Per Wisconsin, Luke Fickell spent an hour with Jim Leonhard Sunday and will have another meeting with him Wednesday. He stated that he's "very open" to exploring options with Leonhard, which would assume having him stay on as defensive coordinator
#Badgers
Wisconsin's Brad Davison takes a lot of crap from a lot of people. He knows it, but he doesn't care. His response for how he wants people to remember his Badgers career: "I just hope people remember me as a great teammate, great leader and great friend."
Luke Fickell: "This is a destination job at a program that I have admired from afar for years. I am in total alignment with Chris McIntosh's vision for this program. There is a tremendous foundation here that I can't wait to build upon."
#Badgers
Tom Izzo: "I'm happy for (Greg) Gard. He's a coach's coach. We got our asses kicked by a team today that played for their coach … That's a great example of a group of people reaching down and playing for their coach, their program, their school."
#Badgers
FINAL: No.12 Murray State 83, No.5 Marquette 64. Golden Eagles blown out of the gym by the top team in the Ohio Valley. Marquette hasn't won an NCAA game since 2013 (0-2). But since I have a heart, I won't mention that UW is 13-4 in that span to rub salt in the wounds
Badgers AD Chris McIntosh: "We got the best damn fans in the league. We got the best damn coaches in the league. And I know one thing, we got the best damn team in the league."
Wisconsin football finishes the season No. 1 in total defense at 239.1 ypg, No.1 in rushing defense at 64.8 ypg, No.3 in 3rd down percentage defense at .287, No.4 in scoring defense at 16.15, and No.5 in passing at 174.3 ypg. Another masterful job by Badgers DC Jim Leonhard.
With its 28-14 victory over Minnesota, Wisconsin has now totaled 22 straight winning seasons, a streak that dates back to Barry Alvarez's 13th season in 2002.
Here is the list of Power Five schools with a longer active streak ...
Nobody
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Connor Essegian tells
@Badger_Blitz
that he has no plans to enter the transfer portal and will return to the
#Badgers
next season.
“There’s no reason (to enter the portal). I love this place.”
Sad news coming out of the Wisconsin family, as former walk-on Walt McGrory lost his battle with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, Saturday.
McGrory was a state basketball champion and Edina's leading scorer. More importantly, he was a great person.
Colgate coach Matt Langel: Tyler Wahl is an extraordinary college basketball player in my mind. I think that a lot of guys on the team get a lot of credit for due reason, but he - we call them winning plays and Tyler Wahl makes a lot of winning plays.
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Wisconsin has played 700 games since Bo Ryan and Greg Gard arrived in 2001-02. UW has won 71.1 percent of those (498-202). UW's Big Ten record is 248-114 (.684) - that's the most Big Ten wins and the best win percentage in the league over that stretch. Hard to argue with that.
Big Ten 5-0 in bowl games. West Division is 3-0. Wisconsin beat two of those teams (Iowa and Northwestern) in fairly dominant fashion. Throw in a victory over 11-win Florida Atlantic, perhaps the Badgers schedule wasn't quite as laughable as 'experts' believed.
Four prospects have committed to Wisconsin
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football in the last 48 hours with another big recruiting weekend on tap. Luke Fickell isn't messing around.
If you've been tweeting me the last week to tell me that Greg Gard needs to be fired, I expect to hear from you today once you open the curtains in your basement. Can't have it both ways.
Remember, Wisconsin was picked to finish 10th in the Big Ten. The Badgers ended winning a share of the conference title, developed an All-American lottery pick, and was viewed by the NCAA selection committee as the ninth-best team in the country. That's pretty damn good.
Even if Wisconsin loses its last four games, the
#Badgers
are guaranteed to finish above Minnesota in the Big Ten. That shouldn't come as a surprise. It's now happened for 24 consecutive seasons.
Eight years ago today, Bret Bielema left Wisconsin for Arkansas, partly due to thinking he had taken the
#Badgers
as far as he could. Since then, UW is 74-24 (.755), 5-2 in bowl games and signed 3 straight top-30 recruiting classes. Goes to show that programs can survive coaches.
In back-to-back games, Wisconsin has not trailed against the third-ranked team in the country and on the road at Michigan State.
The winning streak is up to six, three of those being Quad-1 victories.
Fire Gard, eh?
Greg Gard also calls out ESPN for putting the negative/false Wikipedia graphic of Davison on one of its broadcasts. Says he got apologizes from the network but he's tired of the character assassination Davison continues to receive.
#Badgers
No. 4 Wisconsin hosts No.6 Michigan State Fri and Sat with the Big Ten men’s hockey regular season title on the line ... and the games aren't even on television. In UW's time slot, BTN is scheduled to show last-place Ohio State vs. 6th-place Penn State. Such a missed opportunity
Jonathan Taylor is the third RB to win back-2-back Doak Walker Awards (Ricky Williams and Darren McFadden). That's impressive, but Tyler Biadasz came to Wisconsin to play defensive tackle and having never played center. Now he's the best center in college. That's truly awesome.
