconsin caught fire late and trimmed what was a 20-point gap to just four with 1:38 remaining when junior guard Jordan Taylor hit a three. The junior finished the night with 22 points on 6-19 shooting (3-10 three-point attempts).

However, before the late-game frenzy, UW's offense was lethargic at best.  

Leuer frequently caught the ball in the post, but where the First Team All-Big Ten performer usually converts on a near-automatic basis, he found unfriendly results with Butler.

The Orono, Minn. native finished the game with an ugly 1-12 mark from the field (1-6 on three-point attempts) and three points.

"Overall, if you look at a shot chart, I like most of the shots we got," Ryan said. "At some point, you just have to make some of them."

Leuer certainly was not alone in his struggles, though.

In one stretch that spanned the final portion of the first half and beginning of the second half, Wisconsin went 10:05 without a field goal.

"We touched the ball in the post four out of five times [to start the second half] and came up with nothing," Ryan said.

Junior point guard Jordan Taylor—who struggled shooting in a 2-of-16 performance last Saturday against Kansas State—added carelessness with the basketball to shooting woes against Butler.

The point guard, despite his astounding numbers when it comes to protecting the ball—he entered the game leading the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.18—was credited with two turnovers in the first half and generally forced the issue on the offensive end.

"We made [poor] plays that are uncharacteristic of how we play," Leuer said. "We tried to force some things offensively … and just did some things [we] normally don't."

Butler capitalized nearly every time UW stumbled and led 33-24 at the half, largely because the Bulldogs outscored UW 15-1 in points off turnovers.

As uncharacteristic as the cough-ups were for Taylor, he also missed four free throws in the first half. Coming into the season, Taylor converted his free throws at an 85 percent clip.

The junior finished the night with 22 points on 6-19 shooting.

The Bulldogs got exceptional play from senior forward Matt Howard, who finished with 20 points. In addition to scoring, he grabbed 12 big rebounds (three offensive) and seemed to track down the ball whenever the situation required it. Howard scored inside and outside and aptly closed out on Wisconsin shooters like senior forward Keaton Nankivil, who scored nine points in his final game as a Badger.

"We just needed to put a few more minutes together here tonight so we could keep dancing," Ryan said. "Unfortunately, the music stopped playing."

As a team, UW shot just 30.4 percent from the field (17-56) and 24.1 percent from beyond the arc (7-29)

The Badgers exceeded expectations this whole this season. Needless to say, though, Thursday's performance fell short.

Let's hope that next year they can go farther.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

March Madness

The 2010-'11 men's basketball campaign has thus far stuck to the Bo Ryan script. Ryan took a team picked to finish in the middle of the Big Ten standings and wound up continuing his streak of now 10 seasons of top-four finishes top four in the conference.

Heading into the conference tournament in Indianapolis this weekend, the expectations are high for a Wisconsin team that carries the third seed in the tournament.

Despite coming into the postseason winning eight of the last 10, the Badgers know that regular season success does not guarantee  a tournament run. Take one look at the way the 2009-'10 campaign finished (second round loss to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament and second round loss to Cornell in the NCAA Tournament) and that fact should be fairly well established.

"Last year was a different year, a different team," freshman guard Josh Gasser said. "This is what we've worked toward, to win a Big Ten title and go to the Final Four."

Still, for every point of criticism that could be made against Ryan's program and its lack of a Final Four run, it is hard to argue with two conference tournament titles, four Big Ten championship game appearances and 12 NCAA Tournament victories, three more than the Wisconsin program had in the 96 years prior to hiring Ryan.

First team All-Big Ten selections Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer have combined for 37.1 points per game this season, second most in the Big Ten and sixth in the nation. Add in the fact that Taylor is currently on pace for an NCAA record with his 4.26 assist to turnover ratio, and it seems that the talent is certainly there for a postseason run.

As much as the blowout loss to Ohio State on Sunday brings back thoughts of the Cornell loss, it is difficult to compare last year's team with a Badger squad this season who is on pace to set NCAA records for free throw percentage (82.7 percent), turnovers per game (7.47) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.79), all while carrying the nation's second most efficient offense (1.19 points per possession) and ninth best scoring defense (59.1 points per game).

Simply put, the Wisconsin system is built for tournament play.

"It's what our system is predicated off of. Taking care of the ball and not giving the other team easy opportunities, easy run-outs and defensively just being sound," Leuer said. "Obviously you have to hit shots but if you play good defense and rebound, you're going to have a chance to win any game."

With a favorable matchup set for Friday (Wisconsin will face the winner of Thursday's Penn State-Indiana game), the stars are starting to align for what the Badgers hope is a long run into the postseason.

"We are going down there to win the thing," Leuer said. "We wanted to win the Big Ten regular season and obviously we didn't get a chance to do that but now we have a new opportunity in front of us."

