Bleach:
In 2000, the men’s basketball team went on a four-game
winning streak. During this streak they beat Fresno State, Arizona, LSU and
Purdue to reach the Final Four as a No. 8 seed. These four wins represent the
most impressive accomplishment in UW athletics history.
Head coach Dick Bennett led a team that exemplified the
characteristics found in UW basketball today: They were tough, scrappy and the
whole was greater than the sum of the parts.
Most importantly, however, this group was one of the most
tenacious defensive teams the Final Four has ever seen. Led by point guard Mike
Kelley, the Badgers played stifling man-to-man defense that suffocated and
frustrated opponents. UW held their opponents to an average of 56.75 points a
game. The team overachieved and willed itself to the best four-game win streak
in Badger history.
The 2000 Final Four was significant beyond the reach of that
season, however, as the success of Bennett’s squad propelled the basketball
program to the unprecedented success we have now. As all Badger fans know, when
UW takes the floor, they rarely are the most talented team. They are, however,
the most disciplined, the most efficient and the hardest working. All the
success we enjoy now as fans can be traced back to that remarkable 2000 squad.
Zetlin:
Every year you see it on ESPN, whether it be for basketball
or football. You always wonder what it would be like, just how cool it really
is.
Last year, I found out.
I’ve been to a Super Bowl, a World Series, an NBA
Championship and NCAA Tournament games, but storming the court after Bo Ryan’s
Badgers clinched the Big Ten Conference Championship last spring was the most
exciting experience I’ve had as a sports fan.
Leading up to the 2007-08 basketball season, no one really
gave Wisconsin a chance. Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor had just graduated.
There was no way the Badgers could compare to 2006-07 form, a season in which
they were ranked No. 1 in the country.
Wrong.
On March 5, UW took care of lowly Penn State. The game was
highlighted by J.P. Gavinski’s second-half, put-back dunk. The place went
crazy. On senior night, Greg Stiemsma had a career night and when the buzzer
sounded, the mayhem began.
It was like a floor version of Jump Around, a keg-less
party. In their final home game, the seniors were hoisted up, serenaded by
cheers and praises from us, their fellow students.
We were all there for one reason: to celebrate a
championship to which we could all relate. Quite frankly, I felt like I was
part of the team. We all did.
The trophy was presented to Bo’s Bunch. We cheered louder
than your little sister did the time she met Carson Daly. Then the senior video
was played, a tribute to Stiemsma, Brian Butch, Michael Flowers and Tanner
Bronson.
It made you proud to be a Badger. It’s something I’ll never
forget.
Solochek:
It says
something that you still can’t find an original Ron Dayne jersey.
Dayne, the
greatest running back in Wisconsin history, is still as revered on campus as
ever. Sure, his professional career has not amounted to much, but at Madison he
is still a legend.
One of my first
memories of Wisconsin football was watching Dayne run over unsuspecting
defensive linemen and cornerbacks. He was not fast, but the man could plow
through the line. Whenever I watched a game on TV, announcers would be baffled
by how many yards he would gain after initial contact. He had the potential to
change the game, and in many instances had to put the team on his back to
secure victories.
On campus, Dayne
is still one of the most idolized players in recent memory. The crowd always
goes wild when he comes back to campus for an anniversary of his two Rose Bowl
victories, his Heisman Trophy or when he broke the all-time NCAA rushing
record. The iconic “Ron Dayne” cheer by the public address announcer still
resonates at Camp Randall today.
Although he had
many accolades, possibly the most important thing Dayne did was put Wisconsin
on the map in terms of recruiting. Since Dayne left Wisconsin, there has been a
strong tradition of big, powerful running backs. From Michael Bennett to P.J.
Hill, the Badgers carry a strong tradition of guys who many not run past you,
but they will run over you.
So the next time
you see the Badgers sign a top running back prospect or you think about the
success the football team is having, remember you can owe a lot of it to The
Great Dayne.
Mason:
I haven’t always bled cardinal and white. As a Minnesota
native, I grew up following Golden Gopher athletics. For better or worse (often
for worse), I cheered for the likes of Sam Jacobsen, Bobby Jackson and Kris
Humphries of the basketball team; Chris Darkins and Thomas Tapeh of the
football team and Grant Potulny and Thomas Vanek on the ice.
Over the span of my lifetime as a Gopher fan, I saw two
national championships — both in hockey.
That was the extent of the success I witnessed.
Then I came to Madison, and the game changed entirely.
Perhaps the most memorable sports moment of my time here came during my
freshman year when Mike Eaves and the men’s hockey team took home the national
championship, the sixth in school history.
There were several great things about their championship.
The roster boasted a handful of exciting players, from the likes of Robbie Earl
to Jack Skille to goaltender Brian Elliot. Any time you’ve got that sort of
talent, you’re going to be a fun team to watch.
Making it even sweeter was that the Badgers essentially got
to play the entire tournament at home, as the Midwest regional was held in
Green Bay and the Frozen Four took place just an hour away from Madison at the
Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
But I think the thing that was most impressive and made this
the greatest moment was what they had to do to get there. In the regional
final, Wisconsin and Cornell played nearly two full games before either team
scored. It wasn’t until Skille found the net off a Josh Engel assist that the
Badgers were able to advance to the Frozen Four with a thrilling 1-0 victory.
After beating Maine 5-2 in the semifinals, the Badgers found
themselves trailing 1-0 in the NCAA championship. But Earl scored early in the
second period to knot things up at one apiece.
Tom Gilbert was the hero for UW (and the entire state of
Wisconsin) that night as his third-period goal proved to be the game — and
championship — winner.
Yes, there’s nothing sweeter than a national championship.
Doing it the way these Badgers did, however, made it even sweeter.
Braun:
What better
moment in Wisconsin history than the winning of the school’s only men’s
basketball national championship in history?
In 1941, under
head coach Harold Foste, the Badgers received an invitation to the NCAA
Tournament for the first time in school history. Instead of waning in the early
rounds, Wisconsin took the title, and after that, the school didn’t even smell a
national title until 59 years later when the Badgers advanced to the Final Four
for the second time in school history.
Students at
Wisconsin today — except for the most senior members of the student body —
didn’t see that 1941 feat, but perhaps it meant more to the school than any
other title it can boast. Who cares if the Badgers only had to beat three teams
in the NCAA Tournament to win the championship?
Even with head
coach Bo Ryan, Wisconsin has yet to crack the Elite 8 in the tournament in
seven tries. That alone proves how difficult it was for the men’s basketball
team to accomplish what it did.
It only took 34
points to beat Washington State back in 1941, but that low-scoring affair gave
Wisconsin its proudest moment in school history.
