Wisconsin

NABC All-Star Game Rosters Announced

Press Release — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:24:37 -0700

The NABC All-Star Game rosters were announced today. The NABC All-Star Game is a showcase for top seniors that takes place in the Alamo Dome Friday evening before the Final Four

American All-Stars
-coached by former South Carolina head coach Dave Odom

Brian Butch of Wisconsin
Jamar Butler of Ohio State
Jaycee Carroll of Utah State
Robbie Cowgill of Washington State
Sundiata Gaines of Georgia
James Gist of Maryland
Mike Green of Butler
Alex Harris of UC Santa Barbara
Robert McKiver of Houston
David Padgett of Louisville
Brian Randle of Illinois
Charles Rhodes of Mississippi State

National All-Stars
-coached by Clemson's Oliver Purnell.

Ramel Bradley of Kentucky
Will Daniels of Rhode Island
Josh Duncan of Xavier
Shan Foster of Vanderbilt
Cliff Hammonds of Clemson
Joe Jones of Texas A&M
Aleks Maric of Nebraska
DeMarcus Neslon of Duke
Sean Singletary of Virginia
Jason Thompson of Rider
Jonathan Wallace of Georgetown

Poll: Who Will Get the Last #1 Seed?

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 09:36:47 -0700

Saturday Night Fever: Conference Tournament Update

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 18:40:19 -0700

Some thoughts on an exciting Championship Week Saturday.. with an eye on the Big Dance: - Tulsa learned in a big way this morning that Memphis owns the CUSA. Having won 10 of 13 games, and with 20 overall, the Golden Hurricanes are hoping they've done enough to impress the NIT selection committee. Regardless, the emergence of 7-0 big man Jerome Jordan is a great sign for the future. - Give Va Tech credit for taking UNC down to the wire.. but don't give them too much credit. The Hokies overall resume is virtually identical to Creighton, but they're only getting a look because of their ACC affiliation. Creighton has one more overall win, the same 1-6 record against Top 50 teams, and both finished 7-5 in their last 12. Yet you don't hear anyone claiming the Jays should be dancing.. - Bo Ryan is a coaching genius. With Indiana and MSU expected to be the top dogs in the Big Ten, it is Ryan's unheralded Badgers that will most likely walk away with the title. Wisconsin's been to the title game 4 of the last 5 years, and this year's team features no one that the average sports fan has the slightest clue about. - The real question though is whether any Big Ten team can get past the Sweet Sixteen? - If Illinois wins the Big Ten, they should immediately change the rule giving automatic bids to conference champions. - Duke proved what we already knew about them.. that they're going to live and die by the three. 6 for 26 won't cut it for a team with no inside presence.. and you have to figure they're going to run into a similar rut in week two of the tourney that will be damning. - As soon as you get your bracket, just mark down UCLA in the Final Four and realize you have at least one guaranteed lock. The Bruins just find ways to win. Today, it was Darren Collison (taking a career high 22 shots) and offensive rebounds that pushed them over Stanford. Tomorrow, it could just as easily be another formula. - Early on, it looked like St. Joseph's was going to run away with the A10 title. But Temple's two leaders, Mark Tyndale and Dionte Christmas, kept on fighting and ultimately the tides turned. St. Joe's (particularly Pat Calathes) ran out of gas and they foolishy stopped getting the ball in Ahmad Nivins' hands. Now Temple has secured a spot in the field for the first time since 2001, while the the Hawks will be sweating it out tomorrow. It would be fitting, after all the ups and downs in the A10 (teams like Dayton, URI, and UMASS rising and falling all year), that the league whose numbers are right there with the Big Six still ended up with 3 bids. - Good to see Kent State taking care of business in the MAC, ensuring that an undeserving Akron team doesn't steal a bid. I've been admittedly slow to jump on Kent State's bandwagon, but you can't argue with a 28-6 record. - Wink Adams completed an impressive MWC tournament by scoring 23 in UNLV's championship win over BYU. Adams averaged 24 ppg as the Rebels won their second straight conference crown. I'm not a huge fan of UNLV or BYU, but both have top 30 RPI's and will get Top 10 seeds in the tourney. I just wouldn't expect anything more than a win out of either. - Georgia's currently up on Mississippi State as I write this. Perhaps there would be no greater proof of the SEC's mediocrity this year than one of Georgia or Arkansas being the title holder. Tennessee's loss to Arkansas perhaps opens the door for an outsider to steal a #1 seed.. but UNC, Memphis, UNC, and Tennessee are still my choices. - I have nothing against NMSU.. but thank God Boise State won the WAC title. If you get lucky enough to host the conference championship for no reason, and you get lucky enough to get into a 3rd OT despite getting outplayed most of the night.. and you still lose.. then you don't belong anywhere near the Big Dance. - Houston has apparently accepted a bid into the new College Basketball Invitational.. the first of what should be many interesting twists and turns in the life of this new tournament's rivalry with the NIT. - I have to own up to my mistakes.. and underestimating Pittsburgh is one of my biggest. Before the season, I didn't even think this team would make the Big Dance.. and we ranked them pretty low in our preseason rankings. Even coming into tonight, I favored Georgetown heavily.. and was wrong again. Like Bo Ryan above, it's becoming clear you don't mess with Coach Dixon.

