Wisconsin News and Sports
Melvin Gordon
Former Wisconsin Badger running back Melvin Gordon will reportedly end his holdout and report to the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday.
The Kenosha native has been missing since the start of training camp in a contract dispute. He’s not expected to play when the Chargers (1-2) face the winless Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
The Chargers will have the next two games after that, at home. They’ll face the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers the following two weeks.
Jonathan Taylor
Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor rushed 23 times for 203 yards and a pair of touchdowns, topping the 100-yard rushing mark for the 25th time in his 30-game career, was named the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season and the sixth time in his career.
Taylor became the first Wisconsin player in history to rush for at least 200 yards against Michigan.
Taylor scored his ninth overall touchdown of the season on a 1-year run to open the scoring in the first quarter, carrying eight times for 51 yards on the game-opening drive.
Only Ron Dayne (33) and Montee Ball (26) have more 100-yard games as Badgers.
Michigan State senior linebacker Joe Bachie was named the Defensive Player of the Week.
Illinois punter Blake Hayes was named the Special Teams Player of the Week and Nebraska wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
Paul Chryst
After blowing out then, 10th ranked Michigan 35-14 on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, the Wisconsin Badgers cracked the top 10 in both Top 25 polls.
The Badgers (3-0, 1-0 BIG) moved up five spots in the A.P. Top 25 from 13 to 8. They also moved up five spots from 14 to 9 in the Amway Coaches Poll.
The Wolverines (2-1, 0-1) dropped all the way from 11 to 20 in the A.P. Poll and from 10 to 20 in the Coaches Poll.
Ohio State climbed from sixth to fifth in the A.P. Poll and remained at number-six in the Coaches Poll.
Penn State moved from 13 to 12 in the A.P. Poll and from 12 to 11 in the Coaches Poll.
Iowa climbed from 18 to 14 in both Top 25 Polls, while Michigan State moved into the Top 25 A.P. Poll at number-25.
The Badgers will host Northwestern (1-2, 0-1) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. The Wildcats beat UW 31-17 last season on the way to a Big Ten West Division title.
Jonathan Taylor ran for 203 yards and two touchdowns and junior quarterback Jack Coan added two more rushing touchdowns to lead the Wisconsin Badgers (3-0, 1-0 BIG) to a dominating 35-14 win over the Michigan Wolverines (2-1, 0-1) in their Big Ten Conference opener at Camp Randall Stadium.
Taylor had 143 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter, including a 72-yard touchdown run. He missed the second quarter with leg cramps but returned in the third to finish with 23 carries. As a team, the Badgers rushed 57 times for 359 yards, a 6.3 yards per carry average.
The Badgers avenged a 38-13 loss in Ann Arbor last season and pushed their win streak over the Wolverines in Madison to five. Michigan last won in Madison back in 2001.
Wisconsin’s defense held the Wolverines to 40 rushing yards and forced four turnovers. Michigan is 1-6 on the road against ranked opponents under coach Jim Harbaugh, who took over the program in 2015.
Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst was aggressive from the start. Michigan stopped the Badgers on their opening drive, but on 4th-and-1 on their own 35 yard line, Chryst kept the punt team on the sidelines. [Read more…]
The last time the Wisconsin women’s hockey team played at the Kohl Center, they drew 15,359 fans in a 2-0 win over St. Cloud State in 2017. That turned out to be the largest crowd to watch an NCAA women’s hockey game.
The Badgers will try to equal that record performance when they host the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday, Feb. 16 (2pm) at the Kohl Center.
It’s the final game of the 2019-20 regular season and it’ll be the sixth Fill the Bowl game as the Badgers raise money for local charity.
The Badgers made the Kohl Center their home from 1999 until they moved into LaBahn Arena in 2012.
No beneficiary has yet been announced. Tickets for the game are expected to go on sale in October.
The Wisconsin Badgers have added 6’10 center, Steven Crowl to their 2020 freshman recruiting class.
Crowl, who is from Eastview Senior High School in Minnesota, averaged 19.3 points a game as a junior last season. He received an offer from the Badgers after taking part in the Badgers’ team camp earlier this summer.
Crowl passed on offers from Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado and Northern Iowa. His commitment gives Wisconsin a total of five players in the 2020 class.
After an early season week off, the Wisconsin Badgers are getting ready for their Big Ten opener against the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
The Wolverines stayed at No. 10 in the Amway Coaches Poll, after also having the week off. The Badgers stayed put at No. 14 in the Coaches Top 25.
In this weeks Associated Press top 25, Michigan dropped to 11th, while the Badgers moved up one spot from last week to 13th.
The Wolverines lead the all-time series 51-15-1 and won last years match-up 38-13 in Ann Arbor.
This week’s game in Madison will kick off at 11 a.m. and will be televised on Fox.
Zander Neuville (Photo by David Stluka).
Wisconsin tight end Zander Neuville was attempting to make yet another comeback. The sixth-year senior was attempting to make it back after gaining another season from the NCAA after suffering season-ending knee injuries in 2017 and 2018.
Neuville had spent the last month getting back into football shape and was just about ready to return to the field when he suffered another season ending injury.
Badger coaches were hoping Neuville would be able to join them on the field soon after the position’s depth had been challenged by injuries. He had put his plans of attending medical school on hold for a year, while attempting his comeback.
Now, Neuville is ending his football playing days and will watch his team from the sidelines. He’ll begin medical school next fall.
Abby Roque
Fresh off winning its fifth NCAA title, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team has been picked to win its eight WCHA regular-season title, according to the league’s annual preseason coaches’ poll that was announced Wednesday.
The Badgers earned 36 points and six first-place votes, while Minnesota earned 31 points and the other first place vote. The two Border Battle rivals will rekindle their rivalry with a series on Nov. 2-3 in Minnesota and a series Jan. 24-25 in Madison.
Abby Roque was named the Preseason WCHA Player of the Year along with Ohio State forward Emma Maltais. Roque, who was the league’s forward of the year in 2016-17, was second on the Badgers last year with a career-high 43 points.
The Badger forward was one of four Badgers named to the Preseason All-WCHA Preseason Team along [Read more…]
Annie Pankowski (Photo by David Stluka).
Wisconsin women’s hockey standout Annie Pankowski has been named a top-30 honoree for the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year.
Pankowski captained the Badger women last season to their fifth NCAA title. She was named All-American three times, was a three-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, a Hockey Humanitarian Award finalist and was named the 2019 WCHA Player of the Year.
The Laguna Hills, California native is the second UW student-athlete to be named a top-30 finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year as former women’s hockey player Sara Bauer was an honoree in 2007.
Pankowski ranks sixth in school history in points with 206 while her 95 goals rank fifth in the UW record books. She also set the school record for most short-handed goals with nine, while her plus/minus rating [Read more…]