Badgers Basketball - National title contenders?

First off, sorry for the two week hiatus. I moved and was without the Internet for a week. I'll try to get back on track now.

(photo from jsonline.com)

The Badgers 2006/2007 basketball team was rated #9 in the AP and coaches' polls to start the season. Some might find that surprising considering their less-than-stellar end to last season, but the team comes back loaded with talent after only losing one senior from last year, guard Ray Nixon. They get back Greg Stiemsma and Marcus Landry, who were both declared academically ineligible last season, and add freshmen guards Jason Bohannon, Trevon Hughes and Mickey Perry.

Wisconsin will easily be one of the deepest teams in the nation allowing coach Bo Ryan to play a variety of big or small line-ups for the best match ups against the opposition. He has put countless different line-ups on the floor already this season only two exhibition games and one regular season game in. The starters appear to be senior Kammron Taylor at point guard, junior Michael Flowers at the other guard position, senior Pre-Season Big Ten Player of the Year Alando Tucker at forward, junior Brian Butch at the other forward position and senior Jason Chappell at center. It's impossible to foresee how the line-up will shake out long term, however.

Ryan has an embarassment of riches in forwards and centers on the bench. With the above starting line-up, big men Greg Stiemsma, Marcus Landry, Joe Krabbenhoft and Kevin Gullikson would be available off the bench. All have proven capable in games, some showing flashes of becoming great players. Stiemsma and Landry in particular look to be future starters.

While young, the freshmen guards (Jason Bohannon, Trevon Hughes and Mickey Perry) look like early contributors that Ryan will not be afraid to use. As they develop, the guard position will also be very deep.

The Big Ten does not appear to be particularly strong this season, with Ohio State as the only other top 25 team in the conference at fourth in the AP poll and fifth in the coaches poll. While Ohio State is the defending champion in the Big Ten, they lost a lot of talent from last year's team. They do have one of the best recruiting classes in recent years, but young players are no guarantee and their star recruit and former top high school player in the country, Greg Oden, is hurt and will be out until January. Badger fans are eyeing a championship and rightfully so.

With one of the best coaches in NCAA basketball, one of the deepest teams in the country, experienced leaders mixed with young talent and a challenging schedule, Wisconsin has everything it takes to be a final four team. The pieces have to fall in the right places and the team has to avoid major injuries and letdowns, but if the Badgers capatilize on their talent and potential, they should be national title contenders.

With the Wisconsin football team in the top 10 nationally and the basketball team with the highest preseason ranking they've ever had, it is shaping up to be a great year to back the Cardinal and White.

Bill Schroeder without a 'partner'

Daron Sutton announced his leaving the Brewers TV broadcast team. Personally, I don't think the Sutton/Schroeder tandem was working, but I think it had a lot more to do with Bill than Daron. I'm dissapointed Sutton is leaving because he brought energy to the broadcast and I could stand him. Now they have Schroeder and whoever they find on the street. I can only hope they somehow find a Joe Buck Jr., but I have a feeling the broadcast team will be worse than the last few years. What they really need is a former baseball player that can explain the game better than Schroeder. He's more interested in talking about the fans in the Buckethead Brigade or how great his playing days were on the California Angels than analyzing a game. Maybe I'm a baseball fanatic, but I'd rather hear about why Ned Yost put on a hit-and-run in a certain situation than listen to Schroeder analyze a fans' outfit. Good luck Daron.

Woodson arrives

(Photo from Packersnews.com)

It may have been months behind schedule, but Charles Woodson arrived as a Green Bay Packer Sunday.

Before week 7, it appeared as though he was running through the motions on his way to collecting his paychecks from a $39 million contract he signed this summer. He didn't come to the voluntary pre-season workouts and if you ask Packer fans, he barely showed up for the first five games of the season.

After five weeks of mediocre play, the defensive back finally broke out. He got his first sack, his first interception and his first touchdown as a Packer in the first game Green Bay fans saw a return on the large investment GM Ted Thompson made on the former Raider. Woodson also made some impressive plays on passes.