2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule: Wisconsin

Joel Welser — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:59:09 -0700

Wisconsin Badgers

Big Ten (29-4, 16-2)

Seed: #3

Midwest Region

RPI: 12

Big Wins: 12/29 at Texas (67-66), 2/13 at Indiana (68-66), 2/28 Michigan State (57-42)

Bad Losses: 12/8 Marquette (76-81), 1/26 at Purdue (56-60), 2/9 Purdue (67-72)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2007, Second Round loss to UNLV

Coach: Bo Ryan (8-6 in 6 NCAA appearances)

Probable Starters:

Michael Flowers, Senior, Guard, 9.4 ppg, 2.7 apg, 3.7 rpg

Trevon Hughes, Sophomore, Guard, 11.3 ppg, 2.4 apg, 3.2 rpg

Joe Krabbenhoft, Junior, Forward, 7.5 ppg, 2.7 apg, 6.4 rpg

Marcus Landry, Junior, Forward, 11.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg

Brian Butch, Senior, Center, 12.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg

Key Roleplayers:

Jason Bohannon, Sophomore, Guard, 8.1 ppg, 1.3 apg

Jon Leuer, Freshman, Forward, 3.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg

Greg Stiemsma, Senior, Center, 3.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.2 bpg

Why They Can Surprise:

A Bo Ryan coached team is always fundamentally sound and this year’s squad is no different. The flash might be gone from last year, but this is a typical Badger team that actually plays as a team. The turnover numbers are solid and the team does a decent job of sharing the ball.

The Badgers do not really have a go-to-guy, but Trevon Hughes, Marcus Landry and Brian Butch are not bad options by any means. Hughes is the guard who will take the big shots on the perimeter. Landry can hit the outside shot too, but the 6-7 power forward does most of his scoring around the basket. Butch has developed into a great, versatile big man during his long career in Madison and leads the team in points and rebounds. Wisconsin has a player they feel comfortable making the big play everywhere on the floor and that is a superb way to counterattack anything a defense can throw at them.

Why They Can Disappoint:

It is that lack of a big time scorer that can also be a bad thing in March. Sometimes it is better to have one player who can make a play when the team needs it. There is not an Alando Tucker or Kammron Tyalor to do that this year. The team also lacks quality depth up front. After Butch and Landry, Jon Leuer and Greg Stiemsma are the only big guys left. Leuer is more of a system player, a tall guy who spends most of his time on the perimeter so if Butch goes out, Leuer does not have the tools to replace him. That leaves Stiemsma, who has the girth to battle in the paint, but the senior has yet to reach his full potential.

Who To Watch:

The difference between a good and great tournament for the Badgers will be the play of everybody after the big three. Michael Flowers brings some senior leadership to the backcourt and can be an explosive scorer in spurts. Joe Krabbenhoft, a 6-7 wing, will do a little of everything. Not only is he a decent scorer, he is second on the team in rebounding and first in assists. Krabbenhoft may not get the recognition of some of his teammates, but he holds this team together. Jason Bohannon has filled the sharpshooter off the bench role quite well and can add instant offense when the team is struggling.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 68.2 (190^th in nation, 5^th in conference)

Scoring Defense: 54.3 (1, 1)

Field-Goal Percentage: 45.5 (106, 4)

Field-Goal Defense: 38.3 (5, 1)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 5.8 (239, 9)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 35.8 (140, 4)

Free-Throw Percentage: 70.5 (125, 5)

Rebound Margin: 5.9 (20, 3)

Assists Per Game: 13.1 (176, 8)

Turnovers Per Game: 12.3 (28, 2)

Joel’s Bracket Says: Second Round loss to USC

- All 2008 Tournament Capsules

- 2008 NCAA Tournament Coverage & Brackets

- CHN's Tournament Prediction

- Sign up for CHN's Free NCAA Bracket Challenge.. win a Wii, Guitar Hero, and other prizes!

