Students are about to peace out for the summer. Of the 40,000-plus that currently call themselves Badgers, a healthy amount will graduate or go home or head overseas or mosey on back to the kitchen of their local pizza parlor. Of the group, nearly everyone has a summer destination. A… Read more »

With the help of Sports Illustrated, NBA free agent Jason Collins made public  that he is gay Monday morning. While attempting to focus on the topics of my Communication Arts lecture, I experienced — for the first time in awhile — a “Hell yeah!” moment. Finally, an active athlete playing a major… Read more »

With the regular season coming to a close for the Wisconsin softball team this weekend, it is perfect timing for the Big Ten conference race to come back into focus for the Badgers. After league-leading No. 9 Michigan dropped a pair of games in its series to No. 16 Nebraska… Read more »

If there was any concern that the Wisconsin football team would go without a night game in head coach Gary Andersen’s first season, that was wiped away Monday. Wisconsin will face Ohio State on Sept. 28, opening its Big Ten season on either ESPN or ABC at 7 p.m. It… Read more »

From the outset of each softball game Wednesday afternoon, Wisconsin’s outlook for remaining third in the Big Ten appeared rather bleak. Northwestern struck first in the opening inning of both affairs. It twice looked as if Wisconsin might drop another home game, but each time the Badgers settled in and… Read more »

When the Wisconsin football team takes to Camp Randall Stadium for the first Spring Game of Gary Andersen’s career in Madison, newness will cover the field.Transition will not only be a term well known to the fledgling coaching staff on the sidelines. It will be also be visibly apparent between… Read more »

Augusta National Golf Club — known around the world for hosting the most important golf tournament in early April each year — isn’t for everyone. Until just recently, it was a boys-only fraternity house of sorts that allowed only the most lucky and hallowed of guests onto its grounds. Women… Read more »

For almost his entire life, James White has never been the lead running back. When he was a three-star running back from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., White was just an accent to his four-star teammate and UNC-commit Giovanni Bernard. When White arrived at Wisconsin, he… Read more »

Most people would do anything for a million dollars. If they were given a salary of $1 million a year and promised a reasonable position, the money would be many times too much to even bat an eye in deliberation. Yes, yes, please sir. A salary like that — actually… Read more »

As the 2012 fall semester began and the Badgers took their respective positions on athletic fields across campus, hype was everywhere, almost tactile in the air. The discussion of which team would have the best season — would it be the football squad or the women’s hockey team or the… Read more »

As Wisconsin used a 13-0 run to pull it into a first half lead and Ohio State utilized a 10-0 run of its own to retake the lead early in the second half, it seemed like a game of elongated runs would decide the winner of the Big Ten tournament.… Read more »

The Wisconsin Badgers are just a team. Nothing more, nothing less. They seem to prove it just about every game: Wisconsin is made of a group of players, each of them playing their role within the Wisconsin system; a system so unsexy that it is only marginally recognized when run… Read more »

CHICAGO — As shot after shot continued to clank off the rim, Wisconsin’s chances of spending another day at the Big Ten Tournament were falling to a level even worse than their 17.2 first-half shooting percentage. The United Center halftime show may have just helped them out, as a crew… Read more »

It’s safe to say the road Danny O’Brien has taken to his fourth year of eligibility resembles a path less traveled, or maybe never traveled. From transfer newbie to starting quarterback to 2-minute drill specialist to sideline signal caller, the parade of pit stops that constructed O’Brien’s first year as… Read more »

Statistics are the lifeblood of sports. They prompt the debates, the arguments, the lists and rankings. Sheer numbers define what is good, what is poor, what is great and extraordinary. They fuel the expectations by which they are eventually judged. Well, the expectations for Bobbie Kelsey’s women’s basketball team were… Read more »

EAST LANSING — Although Big Ten basketball can tend to show it’s ugly face with brash, defensive battles throughout the winter months, Wisconsin had yet to experience one like they did Thursday night against Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. The Badgers (20-10, 11-6) hung around the Spartans (23-7, 12-5)… Read more »