His interception return for a touchdown gave the Packers their first lead of the game against Miami, a cushion the Packers would never give back.

The other positive change from Woodson is that he is beginning to show a little of his flashy, confident personality, one that was evident in his run to a Heisman trophy in college at Michigan and his first few seasons with the Oakland Raiders. Television news showed clips of Woodson standing near his locker with a satisfied smile answering questions with a swagger he will hopefully carry with him onto the field again. Defensive backs need to be fearless, not listless like he looked in every other game this season.

Welcome to Green Bay, Charles.

Wisconsin v. Purdue

(photo from uwbadgers.com: http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=9453)

10:58 a.m. - The game is about to kickoff. I'm going to try to do a few live posts as the game goes on. Purdue has a great offense, but they do most of their damage through the air. The Badgers defensive backs have been solid for most of the year and continue to get better. With a little pressure from the defensive line, Wisconsin should be able to contain the Boilermakers offense. The Badgers offense should be able to score often on a bad Purdue defense. The huge Wisconsin offensive line should be able to contain the Purdue rush and should be able to establish a rushing game of their own. I expect P.J. Hill to have another big game. This is the kind of game the Badgers-of-old would drop or play too closely, but I see a new attitude with coach Bret Bielema and I expect them to come out and put this game away. I predict a 31-17 victory for Bucky.

11:55 a.m. - 7-3 Wisconsin - Neither team has looked sharp offensively, but the Badgers managed a touchdown drive when P.J. Hill punched it in from the one. They lead 7-3. Hopefully the drive kick starts their offense. Their defense just forced Purdue to punt after a three-and-out. This is their chance to gain a little separation.

12:52 p.m. - 10-3 Wisconsin - The Badgers should have had a 13-3 lead at half, but blew a late field goal opportunity. They held Purdue to a missed field goal on the opening drive of the second half, but the defense is still not looking great. There have been too many wide open receivers. The Wisconsin offense has a chance to make a statement now. They need to establish the run again.

1:55 p.m. - 24-3 Wisconsin - The Badgers finished a convincing 24-3 win. While the defense didn't look dominating, they did hold the Boilermakers out of the endzone and to only 176 yards passing and 116 yards on the ground. The Badger offense left some opportunities on the field, but still managed to put up 24 points. Stocco had an average game with 201 yards passing and an interception, but Travis Beckum stepped up with another solid performance (66 yards receiving) and Paul Hubbard had a good game (81 yards receiving). P.J. Hill ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns in yet another impressive game for the number two rusher in NCAA football. It wasn't a statement game, but Wisconsin managed to beat another team they should beat. Speaking of games they should win, the 7-1 Badgers face Illinois in Madison next week. There is no way they should drop that game.

Badger State Blurbs

Hey, here are just some quick thoughts about what's going on with Wisconsin sports teams. I'm going to try to do this more often.

Packers

Robinson suspended for one year - It's not surprising because he was coming in with baggage, but it couldn't possibly have come at a worse time. Right when the Packers need a receiver to step up, they lose the only backup on the roster that seems capable of legitimate production. Robert Ferguson is out with a foot injury, possibly for the year. Ruvell Martin and rookie Chris Francies, who was just promoted from the practice squad, will now compete for time. Packer fans can only hope tight ends Donald Lee and David Martin pick up their production behind Bubba Franks because I wouldn't expect anything from Martin and Francies, who both have zero NFL playing experience. Donald Driver and Greg Jennings have been great, but they're not enough to keep the Packers passing offense at the top of the league, especially since there has been little rushing offense to speak of.

