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Alvarez finalizes retirement plans from UW (AUDIO)

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Barry Alvarez

Barry Alvarez announced his retirement during a celebration in Madison on Tuesday, making official what had been reported by various media outlets in the past two weeks.

Alvarez has been at the University of Wisconsin for nearly 32 years, including the final 18 as the school’s Director of Athletics and will officially retire on June 30, 2021.

Under his watch, Wisconsin produced 16 National Championship teams and 74 conference regular-season or tournament crowns.  In 2017-18, the 74-year-old Alvarez captured Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year honors.

His impact goes beyond the playing field too.  Alvarez oversaw numerous capital projects and inspired donors to contribute more than $150 million over the past 10 years.  During his tenure, UW Athletics’ endowment to support student-athlete scholarships more than doubled and rose to one of the largest in the Big Ten. [Read more…]

UW Volleyball team awarded the top overall seed in NCAA Tournament

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The Wisconsin women’s volleyball team has been ranked number-one in the country all season long.  Sunday, for the first time in program history, the Badgers earned the top overall seed for the NCAA Tournament.

The tournament was reduced from 64 to 48 teams, giving the top 16 seeds first-round byes.  UW (15-0) gets a first-round bye and will open against either Bowling Green 922-1) or Weber State (18-1) at 6 p.m. on April 15 in Omaha.  Bowling Green and Weber State will meet in the first round at 6 p.m. on April 14.

Five other Big Ten teams were seeded in the top 16.  Minnesota at number-three, Nebraska 5th, Purdue 7th, Ohio State 9th and Penn State 13th.

The Badgers have only lost three sets this season, but they’ve played only three matches since Feb. 22, due to COVID-19 issues [Read more…]

Caufield signs with Montreal Canadiens

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It didn’t take long for Wisconsin sophomore forward Cole Caufield to take the next step.  Just over 24-hours after the Badgers fell to Bemidji State 6-3 in the NCAA’s East Regional opener, the nations leading scorer in goals and points announced he would forego his final two years of collegiate eligibility after signing a three-year, entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

Caufield was selected 15th overall in the 2019 NHL draft and helped the Badgers win the Big Ten regular-season title with his second straight Big Ten scoring title.  He also helped the Badgers reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014.

The Big Ten Player of the Year and Hobey Baker top-10 finalist leads the country with 30 goals and 52 points in 31 games.  He holds a 12-goal advantage over the next closes goal scorer.  He also became the first Badgers since 1990 to tally 30 goals in a season.

Caufield finished out his collegiate career for the Badgers with 11 goals in a six-game goal streak.  He also wrapped up his career with a nine-game point streak that included 13 goals and 19 points.

In addition to his collegiate accolades, Caufield served as an alternate captain for Team USA to help the team capture gold at the 2021 World Junior Championship.

Caufield is expected to join the AHL’s Laval Rockets to start his professional career following a required quarantine period.

Badger men’s hockey to open NCAA Tournament against Bemidji State

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The Wisconsin Badger men’s hockey team was awarded a number-one seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional and will face Bemidji State (15-9-3) in the opening round on Friday at noon at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The Badgers (20-9-1) are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014.  They’re 7-0 all-time against the Beavers.

It’s also the first ever NCAA tournament appearance for Badger coach Tony Granato, either as a coach or a player.

Massachusetts (16-5-4) and Lake Superior State (19-6-3) meet in the other regional semifinal with the winners to meet for the championship at 3 p.m. on Saturday.  The winner there will head to the 2021 Frozen Four at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on April 8 and 10.

The Big Ten landed four teams in the 16-team tournament field.  Minnesota (23-6-0) also landed a top seed.  Michigan and Notre Dame are the other Big Ten teams in the tournament.

North Dakota is the top overall seed.  Boston College also earned a number-one seed.

Badgers have two Hobey Baker finalists

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Wisconsin sophomore’s Cole Caufield and Dylan Holloway have been named two of the ten finalists for the 2021 Hobey Baker Award.

Caufield leads the nation in goals (28) and points 49 in 30 games.  He was named the Big Ten’s player of the year on Tuesday before the Badgers fell to Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament championship game.  Earlier this year, the Montreal Canadians first round draft pick helped the U.S. win a gold medal in the World Juniors in Canada.

Caufield’s 28 goals are the most for a Badger since 2010 Hobey Baker-winner Blake Geoffrion scored the same number.

Holloway is tied for fourth nationally with 34 points despite missing eight games in the first half of the season to be at Canada’s World Junior Championship camp.

