The fifth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers volleyball team swept Auburn behind freshman Halle Thompson’s double-double and 10 kills from Eva Travis.
The Badgers won 25-23, 25-17, 25-20, hitting .305 as a team, and improving their overall record to 3-3. Junior setter Charlie Fuerbringer totaled 36 assists and 12 digs.
Grace Egan did not play due to an “undisclosed injury,” according to UW Athletics. Jaela Auguste also did not play due to an injury, missing a fourth consecutive match.
College football at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has never been just a sport — it’s a multi-million dollar source of revenue, a cultural institution and the financial engine of Badger athletics. And yet, there’s a stark paradox between some Badger sports.
Part of Mark Johnson really wanted him to put on his skates and take part in pregame warmups the last time the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team played outdoors.
The Badgers took a team-bonding trip to the stadium and, as part of a tour, got to step on the field for the first time.
University of Wisconsin athletic director Shawn Eichorst begins each day at 5 a.m. with a three-mile walk to crystalize his thoughts and prioritize his objectives.
“I’ve always liked the solitude of it,” he said. “I try to think through things, prioritize things. I try to walk different paths. Fresh air. Scenery. Try to clear the head.
When the Wisconsin Badgers take Lambeau Field on Sunday, the players will be earning a salary partially provided by state taxpayers. A law that Gov. Evers signed in April after passing through the Senate (17-16 vote) and Assembly (95-1 vote) has taken effect, which gives UW-Madison $14.6 million per year, and UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee each $200,000 per year. The universities are to use the money to pay off their athletic facilities, but it would then allow them to reallocate the money toward paying players.
One of the University of Wisconsin’s most prominent alumni is assisting the school in raising funds for its name, image, and likeness fund to restore the football program to its winning ways.
According to a video posted on his X account, Dan “Big Cat” Katz, a popular Barstool Sports personality and host of the “Pardon My Take” podcast, has purchased 50 Badgers football season tickets that will be given away to fans who donate $50 or more to the Wisconsin NIL fund by Thursday, August 27th.
Fans will be able to vote for their favorite bite in a “battle of the dogs” competition this fall when the Badgers compete at Camp Randall Stadium.
Jacob Moss, executive chef for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s athletics department, revealed the hot dogs Tuesday as part of a new lineup of food that will be available at concession stands.
The Badger Dog, a footlong hot dog smothered in a beer cheese sauce with hot pepper relish, will be available at every home game. Six other hot dogs will rotate, depending on who the Badgers play.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison officially opened the Camp Randall Veterans Memorial Plaza Tuesday.
The plaza will provide a gathering space that holds historical significance in Wisconsin. It honors generations of veterans whose service shaped the nation and state.
After nearly a decade of planning and construction, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s athletics department welcomed visitors inside its brand new, $285 million indoor football practice facility Tuesday.
“This is the largest project in Wisconsin athletic history,” said Jason King, senior associate athletic director for capital projects and operations.
The Kellner Family Athletic Center sits next to Camp Randall Stadium along Monroe Street. It houses a 120-yard turf field and 300-meter training track, among other amenities. The project includes nearly 600,000 square feet of renovated or new space, King said.
The University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team has sold out 36 of its 37 home games over the previous two seasons, including the last 35 in a row. It can be a hard ticket to get at 2,273-seat LaBahn Arena.
It’s also becoming a more expensive ticket to get.
The University of Wisconsin athletic department was prepared for a loss of football season ticket buyers for the 2026 season.
The numbers after two straight losing seasons, however, are striking.
Wisconsin’s season ticket base for 2026 is down more than 7,000 compared to the year before. It’s off more than 11,000 over 2023.
The Wisconsin budget provides $14.6 million for athletic facility debt payments at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and $200,000 each for the Milwaukee and Green Bay campuses.
“None of that state funds technically would go toward student athletes,” said Republican state Rep. Alex Dallman, who sponsored the legislation.
The cause of death has been revealed for former University of Wisconsin tight end Jack Pugh, who died March 30 at age 24.
Pugh died of acute bronchopneumonia, according to a report from the Franklin County (Ohio) Coroner’s Office obtained by People.
