The Wisconsin Sportscast

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates take a look at some long-time Wisconsin high school football rivalries.

• Wisconsin high school football kicks off for the first time of the season this week. Looking at recent performances, Lucas and Oates ask: why are Madison teams down in recent years? It’s down to the farm system, Oates says, which are lacking in the state capitol. Just look at the Milwaukee suburbