Wisconsin Radio Network

Wisconsin News and Sports

You are here: Home / Archives for Badgers

Wisconsin to face Oregon in Rose Bowl

By

The Wisconsin Badgers overcame back-to-back losses to Illinois and Ohio State during the middle of the season, winning four straight games to get into the Big Ten Championship Game.  The Badgers eventually fell to the Buckeyes in the Big Title game 34-21 on Saturday, but their body of work was good enough to land a spot in the Rose Bowl against Oregon (11-2), who won the Pac 10 Championship game.

The Ducks also faced some adversity before rebounding to finish strong.  Oregon suffered a 31-28 loss to unranked Arizona State on Nov. 23 before beating No. 5 Utah, 37-15, in the league title game on Friday.

The Ducks finished No. 6 in the final College Football Playoff rankings released on Sunday.

The Badgers (10-3) finished number-8 in the CFP rankings and landed the Rose Bowl spot despite falling [Read more…]

Badger women’s volleyball hosts NCAA Regional

By

Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield

The fourth-seeded Wisconsin Badger women’s volleyball team swept Illinois State and UCLA over the weekend, advancing to the NCAA’s Sweet 16 for the 17th time in program history.

For the fourth time in program history, the Badgers will host NCAA Regional action in the UW Field House.  The Badgers (24-6) will face off against No. 13 Texas A & M (23-7) on Friday at 1 p.m. (Live on ESPNU).  Fifth-seeded Nebraska (26-4) takes on No. 12 Hawaii (25-3) in the other regional semifinal at 3:30 p.m. on Friday (ESPN3).

Semifinal winners play on Saturday at 5 p.m. live on ESPNU for the right to advance to the NCAA National Championship on Dec. 19 and Dec. 21 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

The Badgers are 9-7 in the Sweet 16, including a 4-2 mark under head coach Kelly Sheffield.  UW swept San Diego in the Champaign (Illinois) Regional in 2018.

The Badgers have hosted regional action three other times, in 2006, 2000 and 1997, winning Sweet 16 matches all three years.

Badgers fall to Buckeyes in Big Ten title game

By

Four the first half of the Big Ten Championship game, the Wisconsin Badgers were in control, on the verge of pulling off one of the biggest upsets in college football history.  The Badgers led 21-7 at halftime.

Everyone knew Ryan Day’s Buckeyes would make a second half run.  The question was, would the Badgers be able to withstand that run?

The answer to that question was a resounding “NO”.

The Buckeyes wiped out a 14-point halftime deficit and scored 24 second half points, pulling out a 34-21 victory to win the Big Ten title.

The Badgers racked up 294 yards in the first half, averaging 8.7 yards per play.  Jonathan Taylor rushed 13 times for 145 yards and a touchdown in the opening half.

Taylor became the seventh FBS player to surpass the 6,000 yard-yard mark but was held to 13 yards on seven carries in the second half. [Read more…]

Badgers Taylor named Big Ten’s top back

By

Wisconsin Badgers tailback Jonathan Taylor was named the Ameche-Dayne Big Ten running back of the year for the second straight season.  He becomes the third back to win the award twice, joining former Badger Montee Ball and former Penn State standout Saquon Barkley.

Taylor was also a consensus first-team all-Big Ten selection for the third straight season.

Tayor finished at the top of the Big Ten in rushing yards per game (146.8) and rushing touchdowns (20).

Teammate (C) Tyler Biadasz was also a consensus first-team pick for the second straight season.

Left tackle Cole Van Lanen was a second-team pick by the media and honorable mention according to the coaches.

Wide receiver Quintez Cephus, tight end Jake Ferguson and right tackle Logan Bruss were consensus honorable mention.  Quarterback Jack Coan was honorable mention according to the media.

 

Badgers climb to 8th in latest CFB Playoff rankings

By

The Wisconsin Badgers jumped four spots in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings.

The 10-2 Badgers went from 12th to eighth following Saturday’s 38-17 win over the Minnesota Gophers.  That clinched the Big Ten West division title, earning UW a spot in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship game against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes will go into Saturday’s game against Wisconsin at the top of the playoff rankings, followed by LSU, Clemson and Georgia.

Utah is fifth, Oklahoma sixth and Baylor seventh.  After Wisconsin at number eight is Florida and Penn State rounding out the top 10.  Alabama dropped from fifth to 12th after the Crimson Tide fell to Auburn this past weekend.  It’s the lowest ranking for Alabama in the six years of the committee rankings.

The final rankings that set the pairings for the national semifinals come out Sunday after each FBS conference plays a championship game this weekend.

Seven Badger players earn Big Ten honors

By

Zach Baun

The Wisconsin Badgers had six members of their defensive unit named all-Big Ten on Tuesday, led by linebackers Zach Baun and Chris Orr.

