After last weekend’s events, I can honestly say I am looking forward to football season ending and the basketball season beginning.

Not only am I sick of the off-field drama that continues to consume the Badgers, I am sick of watching the team’s season go down the drain. Never at the beginning of the year would I have expected to be watching a team that is struggling to become even bowl eligible. The Badgers are now in a position where they must win at least one more of their last three games against Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota to qualify for chance to earn a bowl bid.

Keep in mind, however, that one more win does not necessarily mean the team will get a bowl bid; it just means it is eligible. Realistically, the team needs two more wins, or at least one win and two extremely good showings in the other two games.

I, for one, am not exactly thrilled about the possible postseason position the team has gotten itself into and feel the team has performed well below preseason expectations.

Not only did the team not live up to its potential but the off-field drama surrounding the team has also been somewhat disconcerting this season.

It seems like the entire campus wasted half of the season focusing on when Lee Evans would return and consuming itself with watching for Evans to run out of the tunnel in pads.

I, for one, will admit I was one of those students, but so much of the season shouldn’t have been built around the health of one player. So much energy was focused on analyzing and guessing on his situation; it got to the point of being distracting.

Now, this past weekend, Evans had his little drug incident, and once again the focus is off the team but back on a player who hasn’t even played the entire season.

In addition to Evans’ trouble this weekend, the team found its star running back Anthony Davis also wrapped up in another controversial event when a supposed ex-girlfriend stabbed him early Sunday morning.

Seriously, folks, have we not had enough of the off-field distractions this year?

Does anyone else wonder why maybe this season has not been a season filled with roses or amazing wins or why the remainder of the season does not look too much more encouraging? This is why I am so incredibly pumped that it is time for the UW basketball team to take the court.

It is time for a new season to begin here at UW, a season that is filled with hope, where the possibilities for success are endless.

The team is coming off of a year in which it won a share of the Big Ten championship and out-performed anyone’s expectations of the inexperienced team under the direction of a coach new to the Big Ten scene.

In talking with many players at Big Ten Media Day, it seems like many players are watching out for Wisconsin this year and expressing frustration at not being able to win at the Kohl Center recently.

I find these comments extremely exciting and can envision another season filled with Big Ten excitement.

While Michigan State is favored to win the Big Ten this year, I don’t think anyone can successfully predict what will happen in this crazy conference. No one is ever guaranteed a win, and upsets can happen at the drop of a hat.

This is the feeling that is missing from the football season; Wisconsin football is no longer exciting to me. The only thing that is holding my attention is to see how many more disappointing games the team will have.

My only other hope for the remainder of the season is that the team doesn’t lose to Minnesota, because I don’t think I will be able to stomach hearing all the obnoxious Minnesota visitors rubbing their success in my face as they leave Camp Randall.

Seriously, thank you God that the basketball season is finally tipping off today. I need to feel some excitement on the campus’ athletic fields, as the football team definitely did not satisfy that hunger this year after their roller-coaster season, on and off the field.