Acute bronchopneumonia is a type of pneumonia that inflames the lungs and has symptoms including fever, cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, sweating, chills and more, according to Healthline.
Long before the University of Wisconsin’s athletic director position was within Shawn Eichorst’s sights, he had “Bucky.”
The backstory of “Bucky” goes back to 2018 – seven years after he last lived in Madison and eight years before his recent hire with the Badgers that he could have hardly predicted at that point.
Fans are used to seeing basketball and hockey games at the Kohl Center, but that was only made possible after a large donation and lengthy construction project. On Jan. 17, 1998, the Wisconsin Badgers hosted Northwestern in the inaugural men’s basketball home game following completion of the new facility (UW won 53-33). Former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, who graduated from UW in 1956, donated $25 million toward the $76.4 million facility. Take a look back at archive photos tracing the construction process.
The University of Wisconsin has added a playing surface sponsorship to the one major location it had left to sell.
Ads for telecommunications company Spectrum have been added to the field at Camp Randall Stadium.
Big Ten Network host Rick Pizzo and analyst Elena Shklyar, a former Michigan State volleyball player, cut to the chase with University of Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield.
At the Big Ten volleyball media day in Chicago, Pizzo “outed” Shklyar by sharing a text that she had sent him regarding the Badgers nonconference schedule.
Sarah Shulze was a star athlete on the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s track and field and cross country teams. She was also a political science major with a passion for women’s rights. She loved travel and adventure, and was a role model to her two younger sisters. On April 13, 2022, Sarah died by suicide. From the outside, she was always smiling and looked like she had it all together, her mother Brigitte Shulze said. But inside, the 22-year-old from California’s Ventura County was dealing with anxiety exacerbated by an unhealthy team environment.
Two years after the Big Ten expanded to 18 teams, the conference this year claimed national championships in the NCAA’s three most popular sports — football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball — and the Wisconsin Badgers advanced to both the men’s and women’s hockey championships.
College football offseason is a misnomer.
Between weight and speed training, spring practices and more coach contact than ever before, summers have become scattered down weeks rather than months-long breaks.
Mario Russo wrote his own eulogy.
Without knowing it.
After former University of Wisconsin football coach John Jardine died of heart failure at age 54 in 1990, there was an outpouring of tributes from coaches, players, friends and fans.
Among the most genuine Jardine testimonials was from Russo, who coached the UW linebackers during the 1976 and 1977 seasons, Jardine’s final two years at Wisconsin.
The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team announced its 2026-27 nonconference schedule Monday, featuring three exhibitions and four neutral-site games with opponents from as many as four high-major conferences.
Luke Fickell has appreciated Morocco Brown’s approach during his first two months in Madison.
The University of Wisconsin football program formally announced Brown as its general manager on June 4, and he arrived with plenty of NFL experience since the beginning of the century. His most recent roles were director of college scouting and later chief personnel executive with the Indianapolis Colts from 2017-25, where according to the Badgers’ release, he “managed Indianapolis’s college football department and contributed to the franchise’s annual roster breakdown.”
One month after Wisconsin welcomed a new athletic director, the scientist who led that nationwide search is sharing what drove her to the table — and how an unexpected end to her own athletic career made it possible.
Luke Fickell wanted to make clear that things are different with the University of Wisconsin football program.
After two losing seasons and almost all of the conversation about the Badgers over the past nine months centered on his job security, it’s unlikely he’s made a dent in outside perceptions. But he emphasized in each of his four public interviews Tuesday at Big Ten football media days that he sensed the changes on his roster and in his program can lead to success.
Wisconsin volleyball has unveiled the lineup for its annual Alumni Match, bringing a group of former Badgers back to the UW Field House on Saturday, Aug. 8.
The program says 13 alumni will face the 2026 Wisconsin roster in a best-of-five match scheduled to start at 6 p.m. CT.
Shawn Eichorst does not keep a diary. But the freshly minted University of Wisconsin director of athletics has filed away some inspiring quotations.
After more than a decade away, Badger football is returning to 620 WTMJ.
Announced today, WTMJ & its parent company Good Karma Brands, has reached a multi-year, multi-sport deal with Wisconsin Athletics, that will make WTMJ the Milwaukee home for Badger sports.