College Football Coaches by Winning Percentage
Knute Rockne .881
Urban Meyer .854
Barry Switzer .837
Tom Osborne .836
Fielding Yost .833
Dabo Swinney .807
Nick Saban .803
Bear Bryant .780
Bo Schembechler .775
Jim Leonhard 1.000
#Badgers
Wisconsin four-star quarterback commit Graham Mertz throws six touchdown passes to lead Blue Valley North to a 49-28 victory in the third level of the Kansas 6A playoffs. It was as impressive as it sounds.
Wisconsin sophomore Johnny Davis is the Big Ten's Player of the Week. He averaged 27.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 1 assist, and 0.5 steals per game in a
#Badgers
road victory over Indiana and a home win over Michigan. More importantly, he also averaged zero punches thrown.
Greg Gard is the angriest/most perturbed he's been in a long time; calls out Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl for not finishing in the paint. Says in not so many words that freshmen Nolan Winter and John Blackwell are playing harder than they are.
Chucky Hepburn on guarding Nelly Cummings, who only scored six of his 20 points in the second half: I love the way he plays. I let him get comfortable the first half and in the second half I told my team I was going to shut him down, so I did.
#Badgers
Happy Friday. With Northwestern ending its 13-game losing streak by beating Minnesota in the Barn last night, the
#Badgers
are guaranteed to finish above the Gophers in the Big Ten men's basketball standings for the 23rd year in a row.
Before the Bo Ryan and Greg Gard era, Wisconsin was 49-91 against Indiana, including 2-26 at Assembly Hall. Since 2001, the Badgers are 30-6 against the Hoosiers, including 10-5 on the road. That's dominance.
Johnny Davis said he wasn't a Wisconsin fan growing up (wasn't a Marq. fan either): Now that I've been here, it's a really great program, especially the coaching staff & the teammates I have w/ me. I'm really happy I came here. (Said he picked UW after they offered his brother)
New UW quarterback Nick Evers is a believer in Luke Fickell's
#Badgers
vision: "I think Wisconsin is a sleeping giant, and to play a small piece in our success is really appealing."
FINAL: No.5 Wisconsin 76, No.1 Purdue 75, OT
Max Klesmit drives in the lane and hits the winner. Chucky Hepburn draws the huge offensive foul on Braden Smith to set the possession up.
Badgers are headed to the tournament title game for the first time since 2017
Fire Gard, eh?
#Badgers
hockey got swept after rising to No.1 nationally two weeks ago. They responded by sweeping Ohio State last weekend and Penn State this weekend.
UW is 14-4 heading into the winter break and have already surpassed last year’s win total.
Pretty puckin impressive!
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hockey sweeps No.1 Minnesota at Mariucci Arena for only the fifth time in the last 23 years. Wisconsin won 13 games all of last season. Mike Hastings’ boys are now 7-1.
Wisconsin will end the season on an 8-game winning streak and end the season on a victory for the first time since 1988. It's hard to blame the NCAA, but you feel awful for seniors Brevin Pritzl and Michael Ballard who have seen their college careers come to a sudden end.
Four-star 2024 QB Mabrey Mettaur is the No.161 prospect in his class, the second Top 300 QB the
#Badgers
have landed in a week: "Wisconsin for a long time has been missing a strong quarterback. I feel like I'm that missing piece that can take them to the next level."
FINAL: No.10 Wisconsin 70, No.8 Purdue 67. Chucky Hepburn and Johnny Davis bank in buckets to lift the Badgers to at least a share of the Big Ten title. Not bad for a team picked 10th in the conference.
It's one thing to get blown out at Ohio State, but to get embarrassed at home against Illinois - not to mention outrushed 137-2 - is a humbling moment for this Wisconsin program.
The Badgers are off to their best start under Greg Gard, who is the only Big Ten coach to have led his program to at least 14 Big Ten wins in three of the last four seasons.
Longo: Balance is not 40 runs and 40 passed. Balance is distribution of the football to all the weapons of the offense ... That's the goal of Wisconsin's offense.
Greg Gard: I've never been around a group that has had to endure more over the last two-plus years. Going back to Coach Moore and that tragedy they still carry with them … I thanked them for all they've done for this program going beyond basketball.
BREAKING: Waunakee (Wis.) High Rob Booker has flipped his commitment back to the
#Badgers
. The three-star prospect, who originally committed to Wisconsin, had been committed to UCLA since the summer
Michigan fans are up in arms about Joe Krabbenhoft not getting a suspension or fine from the Big Ten. Here's the thing: Juwan Howard obviously doesn't hide his feelings. IMO, if Krabbenhoft did something egregious in Howard's eyes, he would have called him out for it postgame.