It would be awesome if the Badgers could win the Big Ten Tournament.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badger Softball Fires Head Coach

After three consecutive losing seasons, Chandelle Schulte’s run as head softball coach at the University of Wisconsin is over.
Schulte, who went 99-153 overall and 23-70 in Big Ten play over her five years at the helm, did not have her contract renewed Thursday, as the UW Athletic Board voted not to do so.
Schulte’s only winning season over five years at Wisconsin came in 2007, as the Badgers went 27-20 in her second year as head coach. They were just 6-12 in conference play, however.
The 2010 version of the Badgers improved from the previous two, going 20-31 after back-to-back 15-40 seasons, but it was not enough to earn Schulte an additional year as head coach.
“I appreciate Chandelle’s efforts during her years with us and I wish her well,” UW athletic director Barry Alvarez said in a statement. “We will immediately begin the process of searching for a new head softball coach.”
Schulte was just the second head coach in the history of the program after replacing Karen Gallagher, who resigned in 2005.
In her final season before taking the position at Wisconsin, Schulte earned her 300th career victory as a head coach. She did so at College of Charleston, where she was head coach for four years. During her tenure, the Cougars were 163-82, with one NCAA regional appearance, a conference tournament championship and two regular season Southern Conference titles.
Schulte’s most successful season as a head coach came in 2005, when she led College of Charleston to a school and Southern Conference record 53 wins. The Cougars also had seven players named to all-conference teams while Schulte was named SoCon Coach of the Year.

Lets hope the Badgers can hire a winning coach and turn their fortunes around. GO BUCKY!!!!

Badgers are headed to the Frozen Four

Ben Street knows it. Mike Eaves and Brendan Smith do too.
The Wisconsin men’s hockey team has had a charmed season in making its run to the Frozen Four — and possibly the program’s seventh national title. Lots of little things happened that added up in a big way: players staying, opportunities to play in big games and maybe most importantly, a lack of injuries.
“It’s not wood, but it will do,” Street said with a chuckle, as he tapped the practice rink boards in reference to the Badgers’ health this season.
Aside from senior tri-captain Blake Geoffrion missing a game early in the season and a two-game series at Michigan Tech at the end of February, Wisconsin has been lucky to avoid the injury bug. The fact he was able to return from the concussion with no ill effects is a big reason the Badgers are one of the last four college hockey teams standing, as the Brentwood, Tenn. native had two goals and three assists in Wisconsin’s two West Regional games.
“Any coach will tell you that you need a little bit of lady luck on your side, and having good travel and having people that are healthy makes a big difference,” Eaves, UW’s head coach said.
“The biggest thing I think is people not getting hurt,” Smith said. “That comes along in the season when your top players go down and it really affects — because somebody else has to step up and maybe they don’t do the exact same job.”
WCHA tournament champion North Dakota knows the pain of injury — the Sioux lost former All-WCHA defenseman Chay Genoway to head injury in November and UND struggled until a second-half surge.
In addition to staying injury free, the Badgers have also stayed, well, for lack of a better term, the same team. UW’s seven-man senior class is the Badgers’ biggest since the groups that won it all in 2006 and fell one overtime goal short of the Frozen Four in 2007.
Lets hope the Badgers can win another National Championship. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NCAA Hockey Tournament

On paper, it looks like a mismatch.
Wisconsin, which owns a 25-10-4 record, is the No. 1 seed in the West Regional in St. Paul after spending most of 2010 ranked third in the nation. The Badgers’ opponent, the fourth-seeded Vermont Catamounts, are three games above .500, with a 17-14-7 mark.
UW scores the second-most goals per game in the nation; UV is 32nd out of 58 teams. Wisconsin is in the top 13 in both power play and penalty kill; Vermont is 45th and 32nd, respectively. Two Badgers are among the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, given to college hockey’s most outstanding player; the other eight finalists include zero Catamounts.
It seems like Wisconsin should have no trouble winning its first game of the NCAA tournament, and the numbers back it up.
But don’t expect the Badgers to take the game lightly.
“First seed, four-seed… I look at their record, they’ve only got five or four more losses than we do. That’s not a big difference,” UW head coach Mike Eaves said. “Our belief as a coaching staff is any team can beat anybody because it’s one day, one-game and you’re in or out.
“We have a huge amount of respect because they’re at this point of the season with us.”
Despite its overall mediocrity, Vermont is one of the just 16 teams in the NCAA field. And now that the season has reached the “win-or-go-home” stage for every team, UW can’t afford to take the game lightly.
Lets hope the Badgers can go far in the tournament. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cornell Crushes Badgers

For 11 seconds, Wisconsin and Cornell were tied in Sunday’s game. Then Big Red forward Ryan Wittman hit a quick jumper, making it 2-0 in favor of Cornell.
That was just the beginning of the rout Sunday as No. 12 seed Cornell knocked off No. 4 seed Wisconsin 87-69 at Veterans Memorial Arena. The win was just the second NCAA victory in school history for Cornell, which will face the Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet 16.
After Wittman hit the first shot of the game for Cornell, the Ivy League champions put on a shooting clinic over the final 39 minutes and 49 seconds.
“When you play a team that can shoot like they did, obviously 69 points just wasn’t good enough,” junior forward Jon Leuer said. “They were on fire.”
For the first half, Cornell shot 59.3 percent overall and 50 percent from the 3-point range. After halftime, the Big Red were even better, connecting on 63 percent of their attempts and 57.1 from long distance.
Wittman was particularly impressive, shooting 10-for-15 on the day and 3-of-5 beyond the arc. The senior from Eden Prairie, Minn., finished with 24 points, two assists and two steals.
Additionally, it was a game of milestones for Wittman, who broke his own school record for points in a season with 586 and became just the fifth player in Ivy League history to score 2,000 career points.

