Basketball
While students take a break from their studies for the holidays, UW Men's Basketball doesn't skip a beat. Already facing a fairly weak non-conference slate, the Badgers added losses to UNLV and Notre Dame, leaving Saturday's game against Marquette as the last hope for a marquee non-conference victory.
Regardless of Saturday's outcome, Wisconsin will have to rely upon its conference play if it hopes to get to March with a resume good enough for a 13th consecutive tournament appearance.
Despite dates with UW-Green Bay and Coppin State still on the slate, the Big Ten season is creeping closer by the day.
Beginning with a home date against Minnesota on Dec. 28, Wisconsin will have five conference games under their belt before classes resume, with four of those featuring teams projected in the top half of the conference.
After the conference opener against the Gophers, UW faces a date in Champaign with an Illini team thought by many to be the most talented in the conference.
After that, Wisconsin will have Michigan at the Kohl Center before heading to the Breslin Center for a bellwether game against the perennial conference favorite Spartans. The winter break slate then closes out with the final match-up against Illinois.
Though many are disappointed at the winter break timing of this game, the Jan. 15 date will hopefully mean enough students will be back to get the Kohl Center rocking. After Illinois ended the Badgers' 51-game home winning streak against unranked conference foes in their last Kohl Center appearance, this is a game Wisconsin has certainly had circled for some time.
These final games, especially the three against Illinois and MSU, will play a large part in the direction this season heads, with nothing thus far in the non-conference slate hinting toward disaster nor toward the type of magical season Badger football has had in 2010.
While the strength of the Big Ten in all honesty makes a conference title perhaps a bit of a reach, the formula for another NCAA tournament appearance is simple: Take care of business at home. With all four conference title contenders (Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan State and Illinois) set to visit the Kohl Center, UW has an opportunity to essentially escape the bubble simply by maintaining the high level of play at home that has given Wisconsin a 68-6 conference home record during Bo Ryan's tenure, including a record of 15-5 against ranked Big Ten teams over that span.
While victories at East Lansing, West Lafayette, Champaign, or Columbus would really be a bonus, the Badgers have to take care of business on the road when favored. Match-ups against Iowa, Penn State, Northwestern, Michigan, and Indiana provide UW with their best opportunities to notch a few road wins.
With nearly a third of the Big Ten slate set to be complete before classes resume, we should have a much better picture of what 2011 will bring by the time the spring semester rolls around.
Hockey
With a roster full of young, inexperienced players its not much of a surprise the No.16 Wisconsin men's hockey teams season has gone the way it has. The Badgers have led their fans on a roller coaster like ride this year and as they head into the break after this weekend's series with new WCHA rival Bemidji State, there is still a lot to improve on. However, with the youth on the roster growing with each passing series, this team is beginning to head in the right direction.
Head coach Mike Eaves and senior goaltender Scott Gudmandson believe that the upcoming two-week break will really benefit this young team.
""We have to find consistency in our play, but that is typical of a young team,"" Eaves said. ""In my mind we're not quite there yet, but after the break they will have that first semester behind them and they will come back older, wiser, and better hockey players.""
""It is nice to have the little part of the season where we can focus on hockey and not have to worry about too much else,"" Gudmandson said.
The biggest question mark for the Badgers coming into this season was how they would fare with a very inexperienced team. Those younger players have had to learn on the fly this season, but some of the team's veterans really like what they have seen from them.
""The younger guys are really starting to find their niche on this team,"" junior forward Jordy Murray said. ""They're trying to grow, not trying to do too much, and really starting to play within our system.""
""They have done a great job, they came in and played well right from the get go,"" Gudmandson added. ""There may have been a couple of times when they looked like freshmen, but overall they have looked older than they are and are playing really well.""
One of the freshmen, forward Mark Zengerle, assessed where he is as he approaches the halfway point of his first season as a Badger.
""We have played better than people expected, and I feel like I have improved over the course of the season,"" Zengerle said. ""I'm listening to the coaches, and have been practicing shooting more, but I need to be able to carry that over to the games.""
While their record isn't quite where they would like it to be at this point in the season, veteran players like Jordy Murray seem to like the direction that this team is heading.
""If you look at our record we're doing alright, not superb, but for a young team that came in with not that high expectations, we're playing pretty good hockey,"" Murray said. ""We know we can improve on certain things though, like creating more offense when we are playing 5-on-5. We want to end on a good note here this weekend and carry that into the second half of the season.""
