Category: Athletics

PITTSBURGH — Could Joe Rudolph be coming home? Rudolph, a Belle Vernon Area graduate, is flying into Pittsburgh today to interview for a position on new Pitt Panther football coach Paul Chryst?s staff. Chryst and Rudolph have a good relationship, as Chryst served as the offensive coordinator at Wisconsin before being hired to replace Todd Graham at Pitt. Rudolph is currently an assistant coach at Wisconsin, where he worked on the same staff with Chryst the last four years.

Joe Rudolph will interview Friday at Pittsburgh, according to a report in the Valley Independent (Pa.) newspaper, and could become the third assistant former UW offensive coordinator Paul Chryst takes with him to Pitt. Rudolph was recently reassigned from tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator, to offensive line coach after former OL coach Bob Bostad announced he was joining Chryst in Pittsburgh.

MADISON (WKOW) — Wisconsin wide receivers coach DelVaughn Alexander is leaving the Badgers to become an assistant coach at Arizona State University. The following is a statement from Arizona State regarding Alexander:

TEMPE, Ariz. — DelVaughn Alexander has been named an assistant coach for Sun Devil football, head coach Todd Graham has announced. Alexander spent the past five seasons with the Wisconsin Badgers, coaching wide receivers. While with the Badgers, Alexander was a part of two Big 10 championships and made five bowl appearances, including the last two Rose Bowls. No stranger to the Pac-12, Alexander has coached at both Oregon State and USC.

The only thing better than a Rose Bowl party at Union South on the UW-Madison campus would have been a Rose Bowl victory by the Badgers in Pasadena. Alas, the victory was not to be, but that didn?t stop about 1,500 fans from jamming the new union building at Randall and Dayton to watch the game between the Badgers and the Oregon Quackers, a game that was non-stop action from start to finish, with the chrome-domed Ducks ending up on top of the scoring pile, 45-38.

Oregon?s incredible offense busted up Wisconsin and the record books on the way to the Ducks? first Rose Bowl victory in 95 years.

Wisconsin?s brief but satisfying tradition of winning Rose Bowls, established during Barry Alvarez?s 16-year run as head coach, is history.

For the second consecutive season, UW came to Pasadena with an opportunity to end its Rose Bowl drought by beating a quality opponent.

For the second consecutive season, UW coach Bret Bielema and his players made critical errors and left this storied stadium after suffering a crushing defeat.

Lorayne Ritt remembers attending the Wisconsin Badgers? first bowl game in 1953. The 1952 season was the best the Badgers had ever had, but Purdue also had a good season that year.

The Badgers played in the Rose Bowl when Gloria Sheveland was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but she was not among the red-clad masses cheering in Pasadena.

“I didn?t get to go. My friends got to go and I heard their stories,” said Sheveland as she watched her alma mater?s helmeted behemoths tangle with the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl.

In the highest-scoring game in Rose Bowl history, in a whiplash-inducing thriller in which momentum seemed to shift by the minute and touchdown drives sometimes lasted a few seconds, we needed someone to tell us the game had actually ended.

Let New Orleans and the BCS title game have their snarling defenses, their three-yard runs, their field goals and a rematch of a 9-6 game.

The Rose Bowl will take dazzling speedsters, 91-yard scores, an avalanche of touchdowns and a pinball machine for a scoreboard.

After a record number of points and more than 1,100 yards in offense, the 98th Rose Bowl ended at a standstill Monday evening in Pasadena.

Coming off 94 years of bad luck in the Rose Bowl, Oregon?s scene-stealing fashionistas broke out mirrored helmets that threw off glints of light like sparklers, appropriate for the fireworks show that the Ducks and Wisconsin staged Monday.

Playing on a football field? Easy. Try nearly eating the weight of a baby in meat. That?s what many football players from Wisconsin and Oregon did Wednesday and Thursday at the “Beef Bowl,” an annual event thrown by Lawry?s in which the teams headed to the Rose Bowl try to outdo each other over prime rib. The team that eats the most meat goes on to win the Rose Bowl 71% of the time, according to Gina Doyle, the general manager at the restaurant?s Beverly Hills location. If that stat proves true, Wisconsin should win by a landslide.

LOS ANGELES — University of Wisconsin linebackers coach Dave Huxtable confirmed to the State Journal on Friday he will be returning to the Badgers next season, despite an offer to be the defensive coordinator at Pittsburgh. Huxtable is in his first year as linebackers coach at UW after a successful three-year stint as defensive coordinator at Central Florida.