On the last night of February, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team was having a special night. Tiera Stephen was being honored as the lone graduating senior and the Kohl Center was hosting its final women’s basketball game of the season against No. 20 Nebraska. It was a night like the… Read more »

Although school records at the University of Wisconsin tend to own a great deal of significance, the women’s softball team could not care less, or at least it seems like it could not. The Badgers made breaking records a second hobby in 2012, raising the bar in six offensive categories… Read more »

When Taylor Wurtz entered the 2012-13 season, it was okay that she held high hopes. It was her time; her moment as the leader of the Wisconsin women’s basketball team. Senior guard Wurtz was named one of three captains for the season and was coming off her second team all-Big… Read more »

Danica Patrick is NASCAR’s little dolly, pretty much regardless of what she thinks. Of the first 10 pictures that lead the Google search “Danica Patrick,” only two show Patrick sporting her popular NASCAR jumpsuit. The others include her in a much more revealing sense, erotically clad as an article accentuating… Read more »

When Michael Burcin began to consider the head coaching position for the Wisconsin men’s golf team in the spring of 2011, he knew that there was a good gig sitting in front of him. Besides the glamour and draw of coaching in an elite conference, however, the Wisconsin golf program… Read more »

In the world of athletic directors, the phrase “no news is good news” generally runs pretty true. If the head of the athletic department doesn’t have to set up a press conference and make an announcement, that usually means the department is sailing smoothly on open waters. The tides are… Read more »

Although the wins have come few and far in between, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team has always seemed to have one final trump card in their pocket: the Kohl Center. Entering Sunday’s afternoon game against Indiana, Wisconsin had won 10 games on the season with nine of them coming on… Read more »

Another offseason comes and yet again, so does another transfer quarterback for Wisconsin football. This time, it’s a junior college transfer. Tanner McEvoy, regarded as the top dual-threat quarterback in junior college football, is transferring to Wisconsin, as reported by Evan Flood of 247sports Monday afternoon. McEvoy visited Wisconsin on… Read more »

Lately, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team has gone only as far as junior guard Morgan Paige could take them, like when Paige dropped 33 points in the Badgers’ stunning 63-61 upset of then-No. 7 Penn State Thursday night. The case was no different Sunday afternoon, only the distance Paige carried Wisconsin (10-12,… Read more »

The outlook wasn’t great as the Badgers took the floor Thursday night at the Kohl Center against the nation’s seventh-ranked team. Wisconsin entered the game losing seven of their last eight games and Penn State was riding an 11-game winning streak. The last time these teams met, Wisconsin came home… Read more »

I watch a lot of SportsCenter, but not nearly as much as I used to. Too many times on this campus, I have filled out a questionnaire on the first day of class and informed my teacher that yes, it is my favorite show on television. I think differently now,… Read more »

They say Shanel Blackshear is loud and somewhat goofy. They say Stephanie Peace can inspire her teammates with a simple flick of her glove. They say Whitney Massey doesn’t say too much, or talk too loudly, but she doesn’t need to; her bat speaks much louder. They say Michelle Mueller… Read more »

Uncertainty is a frank description, but it ran through the veins of the Wisconsin football program throughout the 2012 season. That Bielema guy fired an assistant from the SEC. Then that Bielema guy grabbed what he could (in assistants) and left for the SEC. In leaving, he left the door… Read more »

If Tiera Stephen wasn’t on top of the world in April 2009, she seemed to be pretty close. Stephen was a point guard for the Louisville women’s basketball team and the Cardinals were playing in the school’s first ever Final Four. The circumstances were pressure-filled, daunting by any standard. She… Read more »

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Wisconsin found itself ahead by 10 points with just over 10 minutes remaining against the No. 2 team in the nation. They were also on the road in a hostile environment. Reality was bound to set in, and it did. With 10:08 remaining, the Badgers began one… Read more »

INDUSTRY, Calif. — On New Year’s Day, scientist Jane Goodall grand marshaled the 124th Tournament of Roses Parade — the 11th female to claim the highest honor of the Rose Bowl. Her performance was followed by the main course, the 99th edition of the Rose Bowl football game, the Granddaddy… Read more »

