Category: Athletics

ORLANDO, Fla. – Don’t get her wrong: Nancy Porter had a fantastic time last year at the Capital One Bowl. It’s just that, well, something was missing. All the red, that is.

….An estimated 25,000 Badgers fans turned out at Citrus Bowl Stadium on Monday to watch sixth-ranked Wisconsin hold off 12th-ranked Arkansas 17-14 for the Badgers’ ninth straight win, setting a school record for victories in a season by finishing 12-1 under first-year coach Bret Bielema.

That’s about double the number of fans who cheered on UW last year as Barry Alvarez capped his legendary 16-year career as coach with an upset victory over Auburn. In other words, bowling with the Badgers is back in vogue.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The last time the University of Wisconsin football program peered at the rest of the college football world from these heights, following back-to-back Rose Bowl wins in the late 1990s, the prevailing thought was the Badgers were ready to make a leap into the elite.

….you can’t discount the fact that Bielema and his staff paid meticulous attention to detail, erred rightfully on the side of aggressiveness, entrusted their driven group of seniors with leadership roles, and maximized almost every ounce of potential from the available talent, mainly by putting the players in position to succeed and then demanding they do so.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Before University of Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema proceeded to the designated interview room after Monday’s 17-14 victory over Arkansas – in what played out to be an unartistic tug-of-war between a couple of strong-willed defenses – the 36-year-old Bielema agreed to put the 12-1 season into his own context, no small feat given the unexpected beauty of the overall body of work.

ORLANDO, Fla. – There’s nothing all that special about Citrus Bowl Stadium, but Joe Thomas was still having a hard time tearing himself away from the old place Monday.

The senior left tackle took his sweet time leaving the field following the University of Wisconsin football team’s 17-14 victory over Arkansas, then was among the final Badgers to exit the locker room.

“I didn’t want to leave,” Thomas said. “I wanted to savor every last minute that I had.”

ORLANDO, Fla. — ….Thousands of Wisconsin fans have descended on Orlando to soak in the sun and enjoy Monday’s Capital One Bowl between the Badgers and Arkansas.

Some UW fans took a break from the weather Monday afternoon to, well, be UW fans.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Wisconsin football team showed on a national stage Monday how far it has come in the last two years.
The sixth-ranked Badgers proved again they have the athletes to compete with a favored Southeastern Conference opponent, defeating Arkansas 17-14 to win the Capital One Bowl for a second straight year, in front of a crowd of 60,774 at the Florida Citrus Bowl.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Assembling a quality coaching staff was just the start of the challenge for first-year University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema.
Keeping it together, especially in the wake of the Badgers’ surprising success this season, could prove even more difficult.

If you can’t get enough of University of Wisconsin football, have we got a package for you.

…. following the recent suspension and subsequent reinstatement of All-Big Ten cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu, some are wondering if the new student-athlete discipline policy is working as anticipated.

Former University of Wisconsin football coach Barry Alvarez had a simple theory about bowl games: You win everything you do.

….It’s all about the winning, and Alvarez retired with an 8-3 record in bowl games, including last season’s stunning upset of heavily-favored Auburn. Alvarez programmed his players and his assistants to think the same way about bowls that he did. So, it was not surprising when his hand-picked successor, Bret Bielema, revealed that he would be basically sticking to the same bowl format that has been successful in the past.

Mickey Perry, a redshirt on the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team, has been released from his scholarship and will transfer to another school where he hopes to receive more playing time. [In SportsWatch blog]

University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema, the 2006 Big Ten Coach of the Year, has been named one of five finalists for the Paul ââ?¬Å?Bearââ?¬Â Bryant College Football Coach of the Year Award.

The Houston Division of the American Heart Association announced Wednesday that Bielema, along with finalists Lloyd Carr, Michigan; Chris Peterson, Boise State; Greg Schiano, Rutgers; and Bob Stoops, Oklahoma, are in the running for the award.

MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin-Madison football coach Bret Bielema has been named one of the five finalists for the Paul “Bear” Bryant College Football Coach of the Year award, the Houston Division of the American Heart Association announced Wednesday.

