Badgers Part Of Conference Championship Weekend 2014

Well, we have reached the final week of the college football season, also known as “Conference Championship Saturday” and there is plenty left to be decided as far as the playoffs are concerned, meaning the final four teams that will get to play for the national championship. So lets take a look at these games

Arizona and Oregon, PAC-12 Championship- For Oregon, this one is very simple, they win, their in. Arizona has been really lucky at time this season, luck like that usually runs out in the big moments. This should be an easy win for the Ducks.

Iowa State and TCU- This one is not a conference championship game, but this one does have national championship implications. TCU has no choice but to win this game, and they must win convincingly. Fortunately, that should happen. I expect TCU to win by several scores.

Kansas State and Baylor- This is another huge game with playoff implications. This is a chance against a great team for Baylor to make a statement and sneak in to the playoffs. Final score, Baylor by three.

Florida State and Georgia Tech, ACC Championship- Despite being the defending national champions, despite carrying the nations longest win streak, the Seminoles currently sit number three in the polls. This can be a good game if the Yellow jackets can control the clock early and prevent the Seminoles from getting up early. Still, I expect the Seminoles to win this game by two scores.

Wisconsin and Ohio State, Big Ten Championship - Oh the Gophers are getting closer to winning that game against the Badgers every year. But, the Badgers prevailed and they will take on Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game. J.T. Barrett will miss this game as well as the postseason for the Buckeyes, so it is going to take a great gameplan for them to win this game. Badgers should win this game.

Alabama and Missouri, SEC Championship - This one may turn out to be the blowout of the day. I do not see how Missouri can win this game. Final score, Alabama with the mercy rule.

Race To Big Ten Championship 204 | Do The Badgers Have A Shot?

So how are things going in Big Ten football right now? The race to the Big Ten Championship game has turned into one of the most entertaining conference races in the nation. Let’s examine where we stand.

The Big Ten East division is a two horse race between Ohio State and Michigan State. Both teams currently sit at 7-1 on the season and 4-0 in Big Ten play. Ohio State fell off of the map for a while after their early season debacle against Virginia Tech and Michigan State almost blew it against Purdue a few weeks back. These two teams are headed for high noon this Saturday at 7 p.m. Central time in East Lansing. The winner of this game will play in the Big Ten championship.

The Big Ten West division is an entirely different story. Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin all have serious chances at it. Nebraska. This one is far from over as all of these teams have to play the other three to finish the season. This is going to be the best race coming down the stretch in the nation. It may not impact the National Championship game, but it does have a competitive appeal to it. Of the four, I would put my money on Nebraska as they seem to have the best package of the four teams to offer. After that Minnesota followed by Wisconsin. I put Minnesota above Wisconsin because of the complete ineptitude of the Badgers quarterbacks right now, as I have written about previously this season on this blog. Iowa in my opinion is the least likely of the four to win this division. I will predict that Nebraska plays Michigan State for the Big Ten Championship in Chicago in December and gets hammered when they do.

NCAA Top 25 for October 2014 | Mississippi State Hits The Top Spot

Time now for my NCAA top 25 rankings. If I can pat myself on the back, I told you so about Mississippi state. Will Florida State keep their lofty rankings by winning big? Will will Wisconsin come back on this list? Who knows. Meanwhile, we're looking forward to seeing who wins this week.  

1. Mississippi State- I called it, boy did I call it. Now Gators fans are calling for Florida to hire Dan Mullen as the new head coach.

  2. Mississippi- If Mississippi State has the best resume in America, their in-State counterparts have the second best resume.

  3. Florida State- Needs to make a statement this weekend against Notre Dame

  4. Baylor- In prime position to win the Big 12 after that wild finish against TCU

  5. Auburn- They now find themselves out of the playoff at the moment after the fiasco this weekend against Mississippi State

  6. Notre Dame- Loser in the Florida State –Notre Dame game this weekend falls out of the National Championship picture.

  7. Oregon- They will win the Pac-12 as a consolation prize

  8. Michigan State- They almost pulled the “oops” game last weekend.

  9. Marshall- The quietest unbeaten left.

10. Alabama- I’m not impressed with the Tide this season at all. If Brandon Allen’s arm was a little stronger, they would have lost again last weekend.