Brad Davison said the
#Badgers
team got an inspirational message from
@JJWatt
this morning: "He said the state of Wisconsin is behind us, the University is behind us, go out and take it all in."
Good news for some: Wisconsin will now offer beer, wine, and pre-packaged alcoholic products such as hard seltzers in general seating areas at the Kohl Center and LaBahn Arena for Badger basketball and hockey games. You can start boozing this fall.
Chucky Hepburn played a combined 100 minutes at Mackey Arena, Breslin Center, and Assembly Hall. He delivered nine assists and committed one turnover. UW won in those three buildings in the same season for the first time ever. What a monumental lift he's been for the
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#Badgers
freshman Gus Yalden has happily kept a low profile since returning to the team in November, focused on growing and developing his game for his future Wisconsin career
Greg Gard rolled the dice when he put Micah Potter back on the floor with four fouls with 6:52 to go. Potter's stat line from that point: 3 points, 5 rebounds (2 offensive that led to six points), 1 assist, 1 steal, no fouls.
#Badgers
A huge honor for Brad Davison to end his college career. For his work on the court, in the classroom, and in the community, Davison was named a 2021-22 Senior CLASS First-Team All-American.
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Wisconsin has a team that returns all five of its starters. Providence has a new head coach and seven new players, yet the Friars have better ball movement and synergy than the Badgers do. Pretty telling.
ESPN's Adam Rittenberg spoke with UW Ad Chris McIntosh. CM said new Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell met w/ current
#Badgers
team and "emotions were pretty raw" given Jim Leonhard's team support. CM added that Fickell and Leonhard would talk but don't know about role going forward
How rare is it for Wisconsin to win at Purdue and Michigan State in the same season? The Badgers haven’t accomplished that feat since 1963. UW was a combined 33-123 in true road games against those opponents entering this season. UW knocked off No.3 Purdue, 74-69, on Jan.3.
Wisconsin sophomore Johnny Davis named the 2022 Big Ten Player of the Year by both the coaches and the media. He's the fourth Badgers player to earn this award.
A
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power play goal with six seconds left!?!?! Are you kidding me?!?! Wisconsin sweeps No.4 Michigan, 2-1, and now has a six game win streak - all against ranked teams - to move to 9-1. Mike Hastings is a machine!
For the last few weeks, Jim Leonhard has received unwavering support from current
#Badgers
players that he is the right guy for the job. With today's stunning news with Fickell, one has to wonder how they'll react and how many will stay
Chris McIntosh's interview with Jim Leonhard should take about five seconds.
Badgers have won back-to-back games for the first time this season, are 3-1 under Leonhard, and are one win away from bowl eligibility.
More importantly, Wisconsin has its identity back
Johnny Davis on scoring the final 13 points: It feels good to have a coach and teammates who believe in me to make those tough shots at the end of games. I was feeling it tonight.
Hunter Dickinson goated the Wisconsin students as he entered the locker room at halftime, egging on their boos. The junior has just three points on 0-for-3 shooting in the second half.
Take heart Badgers fans, although Wisconsin has missed the N.C.A.A. tournament for the first time in 20 years, Marquette will not dance for the ninth time over that time span.
Greg Gard confirmed what made already assumed, just a bad ankle sprain for freshman Chucky Hepburn suffered in the NCAA Tournament. X-rays were negative. Currently recovery and rehab but no long-term issues.
#Badgers
Wisconsin announces it's extended the contracts of five coaches, including men’s basketball coach Greg Gard. His five-year agreement was extended through May 31, 2028. Bad day for the FGG crowd.
Wisconsin remains alone in third place in the league at 10-6 with four games remaining.
The
#Badgers
have hit double-digit Big Ten wins for the 20th time in the last 23 seasons.
No other Big Ten team has done that.
Greg Gard said Wisconsin's alternate black uniforms (which they debut on Friday) were long overdue. They also may help in recruiting. "The first 10 text messages I got were from recruits. They were all over it."
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New PG Camren Hunter on Wisconsin and NIL: “I know it’s part of the game and how it is now, but I was raised different. I’m there for the opportunity and to reach goals that I have set for myself. I’m not into chasing money."
#Badgers
Chucky Hepburn on Connor Essegian's scoring: When Connor comes off the bench and gives an extra spark like that, we all get excited. We all want to see him succeed. We always look for Connor when he's in the game. We believe in him.
Remember when people doubted Paul Chryst's ability to recruit? Wisconsin now has five 4-star Rivals recruits, matching 2020 for the school record in the online ranking era, and the No.12 class in the country. Even during a pandemic dead period,
#Badgers
making a statement