Category: Athletics

OMAHA, Neb. â?? Michael Flowers always has been known for his defense, and he takes obvious pride in that.

But it also was never enough for the senior guard on the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team.

APPLETON â?? Like its namesake, the Butch-O-Meter has grown in stature and substance over the last few years.

The ode to Brian Butch â?? a large lawn ornament planted near the driveway of the home across the street from the Butch family residence on West Heritage Avenue â?? stands nearly 10 feet tall, a bigger-than-lifesize mural that also tracks the statistical exploits of the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team’s 6-foot-11 senior center.

Jinelle Zaugg doesn’t mind the view from the back of the line.

“I’m loving this year; it is completely different,” Zaugg, a senior forward on the University of Wisconsin womens hockey team, said after practice earlier this week. “We’re kind of like the underdog.

“And it is so much sweeter when youre the underdog. Nobody expects you to win and you come back and bite them.”

The Badgers 28-8-3, the two-time defending NCAA champions, enter the Frozen Four in Duluth, Minn., as the lowest-ranked team in the field at No. 4. They face top-ranked Harvard 32-1-0 at 5 p.m. Thursday.

OMAHA, Neb. â?? Cal State Fullerton fans are used to making the trip here for the postseason to follow their team.

But usually it’s the College World Series they are attending and the Fullerton baseball team they are following.

Seniors Jolene Anderson, Janese Banks and Danielle Ward will get a chance to cap off their collegiate basketball careers in the postseason after all.

The University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team will make its second consecutive appearance in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament and will open play Saturday at 7 p.m. at the UW Field House.

It’s not the destination they had planned for at the beginning of this season.

But members of the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team can take some solace in the fact that they’re getting another chance to play in the postseason.

After three rugged games in three days in the Big Ten Conference tournament, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team was hoping to start NCAA tournament play on Friday.

“There was a rumor out there, they were going to take care of the Sunday teams, especially the team that plays the latest,” Badgers coach Bo Ryan said on Monday. “But there’s just too many factors. It’s OK.”

A couple of weeks ago, Trevon Hughes was asked how he had gone about cutting down his turnovers.

“I never even thought about that until you asked me that question,” he said.

Bo Ryan might have smiled if he heard that answer. As much as the University of Wisconsin basketball coach hates turnovers, he doesn’t want players obsessing, as he calls it, about not making mistakes. Learn your lesson and move on, he says.

After a season filled with disappointment, the players and coaches on the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team received a small consolation prize late Monday.

UW, which was expected to contend for the Big Ten Conference regular-season title but finished tied for seventh and then lost in the first round of the league tournament, received an at-large berth in the 48-team Women’s National Invitation Tournament field.

Led by goals from three freshman, including the game-winner 1:29 into overtime by Mallory Deluce, the No. 4/5 Wisconsin womenâ??s hockey team outlasted No. 5/4 Minnesota 3-2 Saturday night at Ridder Arena in an NCAA quarterfinal.

Kelly Nash (Bonita, Calif.) and Hilary Knight (Hanover, N.H.) each scored in regulation as the two-time defending NCAA champion Badgers (28-8-3 overall) advanced to the Frozen Four, held March 20 and 22 in Duluth, Minn., for the third straight season.

Just as in the previous two runs to the national title, the Badgers needed overtime to reach the Frozen Four.

INDIANAPOLIS — It wasn’t too long after the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team concluded its Big Ten tournament championship celebration, that the Badgers turned their attention toward the NCAA tournament.

About 30 minutes after walking off the Conseco Fieldhouse floor following a 61-48 victory over Illinois in the Big Ten tournament title game, eighth-ranked UW watched from a hospitality room inside the arena as the NCAA brackets were unveiled.

INDIANAPOLIS — After an 18-game Big Ten Conference season, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team found itself alone atop the league standings.

And the eighth-ranked Badgers defended that undisputed status in style Sunday at Conseco Fieldhouse, capping the Big Ten tournament with a 61-48 victory over Illinois in the event ‘s title game.

Big Ten champions. Again.

Former University of Wisconsin guard Mike Kelley chuckles at the number of people he still hears from, who talk about the “favorable” matchups the Badgers had during their run to the NCAA Final Four in 2000.