MADISON, Wis. — It appears that fans heading to watch the Badgers play in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 will have more company than last year.

The University of Wisconsin Alumni Association said the number of Badgers fans on their charter has doubled over last year, and trip organizers said there is more interest than last year when the Badgers also played in Orlando, Fla.

UW-Madison said it has rolled through its ticket allotment of 12,000. The Athletic Department asked for more tickets and has sold all of its 13,700.

A UW hockey player faces a misdemeanor charge for allegedly knocking over a cow sculpture at the kohl Center last summer.

Thousands of travelers will make like Santa Claus and take to the skies over the next two weeks, taking gifts far and wide and heading home for the holidays.

But a good chunk of red- and white-clad fliers won’t be pseudo-Santas, but instead Badger fans heading to Florida next week to cheer for the University of Wisconsin football team in the Capital One Bowl on New Year’s Day.

Five chartered airliners, including an Airbus, a DC-10 and a 747, will be coming to Dane County Regional Airport from Dec. 28 to 30 to take 1,500 fans, alumni, band members, team and staff to Orlando.

Buoyed by a non-conference victory over then-No. 2 Pittsburgh on Saturday, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team ascended Monday to No. 4 in The Associated Press Top 25, the highest ranking in school history.

The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team is in college basketball’s high-rent district.

The Badgers, fresh off an 89-75 victory over second-ranked Pittsburgh Saturday, earned their highest ranking ever when they jumped three spots in The Associated Press poll released Monday. They’re fourth behind UCLA, North Carolina and Big Ten rival Ohio State.

An eight-day run that Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan called a “huge week” has the Badgers at their highest ranking ever.

When Wisconsin plays Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1, one of the Badgers’ biggest supporters won’t be there to witness the clash.

UW athletic director Barry Alvarez won’t be in Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla., to see his team play.

Yes, America, the Wisconsin Badgers are that good.

The unfamiliar sight of the Wisconsin men’s basketball team in the top 10 of the nation’s polls made some wonder if the Badgers, a 19-12 team a year ago, were really one of the elite.

MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin-Madison athletics officials announced on Friday that suspended Badger football player Jack Ikegwuonu has been reinstated to his team pending the results of further inquiry into his case.

Charlie Mohr, a UW-Madison senior and Olympic prospect on UW’s boxing team, took a hard hit during the NCAA middleweight championship on April 9, 1960. He lost the match, retreated to the locker room, suffered a brain hemorrhage and slipped into a coma.

He’s been called an altar-boy, a universally well-liked and wonderful person.

From 1933 to 1960, the UW nighttime hotspot wasnÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢t Langdon Street, where popular late-night formal dances were routine. It also wasnÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢t the Plaza Bar and Grill off of State Street or the Memorial Union Terrace.

Little-known municipal judge wannabe Phil Chavez appeared to have scored a major coup when legendary Badger football coach Barry Alvarez and Bret Bielema, Alvarez’s hand-picked successor, agreed to host a couple of fund-raisers, including Chavez’s kickoff event at a popular south side eatery.

Little-known municipal judge wannabe Phil Chavez appeared to have scored a major coup when legendary Badger football coach Barry Alvarez and Bret Bielema, Alvarez’s hand-picked successor, agreed to host a couple of fund-raisers, including Chavez’s kickoff event at a popular south side eatery.

But hold it – there’s a flag on the field. It seems that, despite campaign hype to the contrary, Alvarez and Bielema didn’t show up at the party to launch Chavez’s campaign.

There were times last season when Wisconsin’s Alando Tucker could barely catch his breath. Doctors warned him he would struggle when he declined to have surgery immediately to repair his septum after he broke his nose against Wake Forest in his fifth game. Tucker, who missed almost the entire 2003-04 season because of a foot injury and wasn’t about to risk missing another, told his doctors he would wait until after the season.

That Joe Thomas’ latest post-season honor was expected should not detract from its significance.

On Tuesday, the University of Wisconsin senior offensive tackle was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press.

Joe Thomas keeps adding to his haul of postseason awards.

The University of Wisconsin left tackle earned first-team All-American honors from The Associated Press today, just five days after walking off with the Outland Trophy.

