Though they won a pair of matches over the weekend, the Badgers will begin Big Ten play with the bitter taste of defeat still in their mouths. No. 11 Wisconsin (8-2) walked away from the Creighton Classic in Omaha, Neb., with victories over Kansas State (8-4) and Creighton (6-7) but falling to Arkansas (10-2) in the final to snap its 8-match winning streak.
Wisconsin’s defensive players, along with defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, insisted in the week leading up to Saturday’s matchup with Miami (OH) that they would not be taking their Mid-American Conference foes lightly.
When players come to UW-Madison to play football, they want to get onto the field as soon as they can in hopes of becoming the next great player to don the cardinal and white.
The Daily Cardinal caught up with Michael Shipma, sports editor of The Tropolitan, Troy University's student newspaper, to discuss the Trojans' upcoming visit to Camp Randall Stadium Saturday.
1. Steady offensive line
The Troy Trojans finished the 2014 season with a dismal 3-9 record, placing eighth out of 11 teams in the Sun Belt Conference. So far, Troy has started this season 1-1, losing to North Carolina State 49-21 and beating Charleston Southern 44-16.
Last weekend, Wisconsin (6-1) dominated the Badger Classic, sweeping both Georgia and Kent State in three sets at UW Field House.
Coming off a weekend in which the Badgers (3-3-1) tied both Milwaukee and Kentucky, they will have their toughest test of the season in their Big Ten opener Friday against No. 4 Penn State (5-1-1). Wisconsin will continue a tough opening Big Ten schedule as they play No. 20 Ohio State (5-1-1) later in the weekend. The Nittany Lions and the Buckeyes are on a different level of competition than the teams Wisconsin has seen previously, having jumped out to a strong start in their 2015 campaigns.
Last week, head coach Paul Chryst stressed that even though the team lost its opener to Alabama, it would be more prepared for game two, saying that the biggest improvement comes from Week 1 to Week 2. After the Badgers smoked Miami (OH), Chryst sang a different tune this week.
Following a thrilling double-overtime victory in the Big Ten opener against Rutgers, the Badgers (1-4-0 overall, 1-0-0 Big Ten) will look to keep the momentum going Saturday against St. John’s (1-5-0) in the fourth and final game of a road trip before returning home for their next three contests.
After a relatively disappointing opening weekend, the Big Ten bounced back with a solid Week 2. Big Ten teams went 12-2, including a 3-1 mark against teams from the Power Five conferences (though in fairness, one of those teams was Iowa State). As a result, you’ll notice an incredible lack of movement in this week’s power rankings. 1.
Two weeks of college football are in the books, and the playoff picture is still as murky as ever. No. 1 Ohio State has looked vulnerable in back-to-back first halves, but then looked invincible again down the stretch of both of its first two games. No. 15 Ole Miss has obliterated two unsuspecting foes, scoring 76 and 73 points to open the season. No. 3 TCU got back to its old ways after a week one scare against Minnesota by torching Stephen F. Austin to the tune of 70 points.
Over the last two years, the Wisconsin women’s volleyball team has enjoyed great success, winning the Big Ten championship last year and making it all the way to the national championship game in 2013.
If you took a bunch of aliens and showed them a NFL game and asked who the most important player on the field is, odds are that the aliens would point to the quarterback. Heck, even Roger Goodell might be able to figure that one out. This importance has typically led to many of them being drafted with the first pick, and sometimes even both of the first two picks.
With 0.4 seconds left on the clock and the regular-season finale with Illinois tied at 59, Devin Harris stepped up to the free throw line at the Kohl Center and buried his foul shot, giving Wisconsin the 2002-’03 Big Ten Championship. A few months earlier, in late November of 2002, Jim Leonhard snagged two interceptions against Minnesota, earning Wisconsin a 49-31 victory, bowl eligibility and returning Paul Bunyan’s Axe to Madison.
Volleyball
The 14th Ironman brought roughly 2,500 amateurs to compete in the 140.6-mile race.
In dramatic fashion, Wisconsin came away with as close at it gets to a soccer buzzer beater.
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Solutions by The State News