In the last 10 years, six Big Ten teams followed up regular-season championships with conference tournament crowns.

Only one of those teams, the 2001-’02 Ohio State Buckeyes, received a seeding in the NCAA tournament lower than what the University of Wisconsin received Sunday evening. The Badgers, fresh off a 61-48 victory over Illinois in the tournament championship game at Conseco Fieldhouse, were awarded a No. 3 seeding in the Midwest Regional and will play No. 14 Cal State Fullerton (24-8) Thursday at 8:40 p.m. in Omaha, Neb.

INDIANAPOLIS â?? During one of the most remarkable seasons in the history of the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball program, the Badgers’ success usually has been predicated on taking advantage of whatever their opponents give them.

The Badgers had that in mind after they finished watching the NCAA tournament selection show Sunday evening and learned they were the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Regional and will play Cal State Fullerton in a first-round game Thursday at 8:40 p.m. in Omaha.

INDIANAPOLIS — Unselfishness has been such a key for the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team this season that individual awards have rarely taken center stage.

That was the case again after the Badgers defeated Illinois 61-48 Sunday at Conseco Fieldhouse to win the Big Ten Conference tournament title. Junior forward Marcus Landry was named the tournament Most Valuable Player while senior guard Michael Flowers was named to the all-tournament team.

Metro Transit has to find a new way to fund itself, according to a draft report by a special committee that has been studying the city bus system since September 2006.

The report released Thursday also says that in order to achieve long-term financial success Metro has to attract new riders, and it identifies promoting special event services and special fares as one of the system’s best bets for doing that.

Metro Transit Service manager Ann Gullickson told the city’s Transit and Parking Committee Tuesday, however, that Metro isn’t going to be able to continue to offer special event services. New Federal Transit Administration rules issued in January mean Metro won’t be running the Bucky Buses from Lot 60 to Camp Randall for University of Wisconsin-Madison football games, or providing park and ride service to Kohl Center events or WIAA events at any of the venues it uses, or operating shuttles to Rhythm and Booms at Warner Park in July, she said.

University of Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi spoke in Hudson March 5 before members of the Hudson Daybreak Rotary Club.

Maturi, a Chisholm, Minn., native, actually spent nearly three decades of his life in Wisconsin, which included a stint as high school football coach of the late Chris Farley of television and movie fame.

Former University of Wisconsin coach Jane Albright was let go Tuesday from her position as coach at Wichita State.

The Shockers (9-21, 3-15) finished last in the 10-member Missouri Valley Conference this season under Albright, who leaves with a 48-94 record in five seasons at Wichita State.

If people didn’t know before, they should know now to never count out one of Bo Ryan’s teams.

The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball coach has done some impressive work during his seven seasons as Badgers coach, but it’s hard to top him when the chips are supposedly down.

MADISON, Wis. — It’s news that many Badger fans have been waiting months to hear — Charter Cable might be closer than ever to reaching a deal with the Big Ten Network.

The Sports Business Journal is reporting that Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, is just about ready to sign a deal with the Big Ten Network. And industry experts said it’s a move that cable companies like Charter and Time Warner have been waiting for.

Barry Orton, a cable and telecommunications professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Comcast will set the standards for negotiations and it is likely Time Warner and Charter will follow suit.

The Big Ten Network may be one step closer to being more widely available in Madison, according to a report released Monday.

A collective effort led the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team to the undisputed Big Ten Conference regular-season title.

And when conference honors were handed out Monday, several Badgers found themselves collecting recognition for their parts in that success from the league’s media and coaches.

First among them was 6-foot-11 senior center Brian Butch, a first-team All-Big Ten pick by both groups.

It would have fit the team ideals and principles that the University of Wisconsin basketball team used to win the Big Ten Conference regular-season title if none of the Badgers received any individual honors from the conference Monday.

It was better that six were honored, led by Brian Butch being named as a first-team all-conference selection, because they served as another tribute to what has been a remarkable season so far for the Badgers.

The final seconds of Wisconsin’s victory over Texas have been replayed over and over, and for good reason.

