1. Football is back! (sort of)
The Wisconsin football team will be on display one last time before the 2015 season starts in September with the annual spring game Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
The game will be the culmination of the 15-practice spring season that saw new head coach Paul Chryst take the field as a Wisconsin head coach for the first time.
Saturday’s game will begin at 3 p.m. with the Badgers broken up into two teams that will square-off in four 20-minute quarters. Tickets are still available for the game and are $5, but if you can’t make it, the game will air live on the Big Ten Network.
But Corey Clement and Dare Ogunbowale want you to go so you probably should.
Hey @UWMadison students. Learn how the Spring Game benefits UW Undergraduate Advising. http://t.co/pZxd2z7hnB http://t.co/cUQNi6ogzJ
— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) April 13, 2015
2. The least surprising news of the day
Madison was ranked as the favorite town in the Big Ten by an expert poll made up of members from the Big Ten Network, ESPN and the Chicago Tribune among others in a poll conducted by Athlon Sports.
Madison received eight of the 10 possible first place votes. Only Ann Arbor (Michigan) and Iowa City (Iowa) also received first place votes.
But seriously, how can you not take first place with a description like this:
And to top things off, the Border Battle rivals to the west took ninth place.
Wisconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield would like all high school recruits deciding on a place to play college sports to remember this article.
Ranking the Big Ten College Towns (Expert Poll). #Iwouldappreciateitifallrecruitswouldreadthis http://t.co/7THXqL1840
— Kelly Sheffield (@KellyPSheffield) April 20, 2015
3. Badgers to invade “The Garden”
Hot off of back-to-back Final Four appearances, the Wisconsin men’s basketball team will be in one of the biggest early-season tournaments of the 2015-16 season, the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The field is set for @2KClassic this Nov. @dukeblueplanet @BadgerMBB @GeorgetownHoops @VCUathletics head the field http://t.co/2Xevn9F1OJ
— Empire Classic (@EmpireClassicBB) April 20, 2015
The full field was announced Monday with headliners Georgetown, Duke, Virginia Commonwealth and Wisconsin playing in the championship rounds at MSG on Nov. 20 and 22. A potential national championship rematch of Duke and Wisconsin could happen in the 21st running of the tournament. Those four programs have also combined to make 25 Final Fours.
Bryant, Prairie View A&M, Radford and Siena are also in the field and will each play against one of the four teams above. Wisconsin, Georgetown, Duke and VCU will host those games.
The match ups for the 2015 2K Classic will be announced at a later date.
And here’s a little Frank Sinatra because why not:
4. Tennis off to conference tournaments
The regular seasons for both the men’s and women’s tennis teams have come to a close and it’s time for the Big Ten tournament.
Take it away Novak!
The men will travel to Illinois for the conference tournament as the ninth seed after earning a 3-8 record in Big Ten play. Wisconsin will take on the eighth-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes in the first round of the tournament at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Should Wisconsin advance, top seed Illinois awaits on Friday.
The women have the 10th seed in the Big Ten tournament and will go up against No. 7 Purdue on Thursday at 2 p.m. Wisconsin went 4-7 in conference play this season and 10-11 overall. The winner of the Wisconsin-Purdue match will take on the second-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes. The women’s tournament will take place at Northwestern.
5. Softball comes back to Goodman Diamond
After a three-game series on the road at Illinois this weekend, the Wisconsin women’s softball team returns to Madison for five games this week.
The Badgers will kick things off with a doubleheader against Western Illinois on Tuesday before a three-game series against Nebraska on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday’s game against the Cornhuskers will be Senior Day as the Badgers will honor their three seniors: Megan Tancill, Maria Van Abel and Marissa Mersch.
"We're excited to be back in Madison! We're actually in the homestretch here. It should be a fun weekend with senior day!" YH
— Wisconsin Softball (@BadgerSoftball) April 20, 2015
Game one on Tuesday will start at 3 p.m. from Goodman Diamond.
