It’s time to start mentally preparing for next week’s World Series, because my God, that is going to be one physically frustrating and stressful final week of baseball.
The Badgers (4-0-0 WCHA, 6-0-0 overall) returned home to face Ohio State after two straight weekends on the road where they crushed their opponents Lindenwood and Minnesota-Duluth. Against the Buckeyes, it was more of the same as they registered dominant 6-0 and 3-0 wins.
No. 10 Wisconsin came up short in their first series of the season, losing 1-0 to Alaska and 4-2 against Alaska-Anchorage in the Kendall Hockey Classic at Anchorage, Alaska. The loss Friday was the first ever by the Badgers (0-2-0) against Alaska (2-0-0), bringing the all-time series to 7-1.
The Badgers (4-1 Big Ten, 13-2 overall) overwhelmed two new conference opponents in a weekend sweep at home, not losing a set in either match. They cruised by Rutgers (0-5 Big Ten, 7-11 overall) by a score of 25-8, 25-17, 25-15 Friday night and Maryland (0-6 Big Ten, 7-9 overall) 25-14, 25-17, 25-17 Sunday at the UW Field House. It was Wisconsin’s first ever conference game against the two Big Ten newcomers.
Similarly to their last win, the Badgers scored early in the game and tried to keep the lead. However, the No. 19 Michigan State Spartans had other plans.
The No. 12 Badgers (6-2-1 Big Ten, 12-2-1 overall) took down Northwestern 2-0 on a road trip in Evanston, Ill. This was the fourth game in ten days for the Badgers and came against a Wildcats team coming off their first conference win. The Badgers benefited from a career day by goalkeeper Genevieve Richard and goals from senior forward Cara Walls and junior midfielder Kinley McNicoll.
After a dreadful loss to Northwestern last week, Wisconsin (1-1 Big Ten, 4-2 overall) rebounded thanks to another big day from Heisman candidate Melvin Gordon to win 38-28 over Illinois (0-3, 3-4) at Camp Randall Saturday.
This is the fourth edition of the Heisman Watch, a weekly feature tracking the candidates for college football’s most prestigious award. To read last week’s piece, click here.
As the college football season nears the halfway mark, the contenders are beginning to separate themselves from the pretenders. The top teams are done with the easy portion of their schedules and the big-time matchups will come week-in and week-out. Heisman candidates will go head to head, and inevitably, some Top 10 teams will face defeat. Here are this week’s biggest games across the nation.
1. No. 8 Michigan State (nine first-place votes), 139 points
After beginning its season 2-0, Illinois has lost three of its last four games and will visit Madison Oct. 11 amidst an absolute free fall.
1) Rushing attack against vulnerable defense
After losing wide receiver Jared Abbrederis and linebacker Chris Borland to the NFL last spring, Wisconsin not only lost two star players but also its biggest leaders on both sides of the ball.
Following a convincing sweep on the road against Minnesota-Duluth this past weekend, No. 2 Wisconsin (2-0-0 WCHA, 4-0-0 overall) will return to Madison for its home opener against Ohio State (0-0-0, 2-0-0).
Looking to rebound from its Sunday loss to No. 6 Penn State, No. 12 Wisconsin (5-2-1 Big Ten, 11-2-1 overall) played to a scoreless tie in double overtime against Iowa Wednesday.
The No. 6 Badgers (3-1 Big Ten, 12-2 overall) will look to extend their three-game winning streak this weekend as they take on Big Ten newcomers Rutgers, Friday, and Maryland, Sunday.
The Badgers found new life Tuesday as they captured their first win since August 31. The game was one of resiliency and determination, as Wisconsin held its lead for nearly 70 minutes.
Wisconsin’s return to Camp Randall Stadium to take on Illinois Saturday represents an opportunity for the team to pull itself back together after being upset at Northwestern last weekend.
The transitive property: If a > b and b > c, then a > c. It’s one of the most basic tenants of mathematics and an idea that every person on Earth has used at one time or another, whether they’re aware of it or not. For our purposes, let’s talk about its use in the college football rankings, or at least in how the rankings are perceived.
The roller coaster and college football are my two favorite childhood memories, and it’s days like Saturday that help me realize just how related they actually are.
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