At some point, Ben Brust will be able to separate the emotions of Saturday night being his last game in a University of Wisconsin men?s basketball uniform from the fact it was also one of the greatest games his Badgers have ever played during his time in Madison.
Stunned Badgers? fans clutched their heads in disbelief Saturday night on State Street as the University of Wisconsin Badgers basketball team fell by one point to Kentucky.
UW?s four-game run to the Final Four, while difficult at times, surprised absolutely no one. It?s never a surprise when a No. 2 seed shows up on the big stage, especially one that impressed everyone along the way with its skill and toughness.
Even in a loss, UW-Madison can consider itself a winner at the Final Four. That?s what Chancellor Rebecca Blank wrote in a blog post on Sunday that pointed out a number of ways the school gained exposure, royalties and possibly even donations through the Badgers men?s basketball team?s run through the NCAA tournament.
Amid the shell-shocked sadness, however, the discussion frequently turned to what might well be the most-anticipated season in the school?s basketball history.
The embrace was tight and emotional, Josh Gasser closing his bloodshot eyes and burying his face on the shoulder of teammate Zach Bohannon.
Maggie Clarke and Paul Krajewski of New Berlin and Gail and Ron Lange of Wauwatosa had tickets to go to the Masters.
Chances are good that Zach Bohannon will have no outward impact on the Wisconsin-Kentucky outcome Saturday night.
The most pertinent question asked in October about Frank Kaminsky was whether the junior would provide Wisconsin with a consistent inside presence to fill the void created by the departure of three seniors.
Freshman Nigel Hayes placed a heavy weight on his shoulders after Wisconsin?s season ended Saturday with a 74-73 loss to Kentucky in the Final Four.
Throughout the season, the Wisconsin Badgers were far from a one-man team, but when the NCAA Tournament came around, all 7 feet of Frank Kaminsky stood taller than the rest.
Wisconsin will return home without a national championship, without a storybook ending for head coach Bo Ryan.
One by one, the Wisconsin players insisted they could live with their last shot against Kentucky.
Ben Brust had just completed his 124th game in a Wisconsin uniform.His last game at UW.
Wisconsin and beer go together like Kentucky and whiskey, and like loyal compatriots, the Badger alumni who gathered Wednesday night at the Hilton Anatole held mostly Wisconsin-made Miller Lite in hand.
Past the mining museum on Main Street, the Piggly Wiggly supermarket five blocks down and the Pioneer Ford dealership where Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan once bought a white Mercury Tracer with blue interior, a court bears his name.
Hollywood finally recognizes the star potential of University of Wisconsin quarterbacks.
As Jonathan Brust packed his Toyota Sienna minivan for the 13-hour journey from Wheaton, Ill., to the Final Four, he took a few extra precautions.
Among the many unknowns as UW-Madison students made their Final Four travel plans this week ? how to get to Arlington, Texas, where to sleep and how to return to Madison ? some, at least, had the certainty of a ticket in hand.
Transgressions that are sure to make Ryan steam include committing a turnover, taking a bad shot, not following one of his rules on defense and letting your opponent grab an offensive rebound.
When Pat Richter was hired as athletic director in 1989, Wisconsin was as close to being a basketball school as Florida was to a hockey school.
Early-morning off-season training sessions can morph into an incongruous mix of heaven and hell.
Mindful that it’s been awhile since Wisconsin won the national championship ? the same year Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese ? and 14 years since UW last played in the Final Four, quite a few Badger alums and fans are shelling out big bucks to see the game.
Fourteen years ago, it was them cutting down the nets. It was them going to the Final Four. In 2000, an offensively challenged Wisconsin team, short on talent but long on heart and coached by master tactician Dick Bennett, went into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed and improbably danced its way to the Final Four.
Since making it to the tournament?s final weekend, the team has squeezed studying and classes in between being bombarded with media attention and attending daily practices.
The visit was a surprise, arranged by Eric, the oldest son who works in data services at the UW School of Medicine. He will never forget the look on his mother?s face when Ryan walked through the door and immediately came over to her wheelchair to give her a hug.
The University of Wisconsin is going back to the Final Four (it last reached the Final Four in 2000, losing to Michigan State). But now the Badgers are the first men?s basketball team in our state since the 2003 Marquette Golden Eagles to make the NCAA?s version of its men?s basketball championship.
March Madness has consumed the city of Madison, and as Badgers prepare for their first Final Four game in 14 years, Â State Street businesses have seen sales skyrocket.
BuzzFeed has made a list of 17 reasons basketball fans should be rooting for the Wisconsin Badgers in the Final Four.
On Saturday the University of Wisconsin basketball team will play in their first Final Four game since 2000. They will face the University of Kentucky Wildcats, but for Badger Head Coach Bo Ryan and the men?s basketball program the road began more than a decade ago.
