Wisconsin Radio Network

Wisconsin News and Sports

You are here: Home / Archives for Big Ten Conference

Badgers open up No. 19 in AP Top 25

By

The Wisconsin Badgers open the 2019 College Football season ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press Top 25 initial Preseason Poll.

Ohio State was No. 5, Michigan was No. 7, Penn State is 15th, Michigan State 18th, Iowa is No. 20 and Nebraska 24th.

Taylor & Biadasz named preseason All-American

Wisconsin junior running back Jonathan Taylor and junior center Tyler Biadasz were named to the preseason A.P. All-America first team this week.  They’re two of eight players from the Big Ten Conference to be named to the preseason list.

Wisconsin adds to 2020 recruiting class

The Wisconsin Badgers secured the 14th member of their 2020 recruiting class this week.

Outside linebacker/defensive end prospect Aaron Witt from Winona, Minnesota, flipped from Iowa to Wisconsin, giving the Badgers an oral commitment on Monday.

Witt initially committed to Minnesota but changed his mind and moved to the Hawkeyes.  The 6’5, 230 pounder also had offers from Oregon State and Iowa State.

2019 Big Ten/ACC Women’s Basketball Challenge matchups announced

By

The matchups for the 2019 Big Ten/ACC Women’s Basketball Challenge were announced on Tuesday.  The annual challenge, which is scheduled to continue through the 2026-27 season, offers 14 high-quality matchups for the sixth consecutive year.

The Challenge will take place over two days in early December, beginning Wednesday, Dec. 4, with Big Ten schools Iowa, Nebraska and Northwestern playing host to ACC counterparts that evening, while Indiana and Minnesota hit the road.  The following night (Thursday, Dec. 5), Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers will serve as the Big Ten host schools, while Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin will play at ACC sites. [Read more…]

Badger women’s softball advances to NCAA Regionals

By

The Wisconsin women’s softball team (40-12) clinched its third-straight NCAA tournament bid and will head to Norman, Oklahoma for the Regionals May 17-19.

The Badgers will face Notre Dame (36-16) in their opener on Friday.  It is the first time in program history that the Badgers have made three consecutive NCAA Tournaments.

The Badgers are in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in school history and the fifth time under head coach Yvette Healy.

Wisconsin lost to Michigan, 8-3, in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament on Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana.

Badgers beat Iowa in Big Ten Softball Tournament opener

By

After missing 19 games due to injury, Wisconsin softball senior Melanie Cross shined in her return to the starting lineup, leading the Badgers to a 7-4 win over Iowa in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in Bloomington, Indiana.

Wisconsin’s win Thursday afternoon secured a spot in the second round of the Tournament.  The fifth-seeded Badgers will face number-four Ohio State on Friday morning at 10 a.m. central time.

Cross went three-for-three with a single, double and triple.  She finished the day with three RBI and reached base in all four of her plate appearances.

Freshman Maddie Schwartz earned the win on the mound after pitching four innings in relief to improve her record to 4-0 this season.

Taylor is headed for the track

By

Jonathan Taylor

The Wisconsin football team is wrapping up spring football workouts this week, but running back Jonathan Taylor ended things a week early.

Taylor started practicing with the Wisconsin men’s track team this week.  He plans to make his debut in the 400-meter relay at the Penn Relays Thursday through Saturday.

Taylor is also scheduled to run at UW’s Alumni Classic on May 3 and then at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships May 10-12 in Iowa City.

Besides football, Taylor was also a track star in high school in New Jersey.

Badgers learn breakdown of 2019-20 Big Ten schedule

By

The Big Ten Conference revealed a breakdown of all 14 schools’ opponents for the 2019-20 Big Ten men’s basketball season on Wednesday.  Conference teams will compete in a 20-game conference schedule, playing seven teams both home and away and six teams once (three home and  three away).

The Wisconsin Badgers will play home games only against Illinois, Maryland and Northwestern and road games only against Iowa, Michigan and Penn State.

The Badgers will play home and away against Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Purdue and Rutgers.

The season concludes with the 23rd annual Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament (March 11-15) which returns to Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for the first time since 2016.

UW’s Chryst lands a pay raise

By

Paul Chryst

The University of Wisconsin restructured head football coach Paul Chryst’s contract recently, but he still remains in the bottom half of the Big Ten in football coaching salaries.