11. Georgia- The Bulldogs keep on trucking along.

12 TCU- Well it was fun while it lasted.

13. Arizona- The luck finally ran out for the luckiest team in America..

14. Oklahoma- This appears to be another dull season for the Sooners and yet another Fiesta Bowl invite.

15. Washington- First place in the Pac-12 is on the line this weekend against Oregon.

16. Ohio State- Here come the Buckeyes. They might just pull this off after all.

17. Kansas State- Will probably have to settle for the Cotton Bowl.

18. Georgia Tech- Needs to get back on tract after the Duke loss.

19. Nebraska- They are gunning for either the Rose Bowl or the Capital One Bowl at this point

20. Duke- Probably the one of the stories of the season so far. This Duke team is 5-1.

21. Minnesota- In prime position to win the Big Ten right now.

22. Oklahoma State- this may be the quietest team in the country right now.

23. Rutgers- Not much to say about this team.

24. East Carolina- A lot of offense, and no defense.

25. Kentucky- 5-1 right now, which is why I rank them.

Badgers 2014 Not Too Impressive So Far | Big Ten Looking Sloppy Overall

The Badgers came into the 2014 season with high hopes and a new quarterback. Through the first two games of the season, I’m not impressed with this team, period. Joel Stave was the starter for the Badgers for the last two seasons. However that doesn’t mean he played well. He started out okay as the season began a year ago, and got worse as the season progressed to the point of which the bowl game against South Carolina was one of the worst performances by a quarterback I have ever seen in my 28 years I’ve spent on this planet. Simply put, Stave just looked outmatched at every turn for 60 minutes. This led to a quarterback change this off season in Madison. Out steps Joel Stave, in steps South Carolina transfer Tanner McEvoy. To tell you the truth, McEvoy has not looked that much better running this offense. Unless he improves, it looks like the Badgers will need to find yet another quarterback. In fact, I would say it is time for them to expend some out of State recruiting resources into find a solid quarterback.

As far as the rest of this team is concerned, I’m not impressed with the rest of you all either. I was not impressed with the defensive meltdown against LSU to open the season. I was not impressed with the fact that they had a one score lead entering the third quarter, at home, against Western Illinois. That was a team they should have buried by halftime if they were as good as their ranking says they are.

The Badgers have a game upcoming this Saturday at home against Bowling Green. The line has the Badgers as 27 point favorites, but with the way this season has started, I am not sure if it should be that high. I think they will win, but the final score may be much closer than that, say 34-20.

Big Ten Looking Bad So Far

Here is the good news for the Badgers, the rest of the Big Ten hasn’t looked that much better either. Michigan State’s defense blew a lead against Oregon and lost, although that is no big deal. Ohio State lost at home to Virginia Tech who turned around and lost last Saturday to East Carolina. The Badgers are still the favorites to come out of their own division to play in the Big Ten title game, so they could coast all the way there with all sorts of problems and not have to do anything about them. I will tell you this, no Big Ten team will be in the playoff this year.

Badgers First Two Games Were Not A Test | Wisconsin Has Huge Obstacles Ahead

The Wisconsin Badgers have started the 2013 season with back-to-back shutouts, defeating UMASS 45-0 in week one and Tennessee Tech 48-0 in week two, becoming the first Badgers team in over half a century to post back-to-back shutouts. Yawn.
Not much of a news story there, as these were both Championship Subdivision opponents. I understand that seven such teams beat Bowl Subdivision teams in week one, but none of those Bowl Subdivision teams were as good as the Badgers are, and no, I don’t count Oregon State as a good team.
2012 was basically a free ride to a Big Ten Championship for Wisconsin, as they literally had almost no opposition to get there. That isn’t the case in 2013. There are a number of teams who could get in their way of another trip to Pasadena. The biggest road block is Ohio State. The Buckeyes currently sit ranked third in the polls. Ohio State couldn’t stop the Badgers from winning the Big Ten championship because they simply were not eligible due to their postseason ban. The postseason ban is over now, and the Buckeyes are a strong favorite to win the Big Ten.
Also standing in Wisconsin’s way is Michigan, whose offense ran over a good Notre Dame defense on Saturday, dropping 41 on the Irish. Question with Michigan is the same question that has plagued them the last couple of years, can they defend enough? Another team in the Badgers’ way is Northwestern. The Wildcats have been slowly improving year to year for the last decade, and I believe one of these years they are going to sneak up and snatch the Big Ten title when nobody’s paying attention. Northwestern has always been led by strong quarterback play, and this year is no different as Kain Colter might be the second best quarterback in the Big Ten behind Ohio State’s Braxton Miller.
Another team that would like to have a say in this process in Nebraska, and I guarantee you they have not forgotten about the way Wisconsin embarrassed them last December in the Big Ten Championship game. If Nebraska and Wisconsin meet again, I believe the game will go much, much, differently. At the end of the day, I think the completion for Wisconsin is too strong for the Badgers to win the Big Ten yet again.

Badgers Basketball Team Comes To Life | NCAA Tournament Still In Sight

As the calendar turned to 2013, the Wisconsin Badgers wereleft for dead. Their season was pretty much toast and they were given no chance to make the NCAA tournament. It's not like the season was being considered a disappointment either. Many thought this was Bo Ryan's worst team ever during his tenure in Madison and the preseason loss of point guard Josh Gasser really hurt. At that point, any chances they had of making the tournament yet again this season had been thrown out the window. Something unusual, and this is what makes sports so darn awesome happened after New Year's- all of a sudden the Badgers gained some traction and their season sprung to life.

The Badgers began Big Ten Conference play with several okay wins, at home against Penn State and on the road against Nebraska. Alright then, couple of so-so wins. It’s nothing to get excited about. It's what happened after the Nebraska that caught everyone's attention. Illinois came into the Kohl Center on January 12^th feeling confident and left, well, not so much, losing 74-51. The Badgers went on the road three days later and pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of the college basketball season, defeating preseason number one and currently ranked number two Indiana 49-47. Wisconsin came down to earth in the next two games and I thought that the Badgers had peaked and were on their way down. They proceeded to come home and beat 12^th ranked Minnesota on a last second shot.