Favre: NFL let down Koren Robinson - Nothing is going to come of this, but Favre does have a point. Robinson clearly has a very bad alcohol problem and needs help. The NFL just effectively separated him from the only people that were behind him by not allowing him to come to the Packers facilities during his entire one-year suspension. The Packers coaches, staff and players were willing to take the enormous risk of taking on Robinson with helping him conquer his problem as their number one goal. Now he's on his own. He hasn't been able to beat this in the past with help, but he's expected to beat it now without any assistance and without football, which he has said is the most important thing in his life. I agree with the suspension, but I think the NFL has the facility ban all wrong.
Ingle Martin punts during bye week - OK, I understand that punter Jon Ryan was gone for a legitimate reason (His dad is battling cancer), but a rookie backup quarterback punting is just the sort of ridiculous thing you could only hear from a bad team with mounting (and apparently bizarre) problems.

Packers to face Dolphins in Miami - The Dolphins are bad. Real bad. Joey Harrington is starting at quarterback. Yeah, that bad. The Packers should win this game and should at least have a fighting chance at home against the Arizona Cardinals. If they pull those two games out, they could travel to Buffalo and try to beat the Bills, another bad team, to even their record at 4-4. I know it won't happen because the Packers are just as bad as those three teams, but a guy can dream, right? The only other possible three-game winning streak the schedule offers is the first three games in December at home against the New York Jets, at the San Francisco 49ers and at home against the Detroit Lions. As fans, how bad do we want Adrian Peterson?


Brewers

The all-star staff dream is over - Jim Gantner will manage the Wausau Woodchucks and Paul Molitor has not been contacted by the Brewers. Oh well... I just hope someone can get these guys to hit consistently.

J.D. Closser a Brewer - If I would have posted that comment a few years ago, it would have been exciting. Now the Brewers are taking a shot on a former top catching prospect that has been awful. It's worth the chance, but I don't expect to see Closser in a Brewers uniform unless there are some injuries or he gets a desperation look. Maybe GM Doug Melvin has found another of his prized "nuggets" though. Doubt it, but there's no risk here.


Badgers Football

Bielema's edict: Put focus on 1-0 - Haven't heard that one before... But, hey, if it works, I love it. Since the Badgers still have a legitimate chance at a one-loss season, at least going into a bowl game, I'm not going to question Bielema's philosophy. If the team doesn't trip up against Purdue, which has a legitimate offense but a brutal defense, the only real tests left are at home against Penn State and on the road against Iowa. Neither of those teams are powerhouses. An 11-1 record with a Big Ten schedule and with the only loss coming against Michigan, a national title contender, would probably not even get Wisconsin a BCS bowl bid unless they dominate down the stretch because Michigan and Ohio State will likely get BCS bowls and there will be a slew of other one-loss teams to choose from. It would still be a hell of a season though and would warrant a good bowl game (Maybe the Capital One Bowl like last season). Realistic dream scenario: Notre Dame loses to USC and possibly also UCLA to finish with two or three losses and faces Wisconsin in a bowl game. Bucky would crush the perpetually-over-rated Fighting Irish, who are easily my least-favorite non-Big Ten NCAA football team.


Badgers Basketball

Badgers begin work on fulfilling expectations - There will be a lot more on this in the future, but I am absolutely jacked for the upcoming Badgers basketball season, more than I have ever been before. It's hard to not be excited when you look up and down a stacked and experienced line-up. It doesn't hurt that Bo Ryan also manages to get the team to over-achieve. Could this be the year that Wisconsin legitametly challenges for a national title? Probably not. But a Big Ten title and a top 10 finish are not out of the question and who knows what will happen when the tourney begins?


Badgers Hockey

New players hold key to repeat hopes - The Badgers (2-1-1, 1-1-0 WCHA) hockey season has started. They're ranked #2 in the country and Brian Elliott has looked impressive again (Hobey Baker? Too early? Yeah). Wisconsin lost their top three goal scorers and have been a little inconsistent early. They're also battling injuries to key players. A split against North Dakota is not unimpressive though and it should be another solid season.


Bucks

Forgive me if the revamped roster and new (but better) uniforms don't convince me this isn't the same Bucks team I've seen for roughly a decade. I bet they play inconsistently, sneak into the playoffs and lose in the first round. Take it to the bank. I hope they prove me wrong. The season starts Nov. 1.