Wisconsin senior shooting guard Taylor Wurtz has decided to sit out the remainder of the season, taking a medical redshirt for the 2012-13 campaign. The 2011-12 all-Big Ten honoree had been sidelined for the Badgers’ last eight games with a nagging back injury that also kept her out of early… Read more »

When Wisconsin fans depart for Pasadena, Calif., they know they’ll be heading out for better weather, outstanding football and a bunch of roses. With two years of recent experience, all these features have been all but guaranteed. There’s a new addition to the festivities this year, however. For the first… Read more »

From the get go, the shots started falling, and they didn’t stop. From the beginning of the game, Wisconsin and Marquette proved the crowd of 3,300-plus they were in for an offensive shootout. The hopes of a shootout died at the halftime horn, however, but a hearty battle ensued until the… Read more »

While I would never tab Bret Bielema as much of a speedster, he sure took off in a flash.As the news broke of him taking the head coaching position at Arkansas, the utter surprise filled Twitter to the brim, but I was as blind as a blind side could get;… Read more »

Wisconsin women’s basketball head coach Bobbie Kelsey announced earlier today that sophomore guard Lindsay Smith has decided to leave the Badgers and transfer immediately.  Smith, a Dewitt, Iowa native had seen a diminished role in 2012, averaging less than four minutes per game and scoring just three points on the… Read more »

It was not a pretty game by any means when Wisconsin topped Alabama 69-50 Saturday afternoon. The two teams combined for more than 45 turnovers and shot just 31 percent from the field.It was a defensive-minded battle, and considering they were facing the Tide, it was exactly what the Badgers needed.… Read more »

With the focus of the night pinned heavily on Tony Bennett’s return to the Kohl Center and the victory that followed for the Virginia Cavaliers, Traevon Jackson grabbed his own headline just before tip-off, getting his first career start as point guard for Wisconsin Wednesday night.  Unfortunately for him, the… Read more »

As part of the women’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge, Wisconsin will face Virginia Tech Wednesday night. Although many times the cross-conference tournament brings a nonconference opponent the Badgers rarely see, the Hokies are a program Wisconsin is particularly familiar with. UW head coach Bobbie Kelsey was an assistant at Virginia Tech… Read more »

It’s all happening, right before our eyes. It started a few years ago and is heating up. We just have not realized it yet. The Big Ten and the SEC, each now boasting 14 nationally prominent college allegiances, are dead set on a collision course to dominate college athletics. The… Read more »

Tiera Stephen did all the things she normally does in a basketball game Sunday against Evansville. She assisted, defended, stole passes and rebounded. Just another day at the Kohl Center for Stephen. Then she did something she doesn’t normally do — she scored, and plenty more than she was expected… Read more »

Although many Wisconsin teams’ schedules will only heat up over Thanksgiving break, the women’s basketball team is anticipating just the opposite: a break. After a two-game weekend set out west in Washington, the Badgers will have to wait a little bit longer as Washington travels to the Kohl Center for… Read more »

It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and so many students on the University of Wisconsin campus have departed in the direction of their respective hometowns or hunting grounds. But as the students travel to their family members awaiting with fat turkeys and begin to give thanks for everything they’re blessed with,… Read more »

Wisconsin women’s basketball head coach Bobbie Kelsey announced the signing of two high school seniors Wednesday on National Signing Day. Two post players, 6-foot-4 Malayna Johnson from Montini Catholic High School in Belwood, Ill., and 6-foot-3 Mikey Crall, from Olathe Northwest High School in Olathe, Kan. will join the Badgers as… Read more »

This past Friday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. — just like many other Fridays every fall — hundreds of thousands of people awoke from their work or school-induced slumber. Not because the workweek had finally ceased, not because a beautiful, sunny weekend was in its approach and certainly not because Sean Zak… Read more »

They travel together, eat together and work together.And sometimes, they even bathe together. In every season, just about every team, no matter how big or how small, considers itself a family. The Paige’s are a lot like that, except that their family is, well, a basketball team. There is Ellis and… Read more »

