Just two months removed from a Capital One Bowl victory, the Wisconsin football team was back at it bright and early Friday morning with the latest installment of an offseason conditioning program — with a twist, or tug as it were.

"I wouldn't call it an experiment, but it's something we haven't done before," wide receivers coach Henry Mason said of the 6 a.m. workouts. "I like the concept, get [the players] up early, and that's the first thing they are thinking about."

Players had better get used to the new start time, as many of the team's spring workouts are scheduled for the early morning hours.

"[The players] don't really like it a lot," defensive line coach Randall McCray said. "I think more of what it does is build character, because they are getting up at a time they really don't want to, but they do it anyway."

Friday's practice, which consisted mainly of conditioning drills, gave the local media its first chance to glimpse the 2007 installment of the team. It was no coincidence then that the coaching staff went to great pains to drive home to their players the fact that last season's successes are in the past.

"We've got a lot of work to do, (to) try and build on the momentum we got from last year," McCray said. "It doesn't matter what happened last year, it's the middle of next January that will determine how we did this year.

"So far, they're working hard."

And while the team hasn't gotten into any football-specific drills as far as passing, catching or running, Mason was sure to point out there was more to the exercises than simply getting into shape.

"As much as anything, not just conditioning, but also building mental toughness," Mason said. "To be able to sustain hard work for a long period of time and as important as anything build team unity. Guys get tired, other guys pick them up; that's what happens on Saturday afternoons."

That development of unity occurs largely on a position-by-position basis, with each position group going through drills together. What coaches look for during this time largely depends on the personnel returning to each position.

McCray is looking for a leader or two to emerge from his unit, which lost its vocal leader in Joe Monty to graduation.

"With losing Joe Monty, who was basically our group leader, the guys to me who pop to mind are [Matthew] Shaughnessy, [Jason Chapman], [Nick] Hayden and [Mike] Newkirk … those four guys are the guys that need to step up and lead the group towards success," McCray said.

At the other end of the spectrum is Mason, who returns all of his contributing receivers from last year's team. There is less uncertainty going into spring practices for Mason's unit, the time is still vital.

"This is the time that leads up to spring ball," Mason said. "Spring ball is probably as important as anything. Spring ball is when guys compete for positions, because when we go in to training camp we have a pretty good idea of who is going to be where."

Not all of practice was the monotony of conditioning drills. Before coach Bret Bielema concluded practice by imploring his charges to keep up the hard work, the offense and defense squared off in several heated games of tug of war. The defensive unit took four of six matches from their offensive brethren and celebrated by prancing past their opponents after each victory.

While the games provided players with a change of pace, the coaching staff did not view the games as purely lighthearted exercises.

"We can't really compete out here, we don't have balls, don't have pads on," McCray said. "To get the kids to compete and when they are tired, after all the running to make them strain. Somebody is going to win, somebody is going to lose, how can you try and strain to try to win when you are tired. Winning in the fourth quarter … that's what it is trying to simulate."