Some of this has been luck though. Indiana couldn't hit a shot to save their life that night and the Badgers needed to Gophers to have their worst game of the season offensively. But still, a win is a win is a win. The Badgers travel to Columbus tonight to take on Ohio State. How long can the magic last though? Well, let's wait and see, shall we?

Badgers Fans Shocked As Brett Bielema Walks Away

Badgers fans were stunned by the news of Bielema's departure to Arkansas. This news came before the Rose Bowl, further angering Wisconsin fans. The news that Barry Alvarez will coach the team at Pasadena was less of a surprise. If you take a hard look at the situation at Madison, it becomes easier to understand why Bret took the leap.
The Badgers made the Rose Bowl this year because Ohio State was ineligible. Next season, the Buckeyes will most certainly win the Big Ten Championship game, and our Badgers will more than likely be languishing somewhere below the .500 mark. Last season, the team had lost key players to graduation, and that talent drop off will increase as Montee Ball will be gone next year.

Bielema Took Advantage Of The Timing

Bielema saw the writing on the wall, and took a powder before his stock dropped big time. Why didn't Bielema find a way to recruit well in these past few years, in order to replenish the departing players? Some say it was partly due to the playing and coaching style of Wisconsin football. When a team is focused on the run, hot shot quarterbacks will more than likely avoid the calls from recruits from said teams.
Why spend your college career working under the radar, or in the shadows of a player like Ball, White, or Dayne? Finally, Bielema is a gambler. Most folks know that. Bret took an assessment of the situation in Madison, and decided to go "all in" at Arkansas. Now it's up to Alvarez to find a suitable replacement that will be able to keep the team hot.

Badgers looking to OSU after the stunner at MSU

In the wake of one of the most agonizing defeats in school history, the dreadful memories of Saturday's loss to Michigan State still linger for the Badgers. Yet, as difficult as it is to continue moving forward, it is imperative that Wisconsin maintains its focus as they invade Columbus to take on Ohio State this Saturday.

UW head coach Bret Bielema addressed the team's disappointment and urged the players to continue fighting.

"I told [the players] you should never get used to this feeling,"Bielema said. "This feeling should hurt. It's something we need to get rid of and shake out tonight. If you ever accept it, then it's going to happen more than you ever want it to."

Even after a shaky performance and an unsuccessful comeback, senior quarterback Russell Wilson remains optimistic about his team's ability to overcome this adversity.

"The main thing is staying positive, keep working hard like we do everyday and keep leading," Wilson said. "There's a lot of great opportunities for us and we have a great opportunity to play Ohio State."

Last season, the Badgers upset the then-No.1 Buckeyes 31-18 before a raucous Camp Randall Stadium, a pivotal victory en route to a share of the Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. On Saturday, the Badgers won't have the comforts of home.

While the Badgers have won three of their last five meetings in Columbus, the most recent trip resulted in a 31-13 loss. The Badgers dominated in first downs 22-8 and total offense 368-184, but Scott Tolzein threw three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns.

The Badgers are all too familiar with the consequences of missed opportunities, so it is essential they convert when they have their chances, especially against a tough defense, ranked 16th in the nation.

"Ohio State has got a lot of athletic ability up front all the way to the back end of the defense," Wilson said. "The main thing is capitalizing on opportunities just like any other game."

The controversy encompassing Ohio State this summer has been well publicized, as it was revealed several former Buckeyes received improper benefits while former head coach Jim Tressel lied to the NCAA about having any knowledge of the transactions. Tressel has resigned, but the image of the program has been besmirched.

But even with all the negativity, Ohio State has remained competitive, coming off its biggest victory against upstart Illinois, 17-7, last weekend.

"They look more and more like the traditional Ohio State as they get further in the season," Bielema said. "Their defense is playing extremely well with that swagger."

While a shot at the BCS title is gone, the Badgers still dictate their own destiny in the quest for the Big Ten title.Bielema has witnessed teams stuck in a hole claw their way back to become conference champions. In 2003 as Kansas State's co-defensive coordinator, Bielema's team lost three straight games against Marshall and conference rivals Texas and Oklahoma State, leaving them 4-3 overall but 0-2 in the division.

"One of things I really benefitted from my experience at Kansas State was I had a great two years of learning divisional play within a conference," Bielema said.

"[Kansas State head coach] Bill Snyder said if we take care of our business, we can get in the conference championship game and get to a BCS bowl. Everyone was looking at him like he had three heads."

The team rallied together and not only won the rest of their games, but shocked No. 1 Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship, desecrating the Sooners 35-7 for the conference title and earning a trip to the Fiesta Bowl.

"I think the biggest thing is what kind of kids you have in your program," Bielema said. "I expect this group to bounce back as they did late in the fourth quarter and put everything into this preparation."

Let's hope Bucky can turn it around in Columbus.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!