Holloway had 17 points in eight games during the month of February, matching his point total in 35 games played his freshman [Read more…]

Hockey Badgers make a haul in Big Ten honors

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2021 Big Ten Coach of the Year Tony Granato

The Big Ten regular season champion Wisconsin Badger men’s hockey team, set to play in Tuesday night’s Big Ten Tournament championship game, made a haul when the All-Big Ten honors were handed out today.

Eight different Badgers were named either All-Big Ten, All-Big Ten Freshman or a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner.

The league’s scoring champion, Cole Caufield, was awarded the Big Ten Player of the Year.  He becomes the eighth Badger to win a conference player of the year award and the first since defenseman Jamie McBain took the WCHA Player of the Year honors in 2009.  The sophomore is the first Badger to be named Big Ten Player of the Year, an award that follows his title of Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2020.

Caufield tallied 24 goals and 43 points in 24 Big Ten games, outpacing the next closest skater by 10 goals and 10 points.  The 2019 Montreal Canadians first-round draft pick also set the Big Ten standard for goals in a conference season with the performance.

Other UW conference player of the year winners are: Mike Eaves (1978), Mark Johnson (1979), Curtis Joseph (1989), Gary [Read more…]

Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament has record breaking viewership

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The Big Ten Network’s coverage of the 2021 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament became the most-watched men’s tournament in network history and included the most-watched men’s basketball game in network history.

Across the entire tournament on BTN, the total audience grew by more than 14% to more than 5.2 million viewers.  The average audience for each game grew by more than 15%.  The first-round averaged increased by more than 9%.  The second-round average went up by more than 11% and the Friday quarterfinals saw an increase of more than 18%.

Driving the quarterfinal increase was Friday night’s game between Iowa and Wisconsin, which earned 938,784 viewers, the highest-rated game in network history.

 

 

Badgers open NCAA Tournament Friday against North Carolina (AUDIO)

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The Wisconsin Badgers (17-12) drew the number-9 seed in the South Regional and will square off against number-8 seeded North Carolina (18-10) in a first-round game Friday (6 p.m.) at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana (CBS).

The winner will face either No. 1 Baylor (22-2) or No. 16 Hartford (15-8) on Sunday.

The Badgers are one of a record nine Big Ten teams to make the 68-team NCAA Tournament field.

The Tar Heels finished in a tie for sixth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference, then beat Notre Dame and Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament before falling to second seeded Florida State 69-66 in the semifinals.

Wisconsin enters the tournament coming off of a 62-57 loss to Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.  They’ve won just two of their last eight games.

But those losses all came against teams in front of them in the Big Ten standings.  The Badgers fell to Michigan, Illinois, [Read more…]

Another down weekend for top-ranked Wisconsin volleyball

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The top-ranked Wisconsin women’s volleyball team was supposed to return from a two-week COVID pause with a scheduled two-game Big Ten series against Northwestern at the UW Field House this Friday and Saturday.

Now, the Badgers will get another weekend off, this time because of a pause in the Wildcats’ team activities.  The decision to postpone was mutually agreed upon and the schools will work with the Big Ten Conference to identify rescheduling options.

The Badgers are now scheduled to return to action next week when they take on No. 5 Minnesota in a home-and-home series.  The home match against the Gophers has been moved to March 18 at 7 p.m.  Wisconsin will travel to Minnesota on March 21 for a 7 p.m. match from the Maturi Pavilion.  Both matches will air live on the Big Ten Network.

Badgers fire women’s basketball coach Jonathan Tsipis

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Jonathan Tsipis

The Wisconsin women’s basketball team got off to a terrible start against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament on Tuesday.  Jonathan Tsipis watched his team miss their first 18 shots while being outscored 24-2 in the first quarter, falling to the Illini 67-42.

The Badgers shot 25-percent from the field, missed 12-of-13 three-pointers, committed 15 turnovers and finished 5-of-19 overall.

Tsipis said after the game that his team was outplayed and he was outcoached.  The Wisconsin athletic department took notice and fired him shortly after the game.

“I appreciate Coach Tsipis’s efforts during his five years with us, but we feel it is time for a new direction for our women’s basketball program,” said Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez in a statement.  “I wish Jonathan the best as he moves forward.”

Wisconsin finished the 2020-21 season with a 5-19 overall record and a 2-18 mark in Big Ten regular-season play.

In his five seasons at Wisconsin, the Badgers went 50-99, 14-74 in the Big Ten and they never finished better than 11th in conference play.  The Badgers string of losing seasons now stands at 10.