That moment, and really that game, not only foreshadowed what was ahead for the Badgers, who would go on to win the Big Ten championship, it also embodied what Michael Flowers has meant to them this season.

….After another poor performance filled with turnovers, bad shots and a lack of hustle, the women’s UW basketball team will now again compete in the WNIT, even though many experts predicted they would win the Big Ten title.

Lisa Stone’s teams have been plagued by sloppy play throughout her tenure. Some say teams are defined by their coaches and this is why the UW needs to make a change at the head coach position. The girls deserve the same chance as the men to win a championship.

There was no spirited on-court celebration. There was no championship trophy presentation. There were no nets cut down.

The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team did all of that in the wake of Wednesday’s victory that clinched at least a share of the Big Ten Conference regular-season title.

Whether the Wisconsin Badgers play Michigan or Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament Friday, they’ll be facing a team they nearly lost to in their last meeting.

EVANSTON, Ill. — Brian Butch scored 20 points and matched his career-high with 14 rebounds as No. 10 Wisconsin clinched the Big Ten regular-season title Saturday.

The Badgers used a strong second half to beat Northwestern 65-52 at Evanston.

Jason Bohannon added 15 points, and Marcus Landry scored eight straight during a 10-0 second-half run to help Wisconsin pull away.

There was no second-half run, no last-gasp effort to come to the rescue.

Not this time.

Senior guard Jolene Anderson’s illustrious time in college basketball might have ended Thursday as her Wisconsin Badgers fell to Illinois, 73-58, in the opening round of the Big Ten women’s tournament.

After winning all season by taking ownership of the teamwork principle, the players from the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team celebrated the fruits of their efforts Wednesday night by dusting off a seldom-used ‘I’ to spell title.

“It’s absolutely awesome. Point blank, that’s all I can say,” said jubilant senior forward Brian Butch after the 10th-ranked Badgers clinched a share of the Big Ten Conference regular-season title with a 77-41 victory over Penn State at a raucous Kohl Center.

“This is why we play,” added Butch after slam dunks, 3-pointers and nifty assists highlighted the game, and jubilant students storming the court, a Big Ten trophy presentation and a net-cutting ceremony highlighted the postgame celebration.

The University of Wisconsin earned a share of its third regular-season conference title of the decade with a 77-41 pasting of Penn State on Wednesday night in front of a sellout crowd of 17,190 at the Kohl Center.

For all of last season’s achievements â?? a record number of victories, the first No. 1 ranking in program history, the highest NCAA tournament seed in school history â?? the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team had nothing tangible to take away from its efforts.

The University of Wisconsins current seniors are double threats. Not only do they play with heart, they touch them, too.

Another year, another Big Ten Conference track and field championship for the University of Wisconsin. The Badgers won their eighth consecutive indoor conference title on Sunday in Madison.

Although the University of Wisconsin fell far short of preseason expectations with a disappointing tie for seventh in the Big Ten Conference women’s basketball race, the play of senior guard Jolene Anderson did not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

Anderson, the most decorated player in the history of UW women’s program, on Monday was named the media’s player of the year and a consensus first-team all-conference pick for the second consecutive season.

If Big Ten football officials are looking for a training video to enhance their preparation for the 2008 season — specifically targeting the points of emphasis as mandated by the NCAA rules committee — they need look no further than the Big Ten Network for assistance; an odd starting point, to be sure. Yet, for months, the BTN has been running a “highlight” loop, which has included a helmet-to-helmet collision between Michigan State strong safety Nehemiah Warrick, the aggressor, and University of Wisconsin receiver Kyle Jefferson, the victim.

When it you win the same meet for the eighth straight year, it might be hard to make a statement, but that’s exactly what the University of Wisconsin men’s track team did Sunday.

Led by a strong finish in the 5,000 meters event in which Wisconsin took 25 of 39 possible points, the Badgers regained a lead they briefly lost and ran away with their record setting eighth-straight Big Ten indoor championship in front of a sold-out crowd at the Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center.

Bo Ryan doesn’t want to get philosophical but Tanner Bronson is the type of person who the University of Wisconsin coach thinks transcends the X’s and O’s of the game.