Cheerleader of the Day: Wisconsin

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:36:48 -0800

Thanks to our friends over at Icon Sports Media, we now have access to thousands of great college basketball photos to use on the site. Each day, along with our Picture of the Day, we'll be featuring a Cheerleader of the Day. We'll be mixing up the schools & cheerleader so check back daily!

Wisconsin

- Check out past Cheerleaders of the Day!

- Also check out the Picture of the Day!

Games of the Night: Wisconsin at Indiana

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:53:12 -0800

Games of the Night

A companion to our daily Three Stars of the Day, we present the top three Games of the Night.

#14 Wisconsin (19-4) at #12 Indiana (20-3)

7:00 PM ESPN

Even if you're tired (like I am) of seeing somewhat overrated Big Ten teams battle it out on ESPN, tonight's game should be interesting if only to listen to the announcers break down Indiana's recruiting violations. The Hoosiers need the win to keep pace with upstart Purdue in the conference standings, and need Eric Gordon to regain his scoring touch.

Prediction: Indiana

#15 Drake (22-1) at Southern Illinois (12-12)

8:05 PM

At first glance, 22-1 against 12-12 might not seem like much. But despite SIU's struggles, its still quite hard to go into Carbondale and beat the Salukis.. this is something Drake hasn't done in a dozen years. Butler and Indiana were able to accomplish the feat earlier in the year, and Drake is ranked similarly to those teams at the time. Still, SIU is not as bad as its record shows (losing a lot of close games).. and they should be able to win at home so long as they can break 60 (a big if).

Prediction: Southern Illinois

#18 Notre Dame (18-4) at #17 UCONN (18-5)

7:00 PM ESPNU

On paper, this looks like an awesome game between streaking Top 25 teams. But in ND's last two road games against top quality competition, they've lost by 19 (G'Town) and 26 (Marquette). This is why the 6-point spread might actually be too close. You never quite know what you're going to get out of UCONN, but they have to be the pick here.

Prediction: UCONN

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions)

February 12th - Michigan State at Purdue (2-1)

February 11th - Kansas at Texas (2-1)

February 10th - Indiana at Ohio State (2-1)

February 9th - Georgetown at Louisville (2-1)

February 7th - UCLA at Washington State (2-1)

February 6th - Duke at North Carolina (1-2)

February 5th - Florida at Tennessee (2-1)

February 4th - Gonzaga at SMC (1-2)

January 30th - Indiana at Wisconsin (1-2)

January 29th - VCU at George Mason (2-1)

January 28th - Louisville at UCONN (1-2)

January 27th - Duke at Maryland (2-1)

January 26th - Georgetown at West Virginia (3-0)

January 24rd - Dayton at Xavier (2-1)

January 22nd - Akron at Kent State (2-1)

January 21st - Drake at Creighton (1-2)

January 20th - Texas at Oklahoma State (3-0)

January 19th - Marquette at UCONN (2-1)

January 18th - Illinois State at Drake (2-1)

January 17th - Vanderbilt at Tennessee (2-1)

January 14th - Georgetown at Pittsburgh (2-1)

January 12th - Stanford at Oregon (3-0)

January 9th - Rhode Island at Dayton (2-1)

January 8th - Florida at Alabama (2-1)

January 7th - Robert Morris at Boston College (1-2)

January 6th - North Carolina at Clemson (2-1)

January 5th - Western Kentucky at South Alabama (3-0)

January 4th - American at Brown (0-3)

January 3rd - UCLA at Stanford (3-0)

January 2nd - Houston at UMASS (2-1)

Poll: Who Will Win the Big Ten?

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:11:09 -0800

Games of the Night: Indiana at Wisconsin

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:09:49 -0800

Games of the Night

A companion to our daily Three Stars of the Day, we present the top three Games of the Night.

#11 Indiana (17-2) at #13 Wisconsin (16-3)

9:00 PM ESPN2

The Hoosiers recent loss to UCONN and Eric Gordon's minor injury problems make this game a bit more interesting than I would have expected a couple weeks back. Wisconsin is coming off their first loss in almost two months, so should be pretty geeked up to get a ranked opponent at home. Still, the Badgers lost to the only quality home-opponent they've faced, Marquette, and IU is a step above.

Prediction: Indiana

Arizona (14-6) at USC (13-6)

10:30 PM

Even though the Big Ten game above features higher ranked teams, this is probably the more fun game to watch. Both teams have hit their stride in recent weeks and are making runs to reenter the Top 25. Arizona's record isn't very good away from home, but that includes defeats at Kansas and Memphis, and Bayless missed the ASU game. For all the hype Mayo has gotten, Bayless has been every bit as good. But the difference tonight won't be those guys but the supporting casts, and the Trojans have better overall talent.