Chryst 5-year deal gives him a $300,000 annual increase, but he’ll enter the 2019 season no better than ninth among the 14 Big Ten head coaches.  Chryst is set to earn $4.15 million this coming season.

Chryst’s base salary is $400,000.  The remaining $3.75 million comes from the UW Foundation.

The Badgers finished 5-4 in the Big Ten last season and 8-5 overall.  In Chryst’s first three seasons saw the Badgers go 10-3, 11-3 and 13-1.

With Ohio State’s Urban Meyer retiring, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh becomes the Big Ten’s highest paid coach.  Harbaugh earned $7.5 million last season.  Nebraska’s Scott Frost and Illinois’ Lovie Smith both earned $5 million.

Purdue’s Jeff Brohm earned $3.8 million last season, but after being courted by Louisville, Brohm got a new deal with the Boilermakers that could be worth up to $6 million a year.

 

Kalynuk named Wisconsin men’s hockey team captain

By

Sophomore defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk, who was a second-team All-Big Ten pick last season, will serve as the Wisconsin men’s hockey team’s captain next season.

“We are really excited to have these three lead our program,” Coach Tony Granato said.  “From the second they’ve gotten here they’ve done everything right.  All three have gotten off to great starts in their first two years with our program and they’ve been excellent in the classroom.  They are great leaders and big parts of our program.  We are excited about their leadership and the future of our program.”

Kalynuk will lead the team, while sophomore forwards Tarek Baker and Sean Dhooghe will help as the team’s alternate captains.

Kalynuk posted his second straight 25-point season this past year, and collected nine goals to rank second on the team.  His 25 points were one point off the team lead, while his 116 shots made him the only skater with over 100 shots on goal.

Baker (Verona, Wis.) finished his 2018-19 season with seven goals and 20 points, ranking second on the team with 91 shots on goal.

Dhooghe (Aurora, Ill.) led the Badgers as the only double-digit goal scorer with 15 tallies.  He shared the team lead with 26 points..  He also was tied for third in the Big Ten with eight power-play goals.

 

Woeful offensive showing ends Badgers season

By

Wisconsin’s offensive struggles in the latter portion of the season was a concern going into Friday’s NCAA Tournament opener against Oregon and those concerns turned out to be valid.

The Badgers shot just 20 percent from three-point range (6 of 30) and 33.3 percent overall (20 of 60), falling to the Ducks 72-54, seeing their season come to an end.

The loss was an embarrassment for the Badgers, who were tied with the Ducks, 25-25 at halftime.

Ethan Happ finished with 12 points and eight rebounds but turned it over five times.

Khalil Iverson, who has played well down the stretch, was the most effective Badger player in the loss, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds.

Brad Davison missed all seven of his three-point attempts.  D’Mitrik Trice made just 2 of 10 from distance while Brevin Pritzl went 0 for 3 and Kobe King and Aleem Ford missed both of their attempts.

The Ducks (24-12) ran their win streak to nine games.  Point guard Payton Pritchard finished with 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

The Badgers have struggled to score down the stretch and it was just a matter of time before the poor shooting would catch up with them.

The Badgers saw their season come to an end at 23-11.  They lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 when they were eliminated by 12th seeded Ole Miss 57-45, in Kansas City.

 

Happ named first team All-Big Ten

By

Ethan Happ

The Big Ten Conference handed out its season awards on Monday and the only Wisconsin representation is senior forward Ethan Happ.  Happ was named first team All-Big Ten, becoming the first Badger in school history to receive the honor three times.  It’s just the 13th time in league history that a player has received the honor three times.

Happ finished fifth in the Big Ten in scoring this season (17.8 ppg), third in rebounds (10.4), third in assists (4.7) and fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6).

The last Big Ten player to be named All-Big Ten three times is Robbie Hummel of Purdue in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

Michigan State junior point guard Cassius Winston was named the Big Ten Player of the Year, averaging 19.0 points and 7.6 points a game.  Winston shot 82.6 percent from the free-throw line and 41.1 percent from distance.

Purdue’s Matt Painter was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year.  He led the Boilermakers (23-8, 16-4) to a share of the Big Ten regular season title alongside Michigan State.  It’s the fourth time that Painter has won Big Ten Coach of the Year honors.