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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.

 

Davison takes his turn as Badgers hold off Gophers

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Brad Davison (Photo by David Stluka)

The Wisconsin Badgers ran their win streak to six-straight games, holding off the rival Minnesota Gophers 71-69 on Sunday night at the Kohl Center.

Minnesota native Brad Davison scored 20 points and added seven rebounds and five assists for the Badgers.  Davison took his turn in a lineup that has featured five different top point producers during the winning streak.

Senior Brevin Pritzl, who scored 15 points on Sunday, started the winning streak by leading the Badgers with 19 points against Ohio State.  Davison followed that with a 30 point performance against Nebraska.  Aleem Ford led the way with 19 against Purdue.  Micah Potter took his turn with 18 points against Rutgers.  D’Mitrik Trice, who managed just four points on Sunday, scored 28 in a win over Michigan and Davison bounced back with 20 against the Gophers.  That’s five different top scorers during the six-game stretch. [Read more…]

Badgers fall to rival Gophers

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Greg Gard

The Wisconsin Badgers were riding high after last week’s upset victory over Michigan State, but the momentum from that win didn’t carry over to last night.  Wisconsin traveled to Minneapolis and fell to the Minnesota Gophers 70-52 at Williams Arena.

The Badgers the Gophers both came out of the gates shooting well, but only the Gophers continued that trend while the Badgers cooled off considerably.

Wisconsin (13-10, 6-6 Big Ten) shot just 28% from the field (19-67), and 24% from three-point range (7-29), including a 1 for 16 effort in the second half.  The loss drops the Badgers into a tie with Minnesota (12-10, 6-6) and Purdue (13-10, 6-6).  The Boilermakers crushed visiting Iowa Wednesday night 104-68.

The Gophers had four players score in double figures, led by Payton Willis, who had 21 points.  Forward Daniel Oturu also added 17 points and 14 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season.

Nate Reuvers led the Badgers in scoring with 14 points,  Micah Potter added 11 points and 15 rebounds.

“I didn’t think we were physical enough in the paint,” Coach Greg Gard said.  “We got the ball in there and didn’t finish, didn’t get to the free-throw line as much as we needed to.

“We faded away too much, settled for jump shots at times.  It showed itself in some of the shooting percentages.”

The Badgers return home and will host Ohio State on Sunday.

 

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

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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.

 

Badgers earn the right to play for Big Ten West title

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The 14th ranked Wisconsin Badgers had a hard time shaking the Purdue Boilermakers early, but pulled away for a 45-24 win at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday.

The win allows the Badgers (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) an opportunity to play border rival Minnesota (10-1, 7-1) for the Big Ten West Division title and the right to face Ohio State for the Big Ten Championship.

Saturday’s match-up at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis will be the 129th meeting in the long rivalry with Paul Bunyan’s axe on the line.  The Badgers lost the axe last season in a 37-15 loss to the Gophers at Camp Randall.  It ended a streak of 14-straight Badger wins in the series.

The Badgers extended their win streak to 14 games with the victory.  Running back Jonathan Taylor rushed 28 times for 222 yards and a touchdown.  Taylor topped 200 yards for the 12th time in his career.

As a team, the Badgers rushed for 403 yards on 55 carries.

Quarterback Jack Coan completed 15 of 19 for 203 yards, one touchdown and one interception. [Read more…]

Badger volleyball team grabs sole possession of first place

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Molly Haggerty

The 7th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team grabbed sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with a four set (25-22, 23-25, 30-28, 29-27) win over the Minnesota Gophers on Thursday night.

The Badgers (18-5, 14-1) won their second straight Border Battle match and notched their first win in the Maturi Pavillion since 2014.

The Badgers were led by Molly Haggerty with a season-high 24 kills.  Dana Rettke followed with 21 kills and Grace Loberg pitched in with 19 as Wisconsin hit .313 (82 kills – 21 errors – 195 attempts) while holding Minnesota to .284 (64 – 16 – 169).

