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Dietzen returns to Badgers

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Offensive lineman Jon Dietzen started 32 games for the Wisconsin Badgers, but stepped away from the program after the 2018 season because of a number of injuries.  The time away has given Dietzen new life.  He’s returned to the program and is one of 113 players on the Badgers preseason training camp roster with practice kicking off on Wednesday.

Dietzen was prepared to return to the program last spring but the NCAA closed down all on-campus workouts because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Dietzen (Seymour, Wisconsin) started 20 games at left guard and 12 at left tackle before leaving the program after a number of lower-body injuries.

UW has to replace center Tyler Biadasz, David Moorman and Jason Erdmann from last season and Dietzen’s return gives the Badgers more depth as well as a veteran presence on the offensive line.

Not on the training camp roster is starting safety Reggie Pearson.  He started 13 of 14 games last season as a redshirt freshman and finished fourth on the team in tackles with 60.

Head coach Paul Chryst told reporters on Wednesday that Pearson is dealing with a medical condition that was discovered in the off-season.  He remains enrolled in school but hasn’t been cleared to practice or play.

Pearson took over as a starter in week two last season, replacing Scott Nelson who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener against South Florida.

The Badgers will open the Big Ten season Oct. 24 against Illinois at Camp Randall Stadium.

Big Ten set to return to football

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Camp Randall Stadium (Photo by David Stluka)

The Big Ten Conference is going to have football after all.

Less than five weeks after pushing fall sports into the spring with player safety concerns in the middle of a pandemic, the conference changed its mind with University Presidents and Chancellors voting unanimously to open its football season the weekend of Oct. 23-24.

All 14 teams will play eight games over eight weeks before Big Ten Championship weekend December 19th.  At that time, the first place team in the West will play the first place team in the East for the Big Ten title.  The second place teams will face each other, the third place teams will square off and so on, giving each team a ninth game.  The new schedule is expected to be released by the end of the week.

The emergence of daily rapid-response testing that wasn’t available last month helped trigger the re-vote, as did recent [Read more…]

Big Ten approves plan to start football season in late October

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There will be Big Ten Conference football this fall.  The league announced Wednesday morning the 2020 season is scheduled to begin the weekend of Oct. 23-24.

The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) adopted significant medical protocols including daily antigen testing, enhanced cardiac screening and an enhanced data-driven approach when making decisions about practice/competition.

According to the league’s release:

“The COP/C voted unanimously to resume the football season starting the weekend of October 23-24, 2020.  The decision was based on information presented by the Big Ten return to competition task force, a working group that was established by the COP/C and commissioner Kevin Warren to ensure a collaborative and transparent process. [Read more…]

Tony Granato to join the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2020

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Tony Granato

Wisconsin Badger head hockey coach Tony Granato is part of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2020.

Granato played for the Badgers (1983-87) and was a two-time All-American, 100 career goal-scorer and captain.

Granato played in the NHL with three teams (New York Rangers 1988-90, Los Angeles Kings 1990-96 and San Jose Sharks 1996-2001), playing in 773 career games and scoring 248 goals and 492 total points.  He also added 16 goals and 43 points in 79 playoff games.

Granato also served as a head and assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche from 2002-09.  He also was an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2009-14 and the Detroit Redwings from 2014-16.  He took over as head coach of the Badgers in 2016.

Granato joins nine other Badgers who already find a home in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.  He joins his sister, Cammi, who went in the Hall of Fame in 2008.

The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2020 is the 48th and the formal induction ceremonies will take place in December of 2021, at which time both the Class of 2020 and the yet-to-be-selected Class of 2021 will be enshrined.

 

Big Ten expected to vote today on return to action in October (AUDIO)

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The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted 11-3 last month to shut down all Big Ten fall sports because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

According to CNN, the league’s presidents and chancellors are expected to vote Monday on whether its football teams can play a shortened season.

Reliable, rapid testing is reportedly what changed many schools’ minds.  Leaders of the member universities met over the weekend to discuss health and safety.

