BadgerFans.com

Barry's Thoughts on Bielema Bailing on UW for a Mid-Tier SEC School

We Miss You Russell

It would be a sever understatement to say Badger fans miss Russell Wilson this fall. While we can't bring him back we can still appreciate what a great representative he is of our alma mater. 

ESPN had a fantastic story on how Wilson has always been overcoming challenges people put in front of him and, if you haven't seen yet, Levi's is jumping on the Russell bandwagon too.

Call Me Maybe, Big Ten Style

I don't think this meme is going to end for a while.

Seems to me there's a game missing...

 

Anyone seen this trophy in the ESPNU top 25 games of 2011?

 

 

ESPNU is counting down the top 2011 college football games.  Voting for the top  game is still under way via espn and can be reached here 

 

Wisconsin is already on the board twice with their Rose Bowl loss against Oregon at #10 and again at #13 with the regular season matchup against Ohio State.  I guess we tend to make the top 25 list of greatest games with our three losses but don't make it when we take home the first BigTen Championship game trophy against Michigan State in Indy.    Being arguably the top NCAA football game played in 2011, but seems to not have cracked the east coast bias machine’s top 25....ummmm, ok...whatever you guys in Bristol say.  Let me guess, Jim Caple is running this “unbiased” poll as well.  As for real polls like Fox Sports Top 10 college football games of 2011 that rate the game a close second to Stanford's OT thriller to USC, one can be completely bewildered upon not even seeing the 1st annual BigTen Championship on ESPNU's list.  Stay classy EastCoastBiasNetwork, I mean ESPN.

#1-#5 can still be voted on at here

 

 

This list so far is as follows:

No. 25, Clemson (56) vs. Maryland (45)

No. 24, Washington (56) vs. Baylor (67)

No. 23, Mississippi State (34) vs. Auburn (41)

No. 22, Ohio State (34) vs. Michigan (40)

No. 21, Missouri (37) vs. Arizona State (30)

No. 20, South Carolina (45) vs. Georgia (42

No. 19, Northern Illinois (63) vs. Toledo (60

No. 18, Texas (27) vs. Texas A&M (25)

No. 17, Utah State (38) vs. Auburn (42)

No. 16, Ohio State (27) vs. Nebraska (34)

No. 15,  LSU (9) vs. Alabama (6)

No. 14, Texas A&M (50) vs. Kansas State (53)

No. 13,  Wisconsin (29) vs. Ohio State (33)

No. 12, Texas A&M (38) vs. Arkansas (42)

No. 11, Oklahoma State (31) vs. Iowa State (37)

No. 10, Wisconsin (38) vs. Oregon (45)

No. 9, Kansas State (45) vs. Oklahoma State (52)

No. 8, Michigan State (33) vs. Georgia (30)

No. 7, Oklahoma (38) vs. Baylor (45)

No. 6, Stanford (38) vs. Oklahoma State (41)

 

With No. 5 - No. 1 set to air on ESNPU as follows (voting dependent):

Sunday, July 15 — No. 5 game, 4 p.m.; No. 4 game, 7 p.m.; No. 3 game, 9:30 p.m.
Monday, July 16 — No. 2 game, 7 p.m.; No. 1 game, 9:30 p.m.

 

Football will be back next month, as well more posts from BadgerFans.com writers. 

Is Russell Wilson Perfect?

Russell probably isn't perfect. Maybe he dropped a candy wrapper on the ground as a kid and didn't pick it up, but the guy is all class.

It shouldn't be a surprise that he taped a thank you message for all the Badger fans at the Spring Game after being drafted by the Seahawks in the 3rd round. If you missed it, here it is.

Also, I'm sure by now you've heard about Friday night's debate amongst the ESPN draft experts about how good Russell is and his prospects for a successful NFL career. Gruden is obviously a big fan.

Here's the segment. How weird would it be watching yourself on TV listen to what people have to say about you?

Two Future Badgers Win State Titles

It was just as good of a weekend for two future UW basketball players as it was for the current team. Sam Dekker from Sheboygan Luthern and Zak Showalter from Germantown each lead their teams to state titles at the Kohl Center this weekend in impressive fashion.

Dekker, a highly tauted wing, and Showalter, a pre-ferred walk-on guard who turned down a lot of scholarships to live the dream in Madison, had several highlight plays.  

Here's some video of two the more memorable ones.  Badger fans have to be excited for these two guys.

Dekker went on a 12-0 run in the last minute to win the title, including this coast-to-coast go-ahead pull-up 3 with 4 seconds left.

Showalter was a FT machine in the 4th quatert against Milwaukee King in the title game but the most impressive highlight happened on the opening tip in the semis vs. Madison Memorial.

Squeezing the Orange

If you're already amped for the game Thursday, despite the early tip-off, here are some Syracuse game links to help scratch that itch.

Onions!

According to this tweet from Patrick Herb, Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery will call the game. That's the best CBS announcers Badger fans could have. Much better than the comatose Bill Nantz and Raf loves Bo.

Orange Fans Confident

If there's not already there should be a specialty within the pyschology field about how sports fans feel about their teams. Not surprisingly, Orange fans are pretty confident about their team's ability to beat a bunch of un-athletic, poor-shooting, farm boys who want to keep the game in the 40s. Honestly, if I were a 'Cuse fan I'd feel the same way.

Game Previews

After thorough statistical analysis, SheTownBucky on Buckyville predicts a 1-point UW victory.

Fomer Penn State player and Fox Sports analyst Jon Crispin previews the game and expects a Syracuse win.

CBS thinks its going to be a really tough game for the Orange because UW can dictate tempo. And Ernie Kent is as good of an analyst as he was a coach.

Videos: Badgers Headed Back to the Sweet 16

Wow, what a great opening weekend. The Badgers advance to the Sweet 16 in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.

Here's a factoid for you - only 3 other teams (Louisville, NC State, and Ohio) in the Sweet 16 beat a higher seeded team than the Badgers (#5 Vandy) to get to the second weekend. UW earned its spot.

Let's get on to some video fun with Mike Lucas interviewing  Jordan Taylor and Bruiser after the game.

Here's what Bo had to say to the guys in his post-game speech. It gives some good insight into how important everyone is to the program. Bo calls out not wanting Taylor and Wilson to stop playing and the role the scout team had in the team's success.

It seems like Bo is feistier than past tournaments in defending his program. I like it. Here are some of his comments about what the Badgers need to prove to be considered an elite program.

If you haven't seen this yet, the Badgers stayed on the court after the game to sing varsity with the fans in the Q.

The Badgers making it to the Sweet 16 proved a lot of experts wrong, even Marvelous Mark, who predicted Vandy would beat UW Saturday.