10. Women’s basketball draws big crowd

In its annual “Pink Game” to support the fight against breast cancer, 11,428 fans packed the Kohl Center as the women’s basketball team took on Iowa Feb. 8.

Although the Badgers lost 87-75, the crowd was the largest for a women’s basketball game since 2010.

9. A sliver of hope for men’s hockey 

There wasn’t much for the Wisconsin men’s hockey team to be proud of in a season that featured just four wins. But with the season all but lost in late February, the Badgers showed some signs of life with two victories in a row.

UW took down fellow Big Ten cellar dweller Ohio State on Valentine’s Day with a 3-2 triumph and followed that up with a 2-1 triumph over Michigan State at the Kohl Center the following Friday. It marked the only time all season that Wisconsin won consecutive games.

After the pair of wins, Wisconsin failed to record a win the rest of the season, going 0-7-1 in the final eight games of the season, which included a 5-1 loss to Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.

But the two consecutive wins were the brightest moment for a young, rebuilding men’s hockey team.

8. Chryst era gets underway

The departure of Gary Andersen as head football coach came as a shock, but that allowed a homegrown Wisconsin product to return to his alma mater.

After spending three seasons as the head coach at Pittsburgh, Paul Chryst became head coach of Wisconsin December 17, 2014. Chryst played for UW in the late 1980s as a linebacker, safety, quarterback and tight end. He then returned to Wisconsin in 2002 for a brief one-year stint as tight ends coach, and then came back for a seven-year stay from 2006-2011.

Chryst’s name had surfaced in head coach discussions when Bret Bielema left UW after the 2012 season, and his name arose once again the second time around considering his strong ties to the program.

The Paul Chryst era at Wisconsin officially got underway this spring with Wisconsin’s spring practices. Chryst partook in his first Wisconsin spring game as a head coach Apr. 25.

7. Badgers bring home WCHA title

Entering the WCHA tournament as the No. 2 seed, the Badgers women’s hockey team drew St. Cloud State in the first round, who they dispatched in two games by a combined score of 9-2.

In the WCHA semifinal, Wisconsin defeated North Dakota 4-1, and on the other side of the bracket, Bemidji State upset Minnesota, paving the way for the Badgers to capture their first WCHA tournament title since 2011.

Behind a two-goal performance from Sarah Nurse, Wisconsin defeated the Beavers for the title.

6. Michael Lihrman dominates the field 

After a breakout season in 2014 in both indoor and outdoor competition, the throwing star from the men’s track and field team continued to impress during his senior season.

In the indoor season, Lihrman won the NCAA individual weight throw title for the second consecutive year. That was one of several accomplishments, as he also won the weight throw at the Big Ten championship while setting a new collegiate and NCAA Division I record with his throw of 25.58 meters.

The 2014 Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year also holds the school and Big Ten record outdoors in the hammer throw and will try to win his first NCAA outdoor title in the event this season after finishing third a year ago.

5. Goodbye, Gordon

When the San Diego Chargers traded up to No. 15 pick in the first round of the NFL Draft last Thursday, it became a real possibility that former Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon would realize his professional dream.

Moments later, his phone rang, and Gordon was San Diego bound.

The selection came as vindication for an astounding collegiate career. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2014, in a season he rushed for 2,587 yards (all-time Big Ten record) and 29 touchdowns and won the Doak Walker award as the nation’s top running back.

Gordon averaged 7.8 yards per carry over his career.

4. Women’s hockey goes to Frozen Four

All year, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team held a top-five ranking in national polls.

The Badgers proved they deserved that distinction by winning the WCHA conference tournament and earning the No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. They then defeated No. 5 Boston 5-1 on their home ice at LaBahn Arena in the NCAA quarterfinals. Freshman Annie Pankowski found the back of the net twice in the Badgers’ win and helped send Wisconsin to the Frozen Four for the eighth time in school history.

UW lost to Minnesota 3-1 in the national semifinal to end its season.

3. Wisconsin wins Big Ten tournament

It took three straight come-from-behind wins to do it, but Wisconsin made an emphatic statement that its regular season Big Ten title was no fluke.

The Badgers took down Michigan in the quarterfinals; then, a massive second-half performance led to a blowout of Purdue in the semifinal. On Selection Sunday, Wisconsin staged a gritty second-half comeback against Michigan State, forcing overtime, when the Badgers went on a 11-0 run to claim Wisconsin’s third conference championship title and the first since 2008. After winning the Big Ten tournament, Wisconsin earned its first No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament in program history.

2. Back to the Final Four

After making it to the Final Four for only the third time in school history in 2014, Wisconsin did it again and advanced to Indianapolis and the Final Four for the second straight season.

The Badgers got through the NCAA West Regional finals at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with a win over North Carolina in the Sweet 16 and a comeback victory over Arizona, for the second straight season, in the Elite Eight.

Sam Dekker played like a man possessed in the second half to send Wisconsin back to the Final Four. Dekker hit all six of his shots in the second half, including five 3-pointers. His final 3-pointer was perhaps the shot of the tournament as Dekker hit a high, arching, 3-pointer as the shot clock expired over Arizona’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, which delivered a dagger to the Wildcats and sealed the deal in Wisconsin’s 85-78 victory.

Dekker finished with 27 points while National Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky scored a game-high 29 points with six rebounds.

1. Wisconsin topples Kentucky

Going up against the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament — and perhaps one of the best teams in college basketball history — Wisconsin had an uphill climb in its Final Four matchup against Kentucky.

The Wildcats came in with a blemish-free 38-0 record and a roster filled with seven players that would declare for the NBA draft a few weeks later.

But Wisconsin ended Kentucky’s season at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with a 71-64 win that sent it to the national championship game for just the second time in school history.

The Badgers shook off a more than six-minute scoring drought in the second half to come back and defeat the Wildcats, with Frank Kaminsky leading the way with a team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Wisconsin locked down on defense in the waning minutes of the second half, forcing Kentucky into three straight shot clock violations. After the third violation, Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker came down and hit a clutch 3-pointer from the top of the key that gave UW the lead back at 63-60. The Badgers did not trail for the rest of the game and had done what no other team had done all season: take down Kentucky.