Wisconsin native JJ Watt will be forever enshrined in the place where he became an NFL superstar. Watt was named the first member of the Houston Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026 Thursday, the Harris County Sports Authority announced.
Kelly Sheffield has a simple philosophy written on the walls of the Wisconsin volleyball locker room: When you’re at Wisconsin, championships are the expectation.
“We’re also trying to compete for championships. And we got that written downstairs in our locker room,” Sheffield said. “When you’re here at Wisconsin, that is the expectation, and that we’re all in it and it energizes all of us. We’re all in it together.”
On Wisconsin! University of Wisconsin-Madison announced the date of this year’s homecoming game on Tuesday. (video)
“It’s a huge problem,” UW-Madison journalism professor Katy Culver said about the sheer volume of artificial intelligence-fueled misinformation online. “It predates AI, but AI is making the information more believable for a lot of people.”
Kirsten Simms and Ava McNaughton were eager to get back on the ice less than 12 hours after the end of their journey from Milan to Madison. Laila Edwards and Caroline Harvey were eager to give themselves a day off before getting back into the routine with the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team.
After a self-scout on the preparation of scouting reports and how they’re communicated, University of Wisconsin basketball coach Greg Gard opted for change.
“We changed some things early in the year in terms of the process,” Gard explained, “and tried to streamline the whole process a little bit better.”
Braeden Carrington’s situation sometimes requires him to get creative.
The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team was preparing for a 12-day road trip in late November. It was Carrington’s first trip with his new team, and he was out of options.
Name and likeness of college athletes
The bill, if signed into law, would formalize rules around name, image and likeness opportunities for college athletes in the state while providing taxpayer funding for athletic facility maintenance.
UW-Madison, the one power-conference athletic department in the University of Wisconsin System, would receive $14.6 million of taxpayer money annually for debt service for maintaining its athletic facilities. UW-Milwaukee would receive $200,000 for debt service and maintenance for the Klotsche Center, and UW-Green Bay would receive $200,000 for debt service for its athletic facilities.
The regular season ended the same way it started, with the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team atop the national rankings.
University of Wisconsin- Madison players have returned from their trip to the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Games.
Team USA Women’s Hockey won gold in the Games against Canada in an overtime win February 19.
Taxpayers, the University of Wisconsin is desperate for your help. Athletic director Chris McIntosh made that perfectly clear last week while backing a bill that is making its way through the state Assembly.
How exactly will the $14.6 million McIntosh wants annually from the state — no, he needs from the state — be put to use as part of Assembly Bill 1034? Silly people of Wisconsin, that’s not for you to know.
Taxpayers, the University of Wisconsin is desperate for your help. Athletic director Chris McIntosh made that perfectly clear last week while backing a bill that is making its way through the state Assembly.
Madison-area hockey fans cheered on the Team USA women’s team Monday afternoon as they took on Sweden in the semifinals of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Games.
The University of Wisconsin athletic department traditionally has been self-supporting financially, but that could change under a bill going through the state Assembly. Wisconsin would get $14.6 million annually from the state toward athletics facilities debt service under a measure that also would codify in state law name, image and likeness policies already in place at the school.
In addition to the UW-Madison hockey players competing in the Winter Olympics for the gold medal, five other Wisconsin athletes are competing. See how they’re doing.
UW-Madison is looking for an additional $14.6 million from taxpayers annually to maintain its athletics facilities.
But the state’s flagship public university also wants to ensure that name, image and likeness (NIL) contracts for the student athletes who train in them — and all other Badgers athletes — aren’t viewable by the public. Legislators on the Assembly Committee on State Affairs on Feb. 11 unanimously passed a bill which would exempt NIL contracts and revenue sharing for any UW campus from Wisconsin’s public records law.
The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team gathered tonight for a meaningful celebration of resilience, faith, and community as they attended a premiere.
Forty-six years ago, on an ice rink in Lake Placid, New York, the United States shocked the world.
