After a much-needed sweep of Arizona State last weekend, Wisconsin (2-3-3) will take its momentum West as it prepares for the nation’s top-ranked team, North Dakota (6-0-2), Friday and Saturday.
The Badgers recorded their first home victory of the season Wednesday as they spoiled Northwestern’s chances at a share of the Big Ten title, winning 2-1.
No. 13 Wisconsin (8-4 Big Ten, 16-6 overall) will be looking to extend its four-game Big Ten win streak when it hosts No. 25 Michigan (6-6, 16-7) and Michigan State (6-6, 14-9) this weekend.
Frank Kaminsky was the best player in Wisconsin basketball history. By the time he left for the NBA, he ranked ninth all-time in total points, eighth in field goals, seventh in field-goal percentage, first in blocks, 11th in rebounds and, believe it or not, 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio. All this despite playing nearly 500 fewer minutes than anyone in the top 10. He played just 8.9 minutes per game in his first two seasons with the Badgers.
Football Wisconsin (4-1 Big Ten, 7-2 overall) is coming off a convincing victory over Rutgers (1-4,3-5) last Saturday. Addressing the media Monday at a press conference, head coach Paul Chryst highlighted how impressed he was with play of his defense, the No. 1 scoring unit in the NCAA. “The magic is there is no magic.
The Broncos exposed a lot of weaknesses in their romp over the Packers this past Sunday, but the most apparent was the glaring ineffectiveness of Green Bay’s wide receivers. After Jordy Nelson went down with a season-ending knee injury, the receiving corps took an obvious hit, but many were optimistic the talent on hand, in conjunction with the reigning MVP in Aaron Rodgers, would minimize the effects of that loss. It was becoming more and more apparent that was not the case, and Sunday’s loss punctuated the point that a change needs to be made. With wide receivers to be had this trade deadline, Ted Thompson, I hope you are on that phone inquiring about several intriguing candidates.
Thanks to a road sweep of Minnesota State, the Badgers are now off to the best start in program history and have etched their names in the WCHA record books. No. 3 Wisconsin (8-0-0 WCHA, 10-0-0 overall) proved too much for the Minnesota State Mavericks (0-8-0, 2-9-1) as the undefeated Badgers took away a pair of victories from Mankato, Minnesota.
Wisconsin (8-4 Big Ten, 16-6 overall) extended its conference winning streak to four straight games by beating No. 17 Purdue (8-3, 17-5) in four sets and sweeping Indiana (3-9, 13-11) this weekend at home. The Badgers took on Purdue on Friday night and won 25-18, 19-25, 25-20, 25-22 in front of a soldout UW Field House. Sophomore outside hitter Kelli Bates led the Badgers offense, tying her career high of 17 kills.
The Badgers’ postseason dreams of winning back-to-back Big Ten tournament titles came to an abrupt and harsh end in the tournament’s first round this Sunday, in which underdog No. 7 seed Ohio State beat the favorite No. 2 seed Wisconsin at McClimon Sports complex. A two-goal lead for the Buckeyes in the first half proved sufficient to beat the Badgers, who were able to only find the back of the net once in the second half, despite a blitzkrieg of heartbreakingly close offensive attempts as the final minutes of the match quickly ticked away. Wisconsin (8-2-1 Big Ten, 11-6-3 overall) clocked in 22 shots over the course of the game to Ohio State’s (5-4-2, 11-5-3) 10 shots.
The Badgers entered Saturday’s road contest with recent success away from home, going 4-1-1 in their last six road games, but were unable to get anything going in a 1-0 loss to Indiana (3-3-1 Big Ten, 10-4-2). Wisconsin (1-3-3, 4-10-3) was outshot 17-5 on the day, including a 7-1 deficit in shots on goal, as its two-game point streak was snapped.
The rain may have kept away the fans, but it didn’t keep away the Badgers (4-1 Big Ten, 7-2 overall) offense as they rolled over Rutgers (1-4, 3-5) 48-10. Getting a win is something the team wanted, but junior running back Corey Clement’s return after missing eight games was much more important.
Wisconsin (6-4 Big Ten, 14-6 overall) returns home this week to take on No. 17 Purdue (17-4, 8-2) and Indiana (13-10, 3-8). Purdue’s scouting report has already caught the attention of the Badgers’ coaching staff.
When defensive backs coach Daronte Jones suffered a season-ending injury his sophomore year at Morgan State, he didn’t know it would be the last time he played football. After receiving too many stingers, Jones learned he had cervical nerve damage, which occurs in the neck.
The Big Ten is two years into its experiment and it’s clearly not working. The addition of Maryland and Rutgers in 2014 has had its time to steep, and it’s become evident that their fit isn’t perfect.
Ohio State has been a bit of a disappointment this year. Sure, they’re still undefeated and No. 1 in both rankings, but a worrying number of games in which they failed to pull away early has created a sense that they are this year’s Florida State, a defending champ sleepwalking through the regular season and waiting to get exposed by a plucky upstart in the College Football Playoff. The most visible reason for this iffy play is at quarterback, the position considered the Buckeyes’ greatest asset in preseason.
It wasn’t that long ago that Alex Erickson was leaning toward playing basketball at UW-Stevens Point.
Bret Bielema, Arkansas
If it seems like there’s a logjam at the top of the AP rankings this year, it’s because there is. A remarkable 12 teams have made it through the first eight weeks of play without a blemish on their record. That’s the most undefeated ranked teams in college football since the AP Poll expanded to 25 teams in 1989.
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