After two games against top-10 opponents, is seemed like a bye week came at a good time for Wisconsin. With most of its injured players back and rested, now comes the challenge of getting back on the winning track.
The mantle for Badger athletics is usually carried by football and basketball, two sports that have a certain style to them. Both have an aura of teams that boast less talent than top foes, but can hang with the best due to strong fundamentals, good coaching and a slow-paced, disciplined approach. Furthermore, neither sport was considered a powerhouse in any fashion before 1990, and since have been seen as spunky overachievers.
Seniors Chris Maragos and O'Brien Schofield are leading an improved Wisconsin defense this season. Both are enjoying career years. Maragos leads the Badgers in interceptions with three, including one to secure the victory over Fresno State. Schofield has racked up 6.5 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss while getting national attention for his skills. While the defensive is prone to struggle to stay strong all game, the leadership of Maragos and Schofield is the key to this squad's success.
When an opponent goes into the penalty box and a two-minute one-man advantage is given to the Badgers, senior center Blake Geoffrion and the rest of the Wisconsin power-play unit have one thing in mind: put the puck in the back of the net. Through the first two weekends of the regular season, Geoffrion has already tallied three goals, and they have all come on the power play.
Cincinnati and Texas, the lone unbeatens in the Big East and the Big-12 respectively, will be put to the test Saturday. Meanwhile, the winner of the USC and Oregon matchup in Eugene will likely produce the frontrunner for the Pac-10 title. With Iowa comfortably leading the Big Ten, some of the middle of the pack teams will try to separate themselves this weekend.
As disappointing as the Badger's last two games have been, their season is far from unsalvageable.
The conference race is heating up and teams are beginning to battle for bowl game positioning as the Big Ten surpasses its halfway point in the schedule.
Last night the NBA season kicked off, and while I'm excited to see how it plays out, there is one major weakness that none of the other ""big three"" sports have: professional basketball does not have real rivalries.
Coming back from a torn knee ligament to play college football is no easy task. Going through three surgeries on the same knee and returning to play after a year and a half away from the game is even tougher.
Bret Bielema made it clear this year's football team is not at all like the squad from 2008. Last season, following a loss to Ohio State, the Wisconsin football team went on a skid, culminating in a four-game losing streak that nearly took the team out of bowl game contention.
As I watched the New York Yankees celebrate their Game 6 ALCS victory and trip to the World Series, it finally hit me why they are the franchise I hate most in all of sports.
After a dominating performance Friday night, the Wisconsin men's hockey team had a chance to sweep Minnesota State on the road. But back-to-back five-minute majors on the Badgers led to a long power play, handing the Mavericks a win Saturday night and sending Wisconsin home with a frustrating series split.
There are some games in which two bitter rivals battle for every point, trading the lead until one can will its way to a close-fought victory. The Daily Cardinal's 24-7 depantsing of The Badger Herald Friday afternoon was not one of those games.
For the third time this season, the Wisconsin women's hockey team split a weekend series with a WCHA opponent, losing the first game of a series and coming back to win the second. This time, the Badgers fell against Ohio State 4-3 Friday and returned the favor Saturday with a 5-3 victory.
A bye week could not have come at a better time for the Wisconsin football team.
Wisconsin (4-4 Big Ten, 9-8 overall) finishes off the first half of Big Ten play this weekend as two more tough opponents come to the Field House.
When the No. 5 Wisconsin women's hockey team takes the rink this weekend against the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Badgers will look to jumpstart their offense and start its first winning streak of the season.
After a rough season-opening series, which saw a highly touted Wisconsin men's hockey team take just one point from Colorado College, the task of starting the 2009-'10 season well will not get any easier. The Badgers must now leave the friendly confines of the Kohl Center and head to the intimidating environment of Minnesota State's Verizon Wireless Center to take on the Mavericks Friday and Saturday.
The biggest intracollegiate newspaper football rivalry in the country will write another chapter in its storied history today as The Daily Cardinal and The Badger Herald face off in Vilas Park.
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