Earlier this week, Badger Herald Sports Content Editor and fellow Columnist Nick Korger wrote that any outcome from Saturday’s game with Indiana would come at no surprise. He is exactly right. A Wisconsin victory would reshape the crumbling confidence surrounding the program. An Indiana victory would all but take the… Read more »

At the moment, Wisconsin sports may seem tumultuous. The starting point guard goes down with a season-ending injury, quickly followed by the starting quarterback. The same thing happened to my high school in 2007, when an outstanding athlete — one who carried the torch of Sturgeon Bay High School sports… Read more »

At the University of Wisconsin, recruiting is a funny thing. Men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan has had his greatest success siphoning a long list of Wisconsin players from Minnesota. Jon Leuer, Jordan Taylor, Jared Berggren, the list goes on. Football coach Bret Bielema has seen some of his best players… Read more »

As the women’s basketball team approaches its first games of the season, expectations of improvement were on the mind of head coach Bobbie Kelsey as she addressed the media in her weekly press conference Monday. Kelsey quickly noted the improvement of new players after their first four weeks of practice.… Read more »

For the second time this season, a ranked opponent traveled to the McClimon Soccer Complex, and for the second time this season, the Badgers didn’t lose. But they didn’t win either.  Wisconsin (6-7-4, 1-3-1 Big Ten) and No. 24 Northwestern (10-4-3, 3-1-1) battled to a 0-0 double overtime tie Sunday… Read more »

Although Wisconsin may have underperformed within the grassy realm of the McClimon Complex this season, one final test awaits the Badgers as Northwestern travels to Madison for the second-to-last Big Ten game of the season. And a daunting test it shall be. The No. 24 Wildcats (10-4-2, 3-1 Big Ten)… Read more »

What took place on the field Saturday was football. What was held against the goalpost in celebratory tree-chopping symbolism was a trophy. However, what happened at Camp Randall this weekend was supposed to be a rivalry — but it wasn’t. Wisconsin winning the rights to hold Paul Bunyan’s Axe for… Read more »

Just when you think you’ve got things figured out, something crazy happens. This fall season of Wisconsin sports has taken just about every possible direction on about every playing field. Just when we thought the UW football team was primed for greatness (it still might be), a seemingly unimaginable road… Read more »

Three years ago, when AJ Cochran heard of Wisconsin, he fell in love almost immediately. The Big Ten atmosphere, the 40,000-plus students, the social scene and excellence in academics all appealed to the then high school senior. While still in pursuit of finding the university where he would like to… Read more »

Whether it was the coaches, players, referees or fans, emotions ran high through the entirety of the men’s soccer match in a 2-1 victory over Michigan Saturday night. Entering the match, the Wisconsin men’s soccer team had won just two of their previous 11 games and was winless in the… Read more »

Remember the guy that led Wisconsin to an 11-win season in his first year as head coach? That same man coached the Badgers to back-to-back Big Ten Championships, consecutive Rose Bowls, and has cemented Wisconsin as a top-notch program in the world of college football. On his record as head… Read more »

The chances were abounding for Wisconsin to beat rival Milwaukee Wednesday night, but on par with their recent play, one goal was all it took for the Panthers to triumph over the Badgers by a score of 1-0. A mirage of late-match shots kept coming from the Badgers, but much… Read more »

Ever since he first stepped foot on campus, James White has been labeled as second-best. As a freshman, White was tabbed as the second running back behind then-returning 2009 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year John Clay. A year later, he found himself slotted behind the record-breaking stats of… Read more »

Last week, Wisconsin’s men’s soccer team found itself in a tight rivalry match on the road against Marquette. The Badgers fought into two overtimes, but eventually the No. 9 team in the nation prospered and the Golden Eagles claimed the spot of top soccer program in the state. This week,… Read more »

Wisconsin fans are in a weird situation. For the first time since Allan Evridge was handing off snaps to P.J. Hill, things just don’t feel right about University of Wisconsin football. For some reason (actually many reasons, as pointed out by my fellow Herald columnists this week) the 2012 football team… Read more »