Hopefully it was a good learning experience for next year. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers Beat Penn State in Overtime

For most of the afternoon Sunday, Wisconsin’s shots weren’t falling, while Penn State could not miss.
Over the final 15 minutes, however, the Badgers turned the tables on the Nittany Lions as they rallied back to escape with a 79-71 overtime victory at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin’s win, its sixth in conference play this season, extended the Badgers’ mark to 51-0 at home against unranked Big Ten opponents in the Bo Ryan era.
“We just kept sticking to our stuff; we knew some shots would fall,” senior guard Jason Bohannon said. “It didn’t look like it at times, but there were stretches where we got hot — Jordan (Taylor) certainly did toward the end of the game and that really propelled us to the victory.”
It took an incredible effort from both senior guard Trevon Hughes and sophomore guard Jordan Taylor to keep the Badgers undefeated at home in 2009-10. Hughes’ 22 points were a team-high while Taylor added 20 points, all in the second half.

It sure is great to see Bucky Badger battle back and win in overtime. I think when it comes time for the NCAA Basketball tournament the Badgers are going to be a bracket buster. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Women's Hockey Threepeats as National Champs!!!

The Wisconsin women’s hockey team continues to reap the benefits of stomping No. 3 Mercyhurst for the national title on Sunday. It has been a whirlwind non-stop few days for the Badgers since they returned to Madison late Sunday night. It all started after the game with the ensuing celebration on the ice that led to the locker room and finally to a local Boston restaurant. More than100 fans gathered at Game On next to Fenway Park to welcome the 2009 national champions and celebrate for the next four hours while the team killed time before their scheduled flight back to Madison. When the team landed in Madison at approximately 11:20 p.m., they were greeted by TV cameras and about 25 fire trucks and police cars with their lights bright and the horns blaring. All of the firemen came out to applaud the ladies and then gathered on the ice at The Shell to take a picture (see below). Since the team got home so late, the marketing folks scheduled a homecoming celebration for the team on Monday. The crowd of over 600 cheered the team on as each player was announced and coach Johnson and three seniors talked. The Badgers hung around after the event to sign autographs and take pictures. It goes without saying that it was a bittersweet moment for the seniors. A class that recorded 135 wins, which is more than any other team during that time, and three national championships. The NCAA title game is the only way they knew how to end a season.

Lets hope the Badgers can keep this winning tradition and spread it to other sports at UW as well. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers Beat Michigan

The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team added an important game to its postseason résumé yesterday afternoon in a 60-55 home win against the Michigan Wolverines.
Going into the game, the Badgers were just one game ahead of the Wolverines (8-8 Big Ten, 18-11 overall) in the Big Ten standings with a record of 8-7 in conference play and 17-10 overall. With their win over Michigan, Wisconsin pulled into a tie with Penn State, whom they have swept this year, for the number four spot in the conference.
Despite getting the big win, the Badgers are not thinking about the postseason but solely concentrating on their next opponent, who happens to be Minnesota. If the Badgers can win their final 2 games of the regular season I believe they will secure a bid to the NCAA tournament. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUCKY WINS AGAIN

After going on a six-game losing streak, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team has finally battled their way back to .500 in the Big Ten with a win over Iowa last night, 69-52.
While the Hawkeyes were able to shoot 50 percent from the floor, the Wisconsin defense held Iowa to just 38 total shots while forcing 14 turnovers. They also scored 29 points off those turnovers — an average of about two points per turnover. The Badgers only had six turnovers on the night.

It feels like the Badgers may be starting to peak at the right time. Let's hope they can keep it going when it comes to tournament time. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Typical NCAA

It's not like Bret Bielema has been chained to his desk on the eighth floor of Camp Randall Stadium the last month, although it's probably felt that way at times for the University of Wisconsin football coach.
A new NCAA rule has grounded Bielema and other head coaches during the important spring evaluation period, which runs from April 15 to May 31. Assistant coaches are still allowed to visit high schools and evaluate prospects.
It's been quite a change for Bielema, who spent all but a handful of days on the road during last year's spring evaluation period. At this time a year ago, he was likely either watching a spring football practice in Florida or Texas, a track and field meet in Cleveland or a baseball game in Illinois.
More importantly, the time on the road offered Bielema the chance to build -- or strengthen -- relationships with high school coaches around the country. And while he couldn't speak with recruits on these trips, there's a pretty good chance he left an impression on them. It's hard not to notice a tall guy with a red Wisconsin polo shirt watching your every move.
Bielema said he liked the rule change at first "because it put everybody on the same playing field." The more he thought about it, however, the more he realized it handicapped coaches like himself who actually like to be on the road recruiting in April and May. It is sad that college coaches can't be trusted to have contact with potential recruits. I hope it doesn't continue to get worse. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!