In college sports, a matchup of teams ranked in the top five nationally usually brings hoopla, hype and the sense of a special occasion. For Wisconsin this weekend, its just another week in the thick of the WCHA title race.
Here we go again. Another year of college football wrapped up, the next class of freshman studs committed and now the inevitable barrage of mock drafts from ESPN gurus Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay.
This was supposed to be the year Minnesota made it big. With the accomplished Tubby Smith at the helm, nine rotation players were back from last season's NCAA-qualifying team and began the year in the top 25.
Like a lot of Canadians, sophomore forward Carolyne Prevost and junior forward Mallory Deluce feel a great sense of national pride during the Vancouver Olympics and want to see their country do well. Unlike a lot of their countrymen, however, Prevost and Deluce have some close ties to players on the other side of a border that divides two countries and creates one of the best rivalries in hockey.
The Wisconsin women's basketball team is ready to step out onto the court for possibly the most important game of their season so far. At the Kohl Center Thursday evening, the Badgers (8-6 Big Ten, 18-7 overall), who currently sit tied for third place in the Big Ten, face off against the conference-leading Ohio State Buckeyes (13-2, 25-3).
Mark Johnson
Now that a couple weeks have passed since Super Bowl XLIV and the Saints' victory is beginning to wear off around most of the country, much of the discussion around the NFL has revolved around a likely uncapped season in 2010, resulting in a lockout during the 2011 season.
After scoring six goals with a man advantage against Minnesota State last weekend, the Wisconsin power play unit is flying high. Add to that a pair of shorthanded goals during that series and two power play goals against Michigan Feb. 6, and the Badger special teams are playing as well as they have at any point all year.
The Wisconsin women's tennis team exited the ITA Indoor Team Championship this weekend after three consecutive loses to ranked opponents 6-1.
Head coach Bo Ryan addressed the media two days after Wisconsin's 83-55 win over Indiana, as his team now prepares for a road game against Minnesota Thursday.
It's time for me to level with you, dear reader: I really don't know a damn thing about the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Whenever Wisconsin faces Minnesota State, a few things are almost certain. Both sides will deliver their share of hits, elbows and shots, and there would be more than a few post-whistle mêlées or shoving matches.
When you are a WHCA hockey team chasing the McNaughton Cup, like this year's Badger squad, four-point weekends are supremely beneficial, even necessary at times. Usually, in order to sweep a conference opponent, one team must out play the other for a vast majority of the 120 minutes of action in a series. At the Kohl Center this weekend, Wisconsin separated itself from Minnesota State by controlling play during penalty minutes, of which the two teams racked up a combined 109. Put another way: The Badgers' special teams units throttled the Mavericks this weekend, and UW is still in the race for a league title because of it.
The Badgers have lost six games this year, and heading into Saturday's contest, had rebounded from each of the first five defeats with wins the next time out. So when Wisconsin played host to a struggling Indiana squad just four days after suffering a 63-56 home loss to Illinois, head coach Bo Ryan had some simple words.
The Grateful Red were given free towels to cheer on the Wisconsin men's basketball team Saturday against Indiana, but it was the Hoosiers who threw in the towels moments after the tip-off.
Senior forward Jasmine Giles has never missed a game in her playing career at Wisconsin, but Sunday's win over Minnesota State is probably one that won't get lost among her countless starts. After starting the game with a ceremony honoring the graduating class of four seniors, the Badgers made sure their last game at the Kohl Center would not be a disappointment.
Coming off a weekend that saw two very different performances from the Badgers against Bemidji State, the No.10 Wisconsin women's hockey team looks to have a big weekend against another WCHA rival, Minnesota State, as points become increasingly crucial.
Every year, the four weeks of February seem to produce a knockdown, drag-out fight for bragging rights atop the WCHA, and this year is no different. With four weeks remaining in the regular season, the top five teams are separated by only four points. The Badgers (11-6-3 WCHA, 16-7-4 overall) enter the stretch run looking to gain ground against a Minnesota State team that has long since exited the race and is attempting to play spoiler. The puck drops at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
It has been a roller-coaster few weeks for the Wisconsin women's basketball team. The Badgers (7-6 Big Ten, 17-7 overall) have gone just 2-3 over their last five games. That stretch has included a few heart-wrenching, second-half meltdowns, a double-overtime win against Minnesota, and a last-second loss last Sunday night against Purdue.
Last Tuesday, the unthinkable happened when Bo Ryan's Badgers dropped a home contest to an unranked Big Ten squad, something which has never happened before under his watch. But after another loss by Michigan State, Wisconsin has an opportunity to stay in the Big Ten race with a home game against a squad in the lower-half of the Big Ten —Indiana.
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