“Crabcakes and football. That’s what Maryland does!” Danny O’Brien found this out during his time at the University of Maryland and decided that instead, he preferred beer, cheese and football. Personally, I can’t blame him; I’m not crazy for crab cakes. I’m not crazy for Joel Stave either. Danny O’Brien… Read more »

After the Wisconsin football team dropped its lead and the game to Nebraska, the only victory of Saturday night came back in Madison, where the Wisconsin men’s soccer team topped Cleveland State by a score of 2-1. Although it was their 10th game of the season, the Badgers victory unveiled… Read more »

The McClimon Soccer Complex has been unkind to the Wisconsin men’s soccer team so far this year. In three games, the Badgers have scored only two goals and have yet to win a game. They will get another chance to turn their home fortune around Saturday when they host the… Read more »

The setting is perfect. For the game of golf, the Ryder Cup is as good as it gets, and I had the pleasure of witnessing it Thursday. The Ryder Cup, for those who may not know, is sort of like the Olympics for professional golfers. The event is played once… Read more »

The Badgers were in a bend-but-don’t-break position throughout the majority of their Big Ten opener against Penn State Friday. Defenders halted whizzing shots as goalie Chase Rau covered the net with big saves. For 81 minutes, they bent and bent, doing their best imitation of a yoga instructor. And in… Read more »

Would you hire Michael Vick as a dog sitter? No, because he went to jail for hosting dog fights. Would you let MC Hammer handle your finances? No, because he quickly found fame and found bankruptcy even quicker. These are easy decisions. The common thread is society has a hard… Read more »

For Chase Rau, the small town of Sparta, Mich., means everything. It’s the place he calls home, it’s where he first made headlines and it’s where his biggest fans reside. Most importantly, Sparta is also his motivation. Throughout his high school years, the town of 4,180 actually seemed to focus… Read more »

Sometimes change is good, and sometimes change is bad. Sometimes change is inevitable, and sometimes change should have never occurred. Around college football the past year or so, everything is changing; this we already know. Universities are attempting to “stay ahead of the curve” by swapping conferences for competition, dishonoring… Read more »

In what is a very young season, the Wisconsin men’s soccer team has played in a way best compared to a passage from Ben Barry in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: “They’ve been up, they’ve been down, they’ve been here, they’ve been there, they’ve been a frickin’… Read more »

Perfection is a feat we rarely witness. No team plays a perfect game. There is always something that could have been done just a little bit better or a little bit quicker. Perfect seasons are extraordinary but extremely uncommon. It may always be the goal, but it is rarely a… Read more »

When Wisconsin head coach John Trask arrived in Madison, the men’s soccer team was in a state of flux. Two years prior to Trask’s arrival witnessed the end of an era, specifically the Jeff Rohrman era, as Rohrman left the program through resignation. Another year saw the debut and quick… Read more »

Three years ago, the Wisconsin men’s soccer team was in the middle of an extended period of mediocrity. After 13 consecutive seasons of missing the NCAA tournament, a 7-9-2 record ensued, prompting a change. Then John Trask arrived. Trask inherited a consistently losing program and has turned the table in… Read more »

When it comes to the typical UW student’s social life in the fall, an outward view presents just a single location on campus that seems to matter: Camp Randall. Back-to-back Rose Bowls and increasing hype nationwide offer what seems to be the perfect recipe for another great season spent at… Read more »

Jared Abbrederis has taken the path less traveled in becoming one of the best wide receivers in the Big Ten.Coming onto campus as a walk-on just three years ago out of Wautoma High — where he started and starred at quarterback — the redshirt junior’s transformation to an honorable mention… Read more »

Just three games separate the Wisconsin softball team and the end of the regular season, but those same three games remain instrumental in the Badgers’ chances at postseason play. The Badgers (33-17, 12-8 Big Ten) will travel to Lincoln, Neb., for a weekend series with the Cornhuskers (31-21, 12-8 Big… Read more »

With just six games remaining, the Big Ten softball title race is finally starting to take shape, and for the first time in program history, the Wisconsin Badgers will have a major say in how it ends. Although the Badgers currently reside in a tie with Iowa for fourth place,… Read more »