Thomas Aponte grew up in Connecticut, where people eat hot dogs more than bratwursts, but he’s learned to enjoy a good brat.
As a marketing intern for Wisconsin Athletics, the UW-Madison sophomore also has been enjoying his new role: running the Brat Blaster, which joined the T-shirt cannon this season in flinging projectiles into the stands during Badgers basketball games at the Kohl Center.
Luke Fickell’s request for “blind faith” from his first offseason as the University of Wisconsin football coach remains partially in effect.
The faith nowadays isn’t as blind as it is forgiving for Fickell and a Badgers staff that haven’t done their jobs at Wisconsin well enough to earn many passes with a 17-21 record and 10-17 mark in Big Ten Conference play. But the person tasked with assessing Fickell’s job with the program, athletic director Chris McIntosh, maintains his trust and belief in Fickell after a transformational offseason that saw nearly half the roster turn over.
The powerhouse Badger program has a knack for churning out Olympic hockey players. Four current and two former Badgers are in Milan representing Team USA in women’s ice hockey. With 23 players on the roster, that means more than one-quarter of the team has played for Madison. Along with Harvey, Simms and McNaughton, forward-turned defender and current Badger Laila Edwards is part of the team. Alumna forward Britta Curl-Salemme and five-time Olympian and forward Hilary Knight round out the Badgers’ representation.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is celebrating Badgers competing on the international stage with a Winter Olympics watch event on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
The University of Wisconsin athletic department hasn’t made scheduled payments toward a $20 million, interest-free loan from central campus in the last two fiscal years.
It also won’t make payments toward more than $15 million in remaining debt on the loan in the next two years but faces no penalty for delaying repayment.
Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell did not receive the usual approval for a contract extension following the Badgers’ disappointing 2025 season.
The UW athletic board approved one-year extensions for the Badgers’ other coaches of fall sports – a longstanding common practice by the athletic department – but Fickell did not receive an extension at the board’s bimonthly meeting Feb. 4.
The UW Athletic Board has approved contract extensions for three University of Wisconsin head coaches.
Volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield, women’s soccer coach Paula Wilkins, and men’s soccer coach Neil Jones all received extensions to their five-year agreements, now running through January 31, 2031.
The University of Wisconsin has a practice where athletic contracts for coaches that include predetermined extensions, providing a level of security and continuity for the programs. Recently, Kelly Sheffield, along with the coaches for the men’s and women’s soccer teams, received their contract extensions, continuing their tenure with the Badgers.
Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell did not receive the usual approval for a contract extension following the Badgers’ disappointing 2025 season.
The UW athletic board approved one-year extensions for the Badgers’ other coaches of fall sports – a longstanding common practice by the athletic department – but Fickell did not receive an extension at the board’s bimonthly meeting Feb. 4.
Wisconsin gives routine extensions to avoid ambiguity about where a coach stands with the university and avoid any negative recruiting that could be done regarding a coach’s contract status, a spokesperson told BadgerExtra last year. Badgers fans chanted “Fire Fickell” at multiple home games in 2025, a season that brought Fickell to 17-21 overall and 10-17 in Big Ten play as Wisconsin’s coach.
Fickell’s contract, originally signed in November 2022, was for seven years and remained at that term after receiving one-year extensions in 2024 and 2025. He now will coach under a six-year deal. His salary, which is set to increase $100,000 to $7.8 million per year April 1, and his buyout remain unchanged. Fickell’s buyout ranges from roughly $22.7 million to $21.3 million during the 2026 season.
(Video) The name Mark Johnson echoes through Olympic history with a particular resonance—1980, Lake Placid, the Miracle on Ice.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison will send five current players from the women’s hockey team and seven past players, the most the school has ever sent to a single Olympics (UW-Madison sent 11 players to the 2022 Games in Beijing). Four of the current players will suit up for Team USA; one, freshman Adéla Šapovalivová, will play for Team Czechia.
