Category: Athletics

Monday was a big day for awards for the University of Wisconsin football team.

The increasing trend of college athletes leaving early for the NHL isn?t likely to change. The moment is important enough to Mike Eaves that the University of Wisconsin men?s hockey coach will miss practice today.

Former University of Wisconsin runners Tim Nelson and Matt Downin posted Top-20 finishes at the New York City Marathon on Sunday, while ex-Badger Simon Bairu dropped out in his high-profile debut.

The University of Wisconsin football team?s road to the Rose Bowl didn?t change over the weekend. The best way for the Badgers to get to Pasadena, Calif., and a potential berth against TCU — How?s that for tradition? — is to win their last three games and for Michigan State to lose.

The good news for UW is it strengthened its position in the Bowl Championship Series standings, moving up to two spots to seventh, with an average of .7349. Ohio State is the next-closest Big Ten team in ninth at .6613.

Simon Bairu has been on the run since a schoolyard scrap some 13 years ago, an improbable journey that has taken him to the top of Canada?s track and field rankings.

Brian Elliott swatted aside the question like a loose puck in his crease.

Week after week, sophomore Montee Ball prepared as if he was Wisconsin?s starting tailback, knowing all along he would be fortunate to get into the game.

“The neat thing about it is that he probably only gets about .?.?. a dozen snaps in practice,” UW running backs coach John Settle said before practice Sunday. “But his film study, he still prepares just like he is going to play every week.”

The University of Wisconsin is in position for another appearance in one of college football?s marquee bowls. Just don?t expect the Badgers to talk about it any time soon.

Despite being idle last week, the Badgers (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten Conference) moved up one spot to No. 9 in the Bowl Championship Series standings released Sunday on ESPN. UW is the highest-rated Big Ten team, ahead of No. 11 Ohio State (8-1, 4-1), No. 14 Michigan State (8-1, 4-1) and No. 16 Iowa (6-2, 3-1).

The preseason all-conference team, voted by members of the media, consists of: Wisconsin forward Jon Leuer, Michigan State guard Kalin Lucas, Purdue center/forward JaJuan Johnson, Purdue guard E?Twaun Moore and Illinois guard Demetri McCamey.

The season is over for Wisconsin reserve offensive tackle Josh Oglesby, a redshirt junior from St. Francis High School who has been hampered by knee problems.

It hit me sometime between Jay Cutler?s first and fourth interceptions Sunday, as I grew tired of Bears-Redskins and began to survey the bowl landscape for the Big Ten. Coach Bret Bielema and Wisconsin could finish 11-1 and still be angry when bowl matchups are decided.My thought: Wisconsin might get totally screwed. Or, to be politically correct, the Badgers might get BCSed.

Noted: Woodlands High in Texas used Wisconsins “motion W” logo on its team uniforms until university officials caught wind of it and had the school remove the insignia in 2007, said Cindy Van Matre, Wisconsins licensing director. The high school eventually created its own logo. In all, Wisconsin has asked nearly 40 schools in over two dozen states to stop using its logo and phase out its use on Web sites, uniforms and elsewhere. The list includes Westfield High in Chantilly.

A new Madison.com app lets users get the latest on University of Wisconsin sports ? including pre-game, in-game and post-game analysis, breaking news, blogs and columns, results, photo galleries and more.

Badger running back John Clay?s rushing numbers against the Buckeyes (21 carries, 104 yards, two touchdowns) didn?t match his performances in UW?s first games this season, but he ran more effectively than he had all season with the explosive power that must be his signature.

On Saturday, the University of Wisconsin football team will face Iowa for the last time before the schools are put in separate divisions when the Big Ten goes to 12 teams next season.

Scott Van Pelt reacts to Wisconsin Badgers win over #1 Ohio State (Audio.)

No. 1 Ohio State will take on the No. 18-ranked Wisconsin Badgers Saturday night. Adding to the excitement of playing the top team in the country on prime-time television is the fact that ESPN?s College Gameday crew is here and will broadcast live on Saturday morning from Camp Randall.

Ohio State is one and done as No. 1, after Wisconsin bullied the Buckeyes all over the field then celebrated by jumping around on it with a few thousand friends.

Beating top-ranked Ohio State elevated the spirits of Wisconsin?s players and coaches to a level they hadn?t experienced in some time.

The 31-18 victory allowed UW (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten Conference) to move up in both national polls Sunday – eight spots to No. 10 in The Associated Press poll and five spots to No. 11 in the USA Today coaches? poll.

MADISON ? J.J. Watt had no guarantees that his college football career would continue past his freshman year at Central Michigan. He just believed.

Like two seasons ago, UW will rely on more than one running threat because the staff is growing more comfortable using John Clay 6.0 ypc, 115.3 ypg, nine touchdowns and freshman James White 7.7 ypc, 80.8 ypg and eight touchdowns.

The last time ESPN College GameDay came to town, it was held on the University of Wisconsin?s grass practice field. But Saturday?s prime-time matchup against No. 1 Ohio State is befitting a grander forum, so the wildly popular weekly football preview TV show will emanate from Camp Randall Stadium.

The show, which runs from 8 to 11 a.m. Central time and features the triumvirate of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso, is free to attend.

The best advantage the University of Wisconsin football team has going for it against top-ranked Ohio State on Saturday might be playing a night game at Camp Randall Stadium.

ESPN?s Colin Cowherd will return to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and again broadcast live from Memorial Union Terrace Oct. 15.

The car that struck and killed three young people whose disabled vehicle was stopped this week on an interstate median near Madison, Wis., seemed to come out of nowhere and did not appear to slow, a survivor of the crash said Friday.

Bret Bielema said his coach?s card made him do it. The Minnesota Gophers took that to mean Wisconsin?s coach has a card that reads “Show No Class.”

   It got big play on ESPN, it was all over the internet, and the radio call-in shows were buzzing. But Tim Brewster, who earned all the attention by berating Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema at midfield during the postgame handshake on Saturday has a question.

A proposed practice rink for the UW men?s and women?s hockey programs cleared a significant hurdle Friday when the Board of Regents gave its blessing. Now the $27.6 million project will be considered by the State Building Commission at its meeting Oct. 20. If approved, the 2,400-seat facility to be built adjacent to the Kohl Center will be on track to be ready by the fall of 2012.

When the Badgers host Minnesota on Saturday at 11 a.m., it?ll be 2,527 days since the Gophers? last win in the longest-running rivalry in college football. That was on Nov. 8, 2003, a 37-34 shootout at the Metrodome. Worse news for the Gophers: The last time they took a victory lap around Camp Randall Stadium with Paul Bunyan?s Axe was Oct. 22, 1994. Come Saturday, that?ll mark a span of 5,831 days.

At least two of three people killed early Thursday morning when a suspected drunken driver hit them as they tried to fix a flat tire on Interstate 39/90 near Madison, Wis., were University of Minnesota students, university officials said.