Baun was named a first-team selection, while Orr was named to the second-team.

Safety Eric Burrell, defensive ends Matt Henningsen and Isaiahh Loudermilk and cornerback Faion Hicks were named honorable mention on defense.

Baun had two sacks and nine tackles in the Badgers 38-17 win at Minnesota last week.  He leads Wisconsin with 18 1/2 tackles for loss and shares the team lead in sacks with Chris Orr (11 1/2).

Wisconsin’s return specialist, Aron Cruickshank was a second-team pick as a return specialist.

The league will announce the their offensive selections on Wednesday.

Ohio State’s Chase Young, who led the Big Ten in sacks with 16 1/2 was named the Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year.

Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck was named the Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year, selected by  the Big Ten’s coaches.  Ohio State’s Ryan Day was the Dave McClain Coach of the Year, picked by the media.

 

Badgers claim Big Ten Volleyball title, will host NCAA 1st and 2nd round matches

By

Wisconsin Volleyball – File Photo

The Wisconsin Badger women’s volleyball team captured the Big Ten title outright after sweeping Rutgers on Saturday and seeing Minnesota knock off Penn State.

For the seventh-straight season and the 23rd time in program history, the Badgers earned a bid to the NCAA tournament.  The Badgers were selected as the No. 4-seed in the tournament and will host first and second round matches on Friday-Saturday in the UW Field House.

UCLA (18-11) takes on Notre Dame (19-9) in the opening first-round match on Friday at 4:30 p.m. before Wisconsin (22-6) faces off against Illinois State (22-11) at 7 p.m.  First-round winners advance to the second round of the tournament on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Field House.

The Badgers hold a 46-22 (.676) all-time record in the program’s 22 NCAA tournament appearances.  UW [Read more…]

Badgers claim Big Ten West, reclaim Paul Bunyan’s Axe

By

The Minnesota Gophers had an outstanding season, but there will be no trip to the Big Ten title game and Paul Bunyan’s Axe is back in the Wisconsin Badgers trophy case, where it belongs.

The Gophers jumped out in front, but the Badgers dominated the rest of the way, pulling out a 38-17 win, capturing the Big Ten West division title.

The Badgers (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten), will return to the league title game at Lucas Oil Stadium for the third time under head coach Paul Chryst.  The Badgers will square off against Ohio State (12-0, 9-0) in a 7 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.  The Buckeyes cruised to a 38-7 win over the Badgers in Columbus in late October.

While Jonathan Taylor was held to 76 yards and two rushing touchdowns, Badger quarterback Jack Coan completed 15 of 21 for 280 yards and two touchdowns.  It was arguably Coan’s best game as a Badger.

Quintez Cephus had five catches for 114 yards and a touchdown.

Gopher quarterback Tanner Morgan completed 20 of 37 for 292 yards and two touchdowns.  But he also threw an interception and lost a fumble, which the Badgers turned into 10 points.

Linebacker Zach Baun had a big day for the defense with nine tackles and two sacks.  The Badgers registered five sacks in all, giving them 44 for the season.

 

Shooting goes cold, Badgers fall to Richmond

By

The Wisconsin Badgers four-game winning streak is over, falling to the Richmond Spiders 62-52 in the Legends Classic semifinals at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The Badgers were too dependent on three-pointers and hit just 7 of 27 (25.9%) from distance.  They hit just 34% from the field overall, falling to 4-2 on the season.  UW will face New Mexico in the consolation game at 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

The Spiders improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1985 and will take on Auburn in tonight’s championship game.

The Badgers were led by Nate Reuvers with 17 points and Kobe King added 10.

Wisconsin committed 15 turnovers.  They entered with a season average of 11.8.  Richmond turned those turnovers into 17 points.

Coach Greg Gard said his team wasn’t physical enough and failed to get the ball in the paint, where they were outscored by Richmond 28-10.

Badger women’s soccer team falls in NCAA Sweet 16

By

The 10th ranked Wisconsin women’s soccer team saw its 2019 season come to a close in the NCAA Sweet 16, falling to 7th ranked UCLA 2-0 on Sunday night in Los Angeles.

The 2019 Big Ten Champion Badgers (16-4-2) held the Bruins off the scoreboard in the first half, but the Bruins scored twice in the first seven minutes of the second half.

Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year Jordyn Bloomer made a career high seven saves in the loss.

This marked the second-straight year the Badgers reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, marking the first time in school history UW reached the round of 16 in consecutive years.

Wisconsin closes out the 2019 season with 16 wins, which is the third-most wins in school history.  UW’s winning percentage of .773 is also a top-10 mark in school history.