City staff and consultants are set to recommend the street become a three-lane road with expanded 8-foot sidewalks between Randall and Park Streets following a presentation at a Jan. 26 public meeting. The new traffic configuration would see one lane going in each direction with a central left turn lane.
“Miracle on Ice” remains a lingering light over any American triumph in the winter games. A Netflix documentary called “Miracle: The Boys of ’80” debuts Jan. 30 to again stir up the emotions of that incredible victory for the USA men’s hockey team over the Soviet Union in the medal round of the 1980 games.
It’s a triumph that almost certainly doesn’t happen without major contributions from Wisconsin.
UW-Madison Athletic Director Chris McIntosh discusses opportunities for college athletes to get paid through Name, Image and Likeness contracts and fan concerns over the transparency of NCAA policies.
UW-Madison Athletic Director Chris McIntosh considers impacts of a decline in Wisconsin Badgers football season ticket sales for the 2025 season and the significance of that revenue to the university.
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and Athletic Director Chris McIntosh consider the performance of and expectations for the Wisconsin Badgers football team in a changing college sports landscape.
ttorneys for six former University of Wisconsin women’s basketball players suing the school and its former coach in federal court urged a judge to reject what they called a “sanitized” version of events presented by the defense.
The players Thursday night filed a response to a motion by the Wisconsin Board of Regents, Marisa Moseley and former Badgers administrator Justin Doherty that sought to dismiss the lawsuit.
The University of Wisconsin has launched Badger Athlete Partners, a new name, image and likeness (NIL) program. The initiative aims to help student-athletes earn more and take full advantage of third-party deals.
Wisconsin is lowering the total price of football season tickets at Camp Randall Stadium ahead of a 2026 season that has only six home games.
The listed price of season tickets will drop across the stadium from $399 to $312 before taxes and fees. That is a 21.8% decrease in listed price for a season with 14.3% fewer home games, although that comes with an asterisk.
This State Journal editorial ran on Jan. 22, 1976:
It is only a matter of time before the members of the NCAA require athletic recruits to show need of financial assistance to obtain grants in aid.
Former University of Wisconsin basketball player Freddie Owens is preparing to release a memoir next month that traces his path from Milwaukee’s North Side to the NCAA tournament and, eventually, a long career in coaching.
The book, “Echoes of Stark Park,” draws its name from the Milwaukee park where Owens spent much of his childhood and where he says basketball became both a refuge and a guide.
Elijah Gray was dismissed from the Wisconsin men’s basketball team in October due to “events preceding his enrollment at UW-Madison.”
Now, some of Gray’s activity before enrolling at Wisconsin has surfaced in a federal indictment as part of a federal investigation into point-shaving.
Bouncing back from the Iowa loss in the Big Ten opener, the Badgers defeated Maryland, 28-13, at the Field House last Sunday to bring their overall record to 9-1.
It was the UW’s largest margin of victory against a conference opponent since beating Northwestern in February 2024. The Wildcats will be Friday’s challenge at the Field House.
Brady Collins was on camera next to University of Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell late in a number of Badgers broadcasts this season.
Collins, the program’s director of strength and conditioning, is one of Fickell’s close friends whose positivity has helped stabilize emotions and the Badgers’ struggles. While Collins tried to keep Fickell’s and players’ eyes looking forward to success around the corner, his mind raced regarding what he and the strength staff could do better.
John Blackwell couldn’t believe the question.
The junior guard had lifted the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team to a stunning finish in Tuesday’s 78-75 win over Minnesota at Williams Arena, scoring 20 of his 27 points in a second half that was capped by a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
It had never happened before, and it hasn’t happened since — the men’s and women’s hockey teams from the same school winning NCAA championships in the same year.
But in 2006, both the men’s and women’s University of Wisconsin hockey teams won national titles, and the teams were led by a brother and sister who grew up playing youth hockey in Madison.
The salary pool for University of Wisconsin football coaches now represents more than what the Badgers pay to coaches in the rest of their sports combined.
Wisconsin’s 18 football coaches from the 2025 season totaled salaries of $14.61 million this school year. The 66 other coaches had a salary pool of $14.39 million, according to records released by the school.