If the conference does decide to play, teams could hit the field by October 17, which is several weeks later than the other conferences.  Those other conferences are slated to play at least 10 games, while the Big Ten would only play eight, plus a [Read more…]

WCHA Women to delay start of 2020-21 season

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The Women’s League of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association will delay the start of its 2020-21 season.  The move comes following approval by the Women’s League Board of Directors.

The league is working to develop protocols to allow its teams to return and look forward to announcing a start date as soon as it is reasonable to do so.

WCHA staff is finalizing the 2020-21 league schedule options and details regarding the 2021 WCHA Final Faceoff.  Full details on the new schedule will be announced later this fall.

The Wisconsin Badgers are one of seven teams that make up the Women’s WCHA.  The league will grow to eight members with the addition of the University of St. Thomas beginning with the 2021-22 season.

Wisconsin football and hockey hitting the pause button

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Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez

In a statement from UW athletic director Barry Alvarez, the Wisconsin football and men’s hockey teams are taking a two-week pause as the campus deals with COVID-19 issues.

“We have been conducting our own COVID-19 testing of student athletes and staff on a regular basis since early June and will continue to do so,” Alvarez said in the statement.  “Since we began testing in Athletics, our decision-making has been guided by our own test results.  That continues to be our plan going forward.

“I can also confirm that our football and men’s hockey teams will take a two-week break from team activities per our COVID-19 testing protocols.”

The athletic department is not releasing COVID-19 test results broken down by team or date of tests.  But according to the Wisconsin State Journal, football and men’s hockey are the only two sports pausing activities due to test results. [Read more…]

5-Star tackle picks Wisconsin

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Five-star offensive tackle Nolan Rucci from Lititz, Pennsylvania had his pick of the litter when it comes to college football programs.

Rucci had offers from Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Florida, Clemson, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and Notre Dame and Wisconsin among others.  Rucci picked the Badgers.

Appearing on CBS Sports HQ, Rucci raved about Badger offensive line coach and offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph.

“I love how coach Rudy coaches his guys,” Rucci said.  “The development is obvious.  You can see the guys they are putting in the NFL.”

It also didn’t hurt that Rucci’s older brother Hayden, is a tight end at Wisconsin.  Nolan Rucci will be on campus for the 2021 season in Madison.

Badgers rank #12 in A.P. Top 25 College Football Preseason Poll

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Despite the Big Ten Conference not playing football this fall, six of the conference’s teams showed up today in the Associated Press Top 25 Preseason Poll.

Paul Chryst’s Wisconsin Badgers showed up at number-12, third among the six Big Ten teams in the poll.  It’s the fourth straight season the Badgers have been ranked in the preseason.

Ohio State checks in at number-2, behind preseason number-1 Clemson.  Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma round out the top five.

Penn State checks in at number-7.  Michigan is 16th, Minnesota 19th and Iowa is ranked 24th.

All Division-1 teams were considered for the preseason poll, regardless of whether or not they’re set to play games this fall.  Both the Big Ten and Pac 12 are among the conferences that have postponed their fall seasons.

Once games begin this fall, voters in the A.P. Poll will only consider the teams currently playing.  As of Monday, 67 of the 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams are playing this fall.

 

Big Ten moving fall sports to the second semester of 2020-21 (AUDIO)

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Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez

The Big Ten Conference pulled the plug on the fall sports season on Tuesday, making the decision to move football and all other fall sports to the second semester due to ongoing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said they just believe collectively there is too much uncertainty at this point in time in our country to really encourage student-athletes to participate in fall sports.

“One of the things we promised ourselves was that this was going to be a fluid situation, a day-to-day situation,” Warren said.  “And we would be in a perpetual state of observing, gathering information and we could do everything we possibly could to have fall sports.

“And I’ve said it from the first day that I started at the Big Ten, that the health and wellness, both physical and mental, of our student-athletes was going to be at the top of my list.”

The Big Ten wasn’t alone in making such a move.  The Pac-12 postponed fall sports through the end of the year. [Read more…]