University of Wisconsin junior Jolene Anderson was one of 50 women’s players selected to the Naismith watch list, which was released Monday.

The Naismith Trophy is given annually to the men’s and women’s players of the year in college basketball.

If you’re thinking about going to the Capital One Bowl you better act fast.

The Wisconsin Alumni Association says it’s sold out of air, hotel and ticket packages.

It says it does have a few game day packages, which includes a bowl ticket and pre-game tailgate.

In the span of his first eight NHL games, Joe Pavelski has scored in his debut, put together a three-game goal-scoring streak and scored a game-winner in the final six seconds of regulation to give the Sharks a rare win in Detroit.

Eighth-ranked Texas put an end to 10th-ranked Wisconsin’s volleyball season with a 30-19, 30-22, 30-12 victory in the NCAA Regional semifinals.

Thursday night at the ESPN College Football Awards show in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., offensive lineman Joe Thomas became the first UW player to win the Outland Trophy, given annually to the nation’s top interior lineman.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Thomas told a live audience after accepting the award. “Coming in at Wisconsin as a freshman you hear all the great names in front of you. And you learn that none of them ever won the Outland Trophy. This is quite an honor.”

Dear Editor: Innocent until proven guilty, we are told. Yeah, right.

Jack Ikegwuono and his brother Bill were arrested recently for allegedly breaking and entering. Neither has been convicted of anything, nor have they been formally charged. But that will not stop Wisconsinites from condemning them before all, or rather yet any, of the facts are in.

MADISON, Wis. — Despite the lack of a fighting tradition like the Paul Bunyan ax, Madison sports fans are already buzzing about the Capital One Bowl.The game is slated for Jan. 1 in Orlando, Fla., and will be a long-coming rematch between the University of Wisconsin Badgers and the Arkansas Razorbacks. The last time the Badgers faced the Razorbacks it was 1912 and Woodrow Wilson had recently won the U.S. presidency.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison football team will face Arkansas — the loser of the SEC title game — in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 1.

Barry Alvarez said he has been approached about resuming his football coaching career but will stay put as the University of Wisconsin’s athletic director.

“I’ve had people call me,” Alvarez said Friday. “I’m not interested in any schools. I’m not looking to coach anymore. I’ve very happy right now.”

The UW Athletic Department suspended football cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu for violating the student-athlete discipline policy Friday, after he was arrested for burglary while allegedly attempting to steal an Xbox last week in Illinois.

When University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema made the announcement a few weeks ago that his team had accepted a bid to play in the Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl, he had a feeling that a large following would be joining the Badgers in Orlando, Fla.

“I’m assuming by the amount of people that have told me they wished they had gone a year ago, they won’t let that opportunity squeak by them again,” he said.

Iowa State coach Christy Johnson knew all about the strengths and weaknesses of the University of Wisconsin players.

Having coached six seasons with current UW coach Pete Waite, she knew Waite’s system and his tendencies.

All that knowledge meant little in the second round of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament Saturday night at the UW Field House.

UW won the first two games comfortably and survived a tense battle in the third game to sweep Iowa State – 30-20, 30-25, 30-27 – in front of 3,399 fans.

Wisconsin, 11-1 and ranked No. 7 in the final Bowl Championship Series standings released Sunday, will get its chance to discredit its critics against Arkansas (10-3) in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 in Orlando, Fla.

Badger Football stand-out Jack Ikegwuonu, 20, was arrested and jailed in Illinois after allegedly entering a stranger’s apartment with the intention of stealing a video game system.

UW-Madison junior and Badger football cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu was arrested Saturday in DeKalb, Ill., and is being charged with residential burglary and criminal trespassing.

University of Wisconsin defensive back Jack Ikegwuonu was arrested Saturday Nov. 25 for residential burglary in Dekalb, Ill.

University of Wisconsin sophomore cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu was arrested Saturday in DeKalb, Ill., and faces charges of residential burglary and criminal trespass.

A University of Wisconsin Badger football player has been arrested in connection to a residential burglary in Illinois

If University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema is being approached for other jobs, it’s news to his boss.