In the heart of Milwaukee’s North Side, Stark Park thrummed like a drumbeat at the center of the neighborhood, wrote Freddie Owens, the former University of Wisconsin basketball player turned author.
It was the early 1990s and the neighborhood bore the bruises of a city wrestling with the crack epidemic, poverty and crime, he opined in his book, “Echoes of Stark Park.”
Years living with an autoimmune disease meant it was a matter of when, not if, Adam Barnes would need a liver transplant.
That time was approaching after he was hospitalized for a blocked bile duct in 2024. The idea of seeking a living donor came up but there was something about it that turned him off.
It’s a coincidence that the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team was preparing for a game against No. 5 Purdue on Saturday at the Kohl Center as coach Greg Gard was posed with a question about … well, a host of happenings in the “wild, wild world” of major college basketball — G League players and former NBA draft picks gaining NCAA eligibility, and programs making midseason additions that will play in the spring semester.
Dear Tom,
It’s hard to believe it’s been more than 11 years since we lost you. A lot’s happened since then, and now seemed like a good time to bring you up to speed.
You never even found out that you were voted the Sportswriter of the Year in Wisconsin for the third time in your career. There it is on the National Sports Media Association’s website: 2014 — Tom Mulhern, Wisconsin State Journal, Madison. Page down and you can see your name in 2005 and 2010, too.
Two Wisconsinites were given their first Pro Bowl selections, including one rookie who spent most of his college career at the University of Wisconsin, when the National Football League named its teams for the 2026 NFL Pro Bowl Games.
A Vietnam War and retired U.S. Air Force veteran received a refurbished vehicle at the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball game at the Kohl Center on December 22.
American Family Insurance, Gerber Collision, and Glass team up to present Mark Knowlton with the car during a first-half timeout. The companies collaborated with Veterans Outreach Wisconsin to select Mark for the gift.
There are a few main ways of looking at attendance for University of Wisconsin football games, and they all produced ugly results in 2025.
The Badgers played in front of the smallest average home crowd in the two decades that it has been tracked using ticket scanners. No-shows climbed to a level never seen in that same period.
Life is a whirlwind these days for Eric Mateos.
In the eight days since he was announced as the Wisconsin Badgers’ new offensive line coach he has met the linemen on the roster, offered scholarships to at least four high school prospects, watched a ton of film on high school players, potential portal targets and some of the Badgers’ games this season.
The number of alcohol unit sales at Badgers games at Camp Randall Stadium in 2025 fell 21% compared to the first year of availability at general concession stands in 2024.
That decrease was slightly more than the 20% falloff in the number of fans in the venue between the two seasons. Records obtained through public records requests showed there were slightly fewer alcoholic beverage units sold per ticket scanned in 2025 than in 2024.
Which performers headlined concerts at Camp Randall Stadium in 2025, marking the venue’s first concerts in decades?
Under the terms of her employment contract, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin received a bonus this year for staying in her job and for “satisfactory” performance. How much did she receive from the bonus?
Mnookin’s base pay surpassed $892,000 by 2024 after pay raises for UW system employees and “catch-up base salary increases” for multiple chancellors. Her annual bonus for staying is set to increase each year, from $150,000 this year up to $350,000 in 2029.
Chuck Neinas, a longtime administrator in college athletics who was also a Wisconsin native and University of Wisconsin graduate, died Tuesday at 93.
Steve Stricker is playing with daughter Izzi, who plays at the University of Wisconsin.
In August, a group of former University of Wisconsin women’s basketball players sued former head coach Marisa Moseley, alleging psychological abuse.
The civil case, which also lists the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and former UW senior associate athletic director Justin Doherty as defendants, seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison won the Big Ten “We Give Blood Drive” competition, earning $1 million that will go toward student or community health initiatives.
The competition, sponsored by Abbott, challenged all Big Ten schools to collect the most blood donations to help address the nationwide blood shortage.