Wednesday represented another day, another opponent and another pair of home victories for the Badger softball team when in-state rival University of Wisconsin-Green Bay arrived at Goodman Diamond. The Badgers remained hot as ever at their home diamond, winning their program record 12th and 13th straight games playing near the… Read more »

The University of Wisconsin has fielded a softball team for 16 years and has never been able to finish in the top three of the Big Ten. Plenty of seasons have passed by with Wisconsin closing play at or near the bottom of the conference. However, head coach Yvette Healy… Read more »

It was a tale of two completely different games headlining the Wednesday doubleheader at Goodman Diamond between Wisconsin and Indiana State. Though at times it got dicey, the Badgers were able to triumph in both, winning each affair in contrasting fashion. Wisconsin dominated in the first game, with the Badgers… Read more »

Fresh off another Big Ten weekend sweep, the Wisconsin (27-13, 11-4 Big Ten) softball team will look to continue its dominance, as non-conference opponent Indiana State (18-26, 13-7 Missouri Valley Conference) will join them for a doubleheader Wednesday at Goodman Diamond. The Badgers dismantled Penn State over the weekend, piling… Read more »

Whether it’s hitting the ball out of the park, rallying from large deficits or shutting out opponents, the Wisconsin softball team continues to find various avenues for success. The Badgers (24-13, 8-4 Big Ten) have reached the halfway mark on their Big Ten calendar and are sitting in a very… Read more »

The good times keep rolling for the Wisconsin softball team. Adding two more victories to their school record winning streak on Tuesday, the Badgers will look to maintain the pace against Illinois this coming weekend. The friendly confines of Goodman Diamond have treated the Badgers well, but if they are… Read more »

Mark down another Big Ten Player of the Week for the Wisconsin softball team — except this time it’s from an unlikely source. Stephanie Peace is the new name added to the list of Badger honorees after leading Wisconsin to an unbeaten week of six victories over the likes of… Read more »

Tuesday’s doubleheader against Western Illinois was a game in which Wisconsin needed every player on its roster to perform. While the Badgers walked away with a sweep at Goodman Diamond, the performances of steady sophomore Cassandra Darrah and the unheralded production of catcher Maggie Strange ?. When the dust on… Read more »

As the Wisconsin softball schedule makes the turn from non-conference tournaments to Big Ten play, the Badgers will be looking for consistency. For Cassandra Darrah, a rising talent on the mound for the Badgers, the timing is perfect. The sophomore pitcher was dominant last weekend in Santa Barbara, carrying the… Read more »

There may only be one thing even hotter than Madison’s recent record-setting temperatures: the Wisconsin softball team. Fresh off a strong showing last weekend in Reno, Nev. — where the Badgers finished 4-1 — they head back west for the Gaucho Classic II in Santa Barbara, Calif. Joining the Badgers… Read more »

The Wisconsin softball team has spent the last three weekends circling the southeast corner of the nation, competing in tournaments in Florida and South Carolina. This weekend, they will finally hit the west coast for a tournament in Reno, Nev. The Wolfpack Softball Classic, hosted by the University of Nevada,… Read more »

At this early stage, the 2012 season has been less than memorable for the Wisconsin men’s tennis team. A losing record and zero wins away from home rarely round out the recipe for success. When stacked against quality competition, the Badgers have typically faltered, but the doubles team of sophomore… Read more »

In the realm of track and field, multi-event athletes are often labeled by the number of events they compete in. Pentathletes compete in five events, heptathletes in seven, decathletes in ten and so on. In the case of Wisconsin sophomore track and field star Japheth Cato, numbers barely mean a… Read more »

From the start, Taylor Wurtz was bound for success on the basketball court. The daughter of a former hoops standout at Ripon College and herself a basketball standout at Ripon High School, athletic success at the collegiate level looked to be in the cards for Wurtz. In her junior year… Read more »

Not everyone gets the chance to play between the white lines at Camp Randall Stadium. Not everyone is fortunate enough to shoot a free throw at the Kohl Center. Everyone, however, does get the opportunity to keep it straight and on the short grass at University Ridge Golf Course. University… Read more »