Fans of University of Wisconsin Badgers basketball have taken to Twitter to cry foul after Sports Illustrated unveiled a regional cover with the team pictured on the cover.
Michelle Li meets the people behind the UW social media accounts that connect fans of the Badgers.
At around midnight Monday, Wisconsin Athletics sent out an email announcing that student tickets to the Final Four in Texas were on sale for $40, prompting a flood of interest.
University of Wisconsin fans are making plans for Saturday?s big game against Kentucky, but not every fan can make the trek to Texas for the Final Four matchup.
During a tour Tuesday of the Madison campus for prospective students Tuesday, father Pete Steiner had the Badgers? trip to the Final Four on his mind as he considered where his twin sons should go to college.
A Final Four win on Saturday for the Badgers could impact more than the school?s trophy case.
UNIVERSITY VILLAGE ? Howard Moore just finished a 6-25 season, yet the men?s basketball head coach at University of Illinois at Chicago is all smiles.
he Badgers basketball team?s dance to the Final Four stands to increase the prestige of both the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the state.
No matter how good the power pop or the indie rock, no band can compete with a Final Four tournament slot.
The two schools, which play Saturday for a berth in the national championship game, have plenty in common. Both are flagship public universities and land-grant institutions with a research focus, although Wisconsin has a much larger student body and higher rankings in research dollars and other academic measures.
Kentucky has the most talent. Florida has a 30-game win streak. Connecticut suddenly has momentum. Wisconsin, the fourth member of the Final Four, has Frank the Tank.
Wherever they were, Bo?s Army was loud and proud when the Badgers clinched a spot in the Final Four with a 64-63 overtime victory over Arizona in the NCAA tournament West regional final at the Honda Center.
He?s one of five people involved in both Badger final four appearances, so today we sat down with Otto Puls to see, what he does and why the team thinks he?s so special.
A University of Wisconsin football recruit pleaded not guilty Monday to a third-degree sexual assault charge stemming from the alleged rape of a woman in her campus dorm room in December.
Unlike a Rose Bowl or other bowl games where Badgers fans have three weeks or more to buy a sweatshirt, T-shirt or cap, there is less than a week to gear up for the Final Four. Most area stores didn?t get Final Four apparel on their sales floor until Sunday afternoon, and even those who are not making the trek to North Texas are just plain excited and want to own a Final Four shirt sooner than later.
Bennett knows the buzz of the moment well. He lived the adulation and felt the euphoria while coaching UW to its last Final Four appearance in 2000.
College students can buy tickets for this weekend?s NCAA March Madness Final Four in Arlington, Texas, for just $40 apiece, a tiny fraction of the average seat price.
As the Wisconsin men?s basketball team heads to the Final Four, consumer experts want fans to be cautious when buying tickets or even spirit gear.
A Kohl Center crowd approaching 10,000 greeted the Badgers, fresh off the plane from California. The fans patiently waited an extra half-hour for the welcome-home show that lasted about 20 minutes. Players and coaches stood on a midcourt stage and soaked in the adoration.
Getting tickets for the Final Four college basketball games in Arlington, Texas, could prove challenging and expensive.
When the page turned and the latest tale about University of Wisconsin men?s hockey team came to a mournful end, the focus shifted to the future.
Hundreds of gleeful fans poured out of State Street bars Saturday night as soon as the University of Wisconsin men?s basketball team?s nailbiter over Arizona was official, the crowd eventually growing to the thousands as fans celebrated the Badgers? return to the NCAA tournament Final Four for the first time since 2000.
University of Wisconsin senior Cameron Warne sat in class early Tuesday morning and had a bright idea he decided to share with his two buddies, Isaac Wienkes and Brett Johnsen.
Coming off a Saturday night of inadequate sleep, with voices still hoarse from screaming at their televisions, University of Wisconsin men?s basketball fans welcomed home their favorite team at a loud Kohl Center rally Sunday afternoon, the day after the squad played its way into the school?s first NCAA Final Four since 2000.
Final Four tickets won?t officially be available until Monday for UW-Madison students. But the frenzied maneuvering to secure them began not long after the final buzzer sounded in Saturday night?s Badgers? 64-63 overtime win over Arizona in the NCAA men?s basketball tournament West regional in Anaheim, Calif.
ANAHEIM, Calif. ? On the eve of their West Regional final Saturday against Arizona, the Wisconsin players were ensconced in a hotel down the street from Disneyland, in a meeting room with two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows.
A Westby native is getting a feel for what it?s like to be in the Final Four.
Madison police said the crowd celebrating the Badgers men?s basketball team?s Elite Eight victory Saturday night on State Street was well-behaved.
Madison?s State Street was filled with Badgers fans Saturday night, as thousands took to the streets to celebrate the mens basketball team?s win over Arizona to advance to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.