Prediction: USC

New Mexico State (11-11) at Hawaii (8-11)

12:00 PM

Compared to last night when there were all types of quality games, it was a struggle to find a 3rd game for this list. I went with this WAC battle because it features two teams with over .500 league records, and NMSU features interesting characters in Pope & Passos. The problem though is that NMSU has been bad away from home (2-6), and trips out to Hawaii are never easy. It won't help the Aggies that Jahmar Young has been suspended, though he's terribly inconsistent anyways. Despite all that, I'll take NMSU.

Prediction: New Mexico State

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions)

January 29th - VCU at George mason (2-1)

January 28th - Louisville at UCONN (1-2)

January 27th - Duke at Maryland (2-1)

January 26th - Georgetown at West Virginia (3-0)

January 24rd - Dayton at Xavier (2-1)

January 22nd - Akron at Kent State (2-1)

January 21st - Drake at Creighton (1-2)

January 20th - Texas at Oklahoma State (3-0)

January 19th - Marquette at UCONN (2-1)

January 18th - Illinois State at Drake (2-1)

January 17th - Vanderbilt at Tennessee (2-1)

January 14th - Georgetown at Pittsburgh (2-1)

January 12th - Stanford at Oregon (3-0)

January 9th - Rhode Island at Dayton (2-1)

January 8th - Florida at Alabama (2-1)

January 7th - Robert Morris at Boston College (1-2)

January 6th - North Carolina at Clemson (2-1)

January 5th - Western Kentucky at South Alabama (3-0)

January 4th - American at Brown (0-3)

January 3rd - UCLA at Stanford (3-0)

January 2nd - Houston at UMASS (2-1)

Welser Wonders: Bo Ryan, Dave Odom, CSUN

Joel Welser — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:05:12 -0800

As a neutral observer, I never get to have any personal interest in the bubble. But I figure I have the right to cheer for my alma mater and boy is it fun. Even when my school has little to no chance of an at-large bid, I still can’t help but check the RPI numbers right after an opponent of an opponent plays a game. ‘Was that win by Utah Valley State enough to move Northridge up .01 points in the RPI?’ I always hope and wonder. And those Matadors kick off this week of what “Welser Wonders…”

WELSER WONDERS..

…where the love is for the Matadors? I’m not one to care about polls very much, since they are meaningless and it is difficult to argue with somebody’s opinion of a team, but I had to find a way to talk about California State University, Northridge. In the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, CSUN is ranked 13th. Ranked 12th is Cleveland State and UC Santa Barbara is 11th. So what’s the problem? Northridge has beaten both of those teams this year.

Cleveland State has a valid argument. Their RPI is nine spots better than CSUN and they do have some quality wins over Butler, Florida State and Valparaiso. UCSB, on the other hand, has one good win against UNLV. However, at least by the RPI numbers, that is not as impressive of a win as Northridge’s victory over Cleveland State. Northridge has a better record than UCSB and a much better RPI. CSUN’s worse loss of the year is at Washington, while the Gauchos lost to UC Irvine.

It is quite clear that the preseason expectations have continued to play a large part in these polls. UCSB was expected to win the Big West while CSUN was expected to continue their mediocrity by turning the ball over 20 times a game and getting out-rebounded by 30 a game. Luckily, it has no effect on anything and the Big West will come down to four days in Anaheim anyway. And, of course, the Matadors lost to Chicago State on Tuesday after I wrote this anyway, so there goes my fun RPI watching.

…why he doesn’t take his own advice? About a month ago I was talking to a friend about hoops. What else would I talk about? Somehow we got on the topic of Texas A&M and they were wondering how good they really were. So I go on about senior leadership, the absence of Acie Law and so forth. Beating Washington and Ohio State on a neutral floor is all well and good, but the Aggies lost their only true road game at Arizona by 11. After glancing at a schedule during that conversation, I told my friend if he wanted to make some easy money, take Texas Tech and the points on January 16th.

The occasional trip to the slot machines and the not so friendly family card game is about as much gambling as I can handle, but when a team is playing their second road game in mid-January, you can bet the spread will be in your favor. It turned out there was no need to take the five or six points Vegas was giving the Red Raiders, as TAMU lost by 15. It didn’t get any better a few days later when the team had to head to Kansas State where they lost by 21.