The lawsuit that a former student brought against UW-Madison over readmitting a Badgers football star after he was expelled for sexual assault appears to have stalled.
If pundits are questioning Jordan Love’s ranking among the top quarterbacks, it’s reasonable to assume that question also has application to the Green Bay Packers.
If the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team is to take a leap next season, perhaps the biggest factor is its own players taking a leap of their own.
Transfers Trey Autry, Eian Elmer and Victory Onuetu bring experienced play at key spots after the Badgers lost eight players from last season’s roster. But the best play of Tuesday’s final opportunity for media to view Wisconsin practice over the summer came from a pair of sophomores.
Traveling to Green Bay and watching a football game at historic Lambeau Field is a must-do for many people.
Count Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman among them.
“Bucket list,” Freeman said. “Never been there. Everybody keeps saying that it’s a college football atmosphere in an NFL stadium.
Just last week, Mimi Colyer, former University of Wisconsin volleyball standout, announced she is coming home and joining LOVB Madison.
Colyer spent only one season at Wisconsin, but it was a memorable one. In her senior year, she helped lead the Badgers to the Final Four before the program fell short in a semifinal loss in Kansas City in December.
For Leah Nordin, the transition from Shawano High School to the University of Wisconsin has meant a new campus, new teammates and a new level of basketball.
The Shawano native arrived in Madison on June 7 as part of Wisconsin’s incoming freshman class and has spent the last month getting acclimated to college life while preparing for her first season with the Badgers.
It turns out Shawn Eichorst isn’t the only athletic director in town with good intentions and a plan to put student-athletes in the best possible position to succeed.
This past week, Eichorst officially took over the University of Wisconsin athletic program, a 23-sport Big Ten enterprise that casts a long shadow over the community.
Shawn Eichorst and Luke Fickell are still getting to know each other, but a couple of things stand out to Wisconsin’s football coach about the new athletic director.
“Since the time he’s walked in, since the time I talked to him on the phone, since the time I met with him, there’s a sincerity, there’s a authenticity that I would say is really easy to figure out,” Fickell said July 16.
Shawn Eichorst wasn’t far during the origin of University of Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Greg Gard’s coaching journey. The new Badgers athletic director graduated from UW-Whitewater in 1990 — three years before Gard joined Bo Ryan’s staff at UW-Platteville while still a student in 1993. In some respects, they just missed each other: Eichorst’s first major athletic administration role as the Director of Athletics at UW-Whitewater in 1999 was Gard’s first year with Ryan at Milwaukee.
Bricks that held an emotional connection with some University of Wisconsin fans are out of storage and going back into the ground around Camp Randall Stadium.
A new walkway at Gate 1 leading into Kellner Hall at the stadium’s southeast corner is the site the University of Wisconsin athletic department chose for the relocated brick walk.
University of Wisconsin athletic director Shawn Eichorst is starting with a slightly more lucrative contract than his predecessor, and it includes pay increases and potential incentives that could make it even more lucrative.
Eichorst’s five-year contract has an initial base salary of $1.6 million for 2026-27, and that is set to increase by $50,000 in each year, according to his contract obtained by the Journal Sentinel via an open records request.
As college athletics enters a new era, programs across the country have spent years learning through trial and error how to succeed in a rapidly changing landscape.
Some institutions have found success. Others are still searching for the right approach. At Wisconsin, that challenge now falls to Shawn Eichorst, a Wisconsin native with deep ties to the state and the University of Wisconsin.
Wisconsin athletic director Shawn Eichorst hasn’t set specific expectations for the Badgers football program this season yet but admitted coach Luke Fickell checks a couple of boxes.
The long-awaited finale of the University of Wisconsin football team’s series against Notre Dame will feature special uniforms.
Wisconsin will wear a red jersey and pants combination that is darker than its usual cardinal, with larger, silver, drop-shadowed numbers on the front and back, when it takes on the Irish at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 6 at Lambeau Field. The Badgers also will wear a red helmet with a silver motion W decal. Under Armour, the apparel sponsor for both Wisconsin and Notre Dame, also crafted a uniform for the Fighting Irish. The game will be televised on NBC.