The lone blemish on the match for Wisconsin was a 13-4 tally in service errors, but the impressive offensive attack was enough to push the Badgers past the Gophers into sole possession of the Big Ten’s top spot.

The Badgers swept the Gophers for the first time since 2014, when UW won its last Big Ten Championship.

Wisconsin will look to maintain the Big Ten’s top spot as Michigan State comes to the UW Field House on Saturday (7 p.m.).

 

Wisconsin sweeps Minnesota, sits along atop the Big Ten

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Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield

With the top spot in the Big Ten Conference on the line, number seven Wisconsin swept number six Minnesota in a battle for the top spot in the league on Sunday.

The Badgers swept the Gophers, 25-18, 25-15, 25-20, to earn its third straight sweep, its third win over a top-10 team in its last four matches, and its first Border Battle win since 2014 – also when it won its last Big Ten Championship.

The Badgers held Minnesota to a .188 hitting percentage (31 kills – 12 errors – 101 attempts).  Senior libero Tiffany Clark totaled a match-high 14 digs, and Madison Duello and Danielle Hart finished with three blocks each, holding down the front line.

Offensively, junior Dana Rettke finished with a match-high 16 kills, hitting an even .500 (16-2-28) on the day.  Molly Haggerty added 12 kills for the Badgers. [Read more…]

Badger women’s hockey advances to NCAA title game

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Annie Pankowski – File Photo by David Stluka)

The top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team advanced to the NCAA Frozen four championship game.  The Badgers routed Clarkson, 5-0, in Friday’s Frozen Four semifinals in Hamden, Connecticut.

Annie Pankowski scored two goals for the Badgers (34-4-2), who advance to play Minnesota (32-5-1) in Sunday’s championship game (1:30 p.m.).

The game was close until the Badgers scored four goals in the final period to break it open.  Pankowski scored both of her goals in the final period.

Minnesota blanked Cornell 2-0 in the first semifinal contest, setting up a rematch with the Badgers, who beat the Gophers in the WCHA Championship game.

The Badgers will play in their 8th NCAA Frozen Four Championship game and their second in the last three years.

 

Badgers avenge January loss to Gophers

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Ethan Happ

It was far from perfect, but the 19th ranked Wisconsin Badgers aren’t interested in style points at this stage of the season.  After falling to Minnesota at the Kohl Center on January 3, the Badgers returned the favor, pulling out a 56-51 win on Wednesday night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

The Badgers missed a number of shots in the lane in the first half but settled down in the second half to pull out the win.

The Badgers (17-6, 9-3 Big Ten) extended their win streak to six games and moved into a third place tie with Michigan State in the Big Ten race.  Wisconsin is a half game behind Purdue and a game behind front running Michigan and will face the Wolverines on Saturday in Ann Arbor.

The Badgers got 15 points and 13 rebounds from Ethan Happ as they won on the road for the seventh time in the last eight games.  Guard Brad Davison added 10 points, although hit just 2 of 12 from the field. [Read more…]

Hockey Badgers drop series opener at Minnesota

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The Wisconsin Badgers trailed go a goal late in the third period, but the Minnesota Gophers scored four goals in four minutes to come away with a 9-4 victory at Mariucci Arena.

Freshman center Mick Messner scored in the second period and forward Brock Caufield, Jack Gorniak and Seamus Malone each lit the lamp in the third period to make it a 5-4 game in favor of Minnesota (10-10-4, 7-5-3-0 Big Ten).  But the Gophers then rattled off four unanswered goals with under five minutes to play, putting the game out of Wisconsin’s (8-11-4, 4-5-4-1 Big Ten) reach.

The Badgers outshot the Gophers 46-28, but Minnesota’s success on the power play and an early 3-0 lead in the first period were enough to doom the Badgers.

“For 55 minutes, we played good hockey, but you can’t play a 55-minute game”, said Badger coach Tony Granato.  “Minnesota is a team where if they see weakness or they see us on our heels, they take advantage of it and that’s what happened.  Every time we let off the gas, they made a play and were able to pull away from us.”

The two teams wrap up the 2-game series on Saturday night.