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Category: Athletics

Badgers ready for start of a new era at Camp Randall

WISC-TV 3

Change will be evident for Badgers fans coming to Camp Randall Stadium starting Saturday. Head coach Luke Fickell is in his first season at the helm and he and his staff have been working diligently to mesh new faces with returning stars as everyone adjusts to new schemes on both offense and defense.

Wisconsin’s Fickell doesn’t want to rely on transfer portal every year. But it sure is helping now

Washington Post

New Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell often says that he doesn’t want to build a program by relying on the transfer portal. Yet the Badgers’ success this year could depend largely on how well Fickell can integrate the 17 transfers he has brought in since coming over from Cincinnati. The 19th-ranked Badgers open Fickell’s debut season Saturday by hosting Buffalo.

Wisconsin volleyball team focused on its next challenge, not newly-minted No. 1 ranking

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Wisconsin volleyball team moved up just one spot in the national rankings, but it’s a big one.

The Badgers took over the No. 1 spot in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll that was released Monday. The move came after UW opened the season in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge with a four-set win over No. 15 Baylor on Friday and a straight set victory over TCU on Saturday.

2 Congressmen Form Caucus to Preserve Historic College Football Stadiums

Inside Higher Education

Camp Randall in Madison is one of the 18 stadiums targeted. The bipartisan caucus—led by Louisiana representative Garret Graves, a Republican, and Wisconsin representative Mark Pocan, a Democrat—wants to bring attention to “these iconic venues,” protect their value and adapt them to meet evolving needs, according to a news release. The effort, which will include “technological upgrades” and “infrastructure updates,” would likely involve federal money.

Tennis champion Althea Gibson’s greatness captured in two new bios

The Washington Post

In “Serving Herself: The Life and Times of Althea Gibson,” Ashley Brown, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, describes the scene on the grounds, which should be among the most well-known trailblazing moments in American sports: “One of the world’s leading symbols of white supremacy and White womanhood had presented a sterling silver salver to a Black woman, a descendant of slaves, while a stadium filled with colonizers cheered. These were role reversals for the ages.”

Barry Alvarez no longer a Big Ten football adviser

Wisconsin State Journal

Alvarez said this week that he won’t return for a second season in his role as the special adviser for football. It’s something Alvarez and new commissioner Tony Petitti had discussed during Big Ten media days last month in Indianapolis.

Alcohol rules at Wisconsin Badgers hockey, basketball games

Wisconsin State Journal

No brand will have exclusivity when alcohol sales expand to general ticket holders for Badgers basketball and hockey games this season, senior associate athletic director Justin Doherty said. Levy, the company that manages concessions at Wisconsin venues, will work with local distributors to stock a variety of products.

UW volleyball team has ‘big gnarly’ goals and chip on its shoulder

The Capital Times

The Badgers will open the season Saturday with a 1 p.m. exhibition against University of Illinois Chicago at the UW Field House, the site of last December’s pulsating, emotionally draining five-set loss to Pittsburgh in the NCAA’s Regional Final. The defeat snapped Wisconsin’s 21-match winning streak dating to September.

Badgers football’s first Black starter finally gets his due

The Capital Times

Pat Richter was in grade school when Bob Teague broke a color barrier in the Wisconsin football program by becoming the first African American player to start for the Badgers. As he grew older, Richter began to better comprehend the historical significance of Teague’s breakthrough during the 1949 season.

“Unfortunately, his story has not received the attention it so richly deserves,’’ opined Richter, a former University of Wisconsin All-American tight end and the school’s athletic director during the Badgers’ football renaissance of the 1990s. “Many who could have benefited from hearing about his tales of perseverance may now finally have that opportunity.’’

Getting to know the Big Ten mascots: Who are these guys?

Duckswire USA Today

From the University of Wisconsin website:Wisconsin’s loveable mascot, Bucky Badger, has always ranked high in fan appeal and enthusiasm. Although badgers in various forms had been the University of Wisconsin mascot for decades, the version that is currently known as Bucky, sporting a cardinal and white sweater, was first drawn in 1940 by professional illustrator Art Evans of Garden Grove, Calif. In 1949, a student first wore a badger outfit with a papier-máchê head at the homecoming game and the mascot came to l

How U.S. soccer star Rose Lavelle developed part of her game at Wisconsin

Wisconsin State Journal

But Badgers coach Paula Wilkins has seen a familiar element in U.S. games when Lavelle, who played for the Badgers from 2013 to 2016, has been on the pitch.

“The national team is reliant a little bit on her,” Wilkins said. “And she learned that here because a lot of times in games we were reliant on her. So she’s learned to carry that load a little bit.”

Don’t encourage UW sports fans to drink — Steve Hoffenberg

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison announced it will offer “enhanced beverage choices” at the Kohl Center and Bahn Arena in Madison this fall.

What does it look like to me? People will get drunk before and after the games, so we need to cash in on this, too. College athletics at UW will offer alcohol on a campus widely known as one of the biggest party schools in the U.S.

UW to sell alcohol at Kohl Center, LaBahn Arena

NBC-15

“As we look to enhance the customer experience inside and outside our venues, we have done a lot of listening and observing,” Athletic Director Chris McIntosh said. “It is critical that our fans have an enjoyable, safe, and efficient experience when they engage with us. I am happy to be able to announce a few new initiatives and I am excited about continuing to develop more ways to better serve our fans.”

Wisconsin athletics to begin selling alcohol at basketball, hockey games this year

WISC-TV 3

Wisconsin was one of only a few Big Ten schools that did not allow alcohol to be sold at any sporting events. But the athletic department announced Thursday afternoon that it will sell beer, wine, and some other pre-packaged alcoholic beverages — like hard seltzers — in general seating areas for basketball and hockey games as well as concerts at the Kohl Center and LaBahn Arena.

Polzin: Meet the First Lady of Wisconsin football

Wisconsin State Journal

Amy Fickell was wrapping up an interview in her family room last month when a face, covered with guilt, appeared from around the corner. One of her 8-year-old twins was requesting her presence in the basement. He needed to show her something.

In-conference transfers are changing Big Ten volleyball

Wisconsin State Journal

There have been several high-profile transfers throughout the Big Ten, a total of 31 according to College VBall Transfers on Twitter. Several ended up at opposing Big Ten programs — like the University of Wisconsin’s All-American transfer outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara, who transferred from Northwestern — which Nebraska coach John Cook said “bothers me.”

Excitement high as Badgers open fall camp on Wednesday

NBC-15

Training camp starts Wednesday from UW-Platteville and the Badgers sat down for media day on Tuesday. First-year head coach Luke Fickell said his excitement for upcoming camp and the season is overwhelming. “Honestly, I’m not kidding, I couldn’t sleep last night,” said Fickell.

NBC broadcasting 3 Wisconsin football games in 2023, report says

Wisconsin State Journal

Luke Fickell’s first season has been met with high expectations and the program is expected to have three league games on NBC, Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported. Those games include 2:30 p.m. Oct. 14 vs. Iowa, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 28 vs. Ohio State and 6:30 p.m. Nov. 18 against Nebraska.

UW’s Fickell faces new realities in return to Big Ten Media Days

The Capital Times

When the Big Ten conducts its 2023 Media Days on Wednesday and Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, there will be only three holdovers from that ’11 gathering: Ferentz in his 25th season at Iowa, Bielema in his third season at Illinois and Fickell in his first season at Wisconsin.