When Chris McIntosh was athletic director, the University of Wisconsin started limiting the vacation payouts it owes coaches who elect to depart the school before the end of their contract.
Language to that end started appearing in contracts with newly hired coaches in 2025, a BadgerExtra analysis showed.
Wisconsin also asked coaches already on staff to amend their contracts to insert a sentence taking away pay for banked vacation time if the coach ended the agreement. Some signed the clause into their contracts in amendments with routine extensions given in 2025; some didn’t.
Chris Solinsky always wanted to get into coaching. But were there overt signs of that while he was becoming a five-time NCAA track champion at the University of Wisconsin?
“That’s an interesting question,” pondered Ed Nuttycombe, the UW track and field head coach during Solinsky’s sterling Hall of Fame running career with the Badgers.
Shawn Eichorst believes in the University of Wisconsin way. There should be no question about that after the event introducing him as the Badgers’ new athletic director or the news conference that followed it at Camp Randall Stadium.
In fact, Eichorst spent so much time talking about the importance of education that anyone who stumbled upon the Big Ten Network’s live coverage Tuesday afternoon may have thought they were watching UW-Madison’s new chancellor — not its new athletic director — holding court.
The University of Wisconsin’s search for its next athletic director had a $150,000 price tag.
That’s how much UW paid CSA Search and Consulting to assist with the athletic director search, which ended with the hire of Shawn Eichorst, according to the contract obtained by the Journal Sentinel via an open-records request.
The $150,000 that UW agreed to pay the North Carolina-based search firm is in addition to “pre-approved expenses for travel, lodging, meals, materials, printing and other reasonable out-of-pocket business expenses” for the search.
Football weekends are less about relaxing and more about studying for Nate Tice. The former University of Wisconsin quarterback analyzes the NFL and its draft in his writing for Yahoo Sports and his podcast, “Football 301.” College football typically takes a backseat — “They’re all just numbers to me until they’re draft eligible,” he said. Checking out a Badgers game is just about the only time he can put his fan hat on and consume a game that way, however that hasn’t been as fun lately.
Local leaders and UW-Madison alumni are demanding answers from UW-Madison’s athletic department after the university announced Shawn Eichorst as its new athletic director without interviewing at least two qualified Black candidates who applied for the position.
The University of Wisconsin announced Shawn Eichorst as its athletic director July 1 and among his first-day duties was to make a telephone call to Badgers football coach Luke Fickell.
Incoming Wisconsin athletic director Shawn Eichorst has gained experience seemingly everywhere since he last worked with the Badgers.
The University of Wisconsin’s athletic director hire is official.
Shawn Eichorst will start as Wisconsin’s athletic director with a higher annual salary than his predecessor.
On a hot and humid Wednesday afternoon, Barry Alvarez was at poolside reading one of his favorite authors, Lee Child, the creator of the Jack Reacher series of novels.
The shifting, expanding, competitive and sometimes confusing world of college sports finances is a place where people have to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
“Athletics has been like that over a number of decades,” Shawn Eichorst said. “There’s always been change.”
Shawn Eichorst is returning to his home state and getting another chance to run a Big Ten athletic department.
Wisconsin’s new athletic director says he’s learned quite a bit since the last time he was in a similar position.
The University of Wisconsin announced Shawn Eichorst as its athletic director July 1 and among his first-day duties was to make a telephone call to Badgers football coach Luke Fickell.
Shawn Eichorst’s Wisconsin ties run deep. The Lone Rock native played football at UW-Whitewater, got his law degree at Marquette, and served as UW-Whitewater’s Athletic Director before coming to UW-Madison from 2006-2011, where he served as Barry Alvarez’s right-hand man, climbing his way to being the Badgers deputy Athletic Director.
UW-Madison has a new director of athletics, and he’s a son of America’s Dairyland.
UW-Madison interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots announced Wednesday that Shawn Eichorst will lead the program moving forward. Eichorst, who was raised in Lone Rock and graduated from UW-Whitewater, was previously the Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Texas.
Shawn Eichorst was named University of Wisconsin-Madison’s director of athletics, interim Chancellor Eric M. Wilcots announced Wednesday.