The real story, besides me not trusting myself, is that Texas A&M has had the second easiest schedule in the Big XII and the RPI numbers are not promising if they can’t win a game on the road. The next road game is Saturday in Stillwater and besides the February 5th trip to Iowa State, Okie State may be the most winnable road game on the Aggies schedule.

…what to think about the departure of South Carolina coach Dave Odom? Odom stepped down, or retired, or whatever you want to call it, this week effective at the end of the season. The Gamecocks have actually done better than I expected this year. They’ve only lost to one team outside of the top 50 in the RPI and have beaten two teams in the top 50 in Providence and Arkansas. Who really expected anything better than that? But that is part of the problem…the expectations in Columbia are a lot higher than consistent NIT success.

Coach Odom’s resignation speech reminded me of Richard Nixon. Even the most die-hard Democrats who have been hoping for years for that moment must have felt some pity for the man inside the tough exterior as he said goodbye to the nation. Most South Carolina fans probably weren’t as sympathetic. When you lose your people, it is time to move on and that is what Coach Odom has done. The coach mentioned many times during his press conference that the fans weren’t behind his team anymore. I don’t know if it is ever wise to boo your own team, but it happens and that is a good time to go your separate ways.

The problem was Coach Odom’s constant mention of the fans rubbed some the wrong way. I don’t think he intended to blame the fans, he was just pointing out the fact that when the fans aren’t behind you, it is time for a change, but some came away with the impression that the fans were being blamed. To keep the politics thing going, that didn’t work for Jimmy Carter and the energy crisis and it won’t work in college basketball either. In the end, it was time for a change and now South Carolina fans can at least be excited for the rest of this season about next season.

…when we will learn to respect Bo Ryan? Except for last year, the Badgers rarely have any superstars. That is the case again this year and Wisconsin is off to a 16-2 start. Most had them pegged as a bubble team, but Coach Ryan is back to his old ways of going under the radar and putting together a quality team based on solid defense and interchangeable parts. Trevon Hughes, Brian Butch and Marcus Landry are all averaging double figure scoring and the bench has plenty of talent.

However, the jury is not out quite yet on the Badgers. The team’s two losses were against Duke and Marquette, which is fine. Their best win is at Texas, which is becoming less and less impressive with each passing two point Longhorn victory over inferior opponents. Wisconsin’s 6-0 conference mark is somewhat misleading. The Badgers have played Michigan twice and each of the four other cellar dwellers of the Big Ten. Once the Badgers start playing Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State and Minnesota, we will see if the Badgers are something special or just another probable one and done team come March.

CHN Player of the Week: Brian Butch

Jeff Borzello — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:32:50 -0800

Despite the holiday-shortened week, there was plenty of outstanding basketball played the past few days. We had the A.J. Graves pull-up three to beat Southern Illinois; great finishes in the Oklahoma-West Virginia, Wisconsin-Texas and Florida State-Georgia Tech games; and marquee match-ups with Tennessee vs. Gonzaga and Memphis vs. Arizona. With all the great hoops came standout performances from across the country, including Dayton’s Brian Roberts, Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, Winthrop’s Michael Jenkins and Tennessee’s Tyler Smith. However, the best overall performance which helped his team win came from Brian Butch of Wisconsin.

Butch came into school as a highly-touted big man who was expected to make an immediate impact for the Badgers. However, he never really lived up to his billings through most of his career in Madison aside from the occasional big game here and there. Well, coach Bo Ryan needed him on Saturday on the road against top-10 Texas and he came through in a major way. With leading scorer Trevon Hughes out, Butch had to step-up, and he did, scoring 21 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and also dishing out three assists. Butch was also clutch, hitting several big shots in the second half to keep Wisconsin in the game.

It remains to be seen if Butch will ever live up to his high school press clippings, as he has shown this type of ability before – only to fall back to a 10-point, five-rebound performance the next game. If Hughes is still out, the Badgers will need Butch to become a go-to-guy and a leader on the court. With Big Ten conference play looming around the corner, the senior is going to have to finish his career on a high note. Luckily for him and the Badgers, they open the Big Ten with an enormously easy schedule, playing four of the six games at home, with the only road games at Michigan and Penn State. It’s a great chance for Butch to continue his stellar play.

2007-08 Collegehoops.net Players of the Week

December 23rd - Dwayne Curtis, SR, F, Mississippi

December 16th - Gary Forbes, SR, F, UMASS

December 9th - Joe Alexander, JR, F, West Virginia

December 2nd - Jerryd Bayless, FR, G, Arizona

November 25th - DJ Augustin, SO, G, Texas

November 18th - Jon Brockman, JR, F, Washington
November 11th - Michael Beasley, FR, F, Kansas State