As the 2016 regular season winds down and the NCAA Tournament looms near, the Wisconsin Badgers are playing about as well as they could have hoped. After earning a pair of resounding wins at home this past weekend, Wisconsin (16-2 Big Ten, 24-3 overall) heads into its regular season finale on a tear.
Before the season started, it seemed clear that Wisconsin’s linebacker corps would be the strength, not just of the defense, but of the entire team.
Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, and for the Wisconsin women’s hockey team (10-1-1 WCHA, 12-1-1 overall) this weekend, what they were missing this weekend was their superstar goaltender. Playing their first game without senior goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens, who was sidelined with an upper body injury, the Badgers fell to No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth (7-3-2, 8-3-3) by a score of 4-1 on Friday for their first regulation loss of the season. Starting in Desbiens’ place, freshman Nikki Cece made 26 saves, but her performance was not enough on a night where the offense struggled to convert on numerous early chances.
For a second straight week, I’ll take most of this time to discuss the bigger picture of Wisconsin’s season rather than focus heavily on the most recent game. The Badgers’ 49-20 victory was exactly what you’d hope to see out of a team that’s fighting for a spot in the College Football Playoff against a significantly inferior opponent.
While the Wisconsin women’s soccer team (5-2-4 Big Ten, 9-5-8 overall) didn’t wind up with the result it was hoping for against the No. 9-seed Florida Gators (8-3-0 SEC, 17-5-1 overall), the Badgers will come back to Madison with nothing to hang their heads about. After receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, taking care of Marquette at home in the first round and ultimately getting eliminated by the Florida Gators, Wisconsin’s season is officially over. The Badgers took Florida into double overtime before the Gators put the game away on a goal in the 106th minute, courtesy of senior forward Brooke Sharp.
After suffering a plague of closeout mishaps and blowout losses to open the season, the Wisconsin Badgers scratched and clawed their way to a win Sunday evening.
The Badgers have a long history of scheduling brutal matchups in the early-goings of their seasons, and 2016 is no exception as they have a potentially hellacious slew of opponents waiting in the wings out west at the Maui Invitational. No. 9 Wisconsin’s (2-1) first matchup should be a relative cakewalk Monday against the Tennessee Volunteers (1-1), which is in just its second season under head coach Rick Barnes.
Much like polls for presidential elections, the hockey rankings don’t mean much, especially for the Badgers this early in the season.
While the Badger defense dominated early in the frigid wind, holding the Purdue Boilermakers to just three points in the first quarter, the offense started up like an old jalopy on a cold winter’s morning.
Wisconsin, who has shown the ability to play dominant hockey, especially offensively, has struggled to assert their dominance early.
The No. 3 Wisconsin Badgers (13-2 Big Ten, 23-3 overall) made a statement with their dominating performance against No. 18 Michigan (10-7, 21-8), after almost losing to them earlier in the season. The first set didn’t start how the Badgers would have liked, with them giving up three early points, but they quickly bounced back and had a four-point run of their own.
In this week's podcast, host Bobby Ehrlich talks football with beat writer Lorin Cox. Cox believes that Wisconsin can make the College Football Playoff if they win out, but that it doesn't really matter because Alabama will run away with the title.
48 Outside of the early-season game against Akron, the Badgers' 48-3 victory over the Fighting Illini was Wisconsin's first blowout win of the season.
Purdue Which Blough show? In his first full season as the starter, sophomore quarterback David Blough has been unpredictable, showing flashes of exceptional play that would put him among the best in the conference, mixed with games in which one bad decision seems to lead to more and more.
Sitting upon his throne made of the skulls of his vanquished foes while sipping from a goblet of virgin blood, Nick Saban gazed down on the unwashed masses before shifting his Chaos Lever into maximum overdrive.
What a weekend for college football. Five of the top 10 ranked teams in college football lost this past weekend including Clemson, Michigan and Washington.
What’s in a name? For the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers, a lot. From Aaron to Zander and everything in between, this team keeps stenographers busy and announcers tongue-twisted with a colorful roster that uses the whole alphabet. The Badgers have names starting with 22 of the 26 letters on their 114-man roster.
Wisconsin score prediction: Lorin Cox: Wisconsin 48, Purdue 6 The Badgers’ late-season cakewalk continues through West Lafayette, and we should see plenty of backups in the game by the fourth quarter as Wisconsin has the game in the bag by the end of the first quarter. Ben Pickman: Wisconsin 45, Purdue 10 UW’s vaunted stretch of October games is a mere memory as the Badgers look forward to yet another matchup against a Big Ten bottom-feeder.
The Badgers’ running game put on a blistering performance Saturday evening, propelling Wisconsin to a 48-3 trouncing of Illinois.
Citing Purdue’s complete lack of ability to play quality football, head coach Paul Chryst decided it would be best for his starters to remain in Wisconsin and scrimmage the Madison West high school team this weekend.
Read on Issuu
Solutions by The State News