As the Wisconsin players studied video of those few teams that have slowed Oregon?s offense enough to beat the Ducks in the last three seasons, they noticed a recurring theme.

“The biggest thing was that not only did they get off blocks but they did a really good job of tackling,” UW senior safety Aaron Henry said. “It really doesn?t show up on the stat sheet but having the chance to watch that film, when those guys were in one-on-one situations against really, really good backs they made plays.”

At the midpoint of the regular season, the University of Wisconsin men?s hockey team finds itself a model of inconsistency.

In her first 12 games as University of Wisconsin women?s basketball coach, Bobbie Kelsey already has experienced more losing than she did the past two seasons as an assistant at Stanford. Not surprisingly, it has not been a particularly enjoyable experience for Kelsey, whose team carries a 4-8 record into Friday night?s Big Ten Conference opener against No. 9 Ohio State (13-0).

Football may be the primary focus of the Rose Bowl, but UW-Madison officials admit they have ulterior motives when they leave Friday for Southern California.

NEW YORK — Realizing bigger isn?t necessarily better, the Big Ten and Pac-12 are going ahead with a plan to start regularly competing against one another in the hope that together they can increase their national exposure. While the partnership is for all sports, the most noticeable changes will be seen in football. The two 12-team leagues are aiming to create a 12-game inter-conference schedule by the 2017 season that would have each school play an opponent from the other conference every season.

The Big Ten and Pacific 12 announced Wednesday the leagues are entering into a scheduling agreement in all sports, with the focus football and men?s and women?s basketball.

Five days. That?s how much time offensive coordinator Paul Chryst and offensive line coach Bob Bostad have left as members of the Wisconsin football program.

LOS ANGELES ? In many ways, it has been business as usual for offensive coordinator Paul Chryst as he prepares to coach in his final game in his current position for the University of Wisconsin football team.And what better way to end a remarkable eight-year run, which spans two different coaching stints at his alma mater, than a chance Monday to face Oregon in the Rose Bowl?

It?s the game all Wisconsin fans would love to be at: the Rose Bowl in Pasadena! Some veterans in the state thought they?d be there, only to find out a surprise trip was too good to be true.

Forbes has recently published a financial evaluation of the importance to major universities of fielding successful teams. While I am not armed with the exact facts, the Badger football program was estimated to have yielded only $3 million to the University of Wisconsin in their ranking system.  It is hard to ascertain the exact compensation that goes to the competing teams but one thing is for sure.  According to Wikipedia, the teams invited to the Rose Bowl reap $20 million each for their schools. That?s real money and this is UW?s second appearance in as many years.

LINCOLN, Neb. ? The Big Ten Conference schedule-makers didn?t exactly do its newest member any favors by introducing the Nebraska men?s basketball team to its new league with a matchup against the University of Wisconsin. It was a rude awakening for the Cornhuskers and their fans, many of whom flocked to the Devaney Center exits early to beat the traffic.

As offensive coordinator Paul Chryst and offensive line coach Bob Bostad prepare for their final game at Wisconsin, coach Bret Bielema is faced with both an onerous challenge and a tremendous opportunity. After UW (11-2) faces Oregon (11-2) in the 98th Rose Bowl on Monday in Pasadena, Bielema will have to replace arguably his top two assistants.

If history is a road map, the next offensive coordinator for the University of Wisconsin football team is already on staff.

ANAHEIM, Calif. ? The road to Madison, Wis., was long and winding for Badgers quarterback Russell Wilson, with several detours.

University of Wisconsin junior center Peter Konz hasn?t given up hope that he will be ready to face Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Monday.

ANAHEIM ? Next week, the coaches of the Wisconsin Badgers and the Oregon Ducks will be all business as they take the Rose Bowl field to do battle in one of the season?s most anticipated showdowns.

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Badgers offense has been at the top of its game for much of the season and a lot of that credit goes to a pair of coaches that have announced that they will be leaving the program for an opportunity to coach at Pittsburgh.

MADISON, Wis. — As the Rose Bowl draws near, prices are starting to drop and many fans are scoring great last-minute deals. Just a few clicks of a mouse can help get any diehard Badger fan to Pasadena at a discount price. Delta Airlines added a few last-minute flights out of Madison, but with some seats still unsold, they are going cheap. Fans willing to leave Thursday and come back next Tuesday will pay a little more than $500. It?s actually cheaper to fly out of Madison right now than Chicago or Milwaukee. ?I think they?re trying to get some last-minute travelers,? said Scott Mast, of Burkhalter Travel. ?In comparison to a week ago, that?s phenomenal because they were going for well over $1,000.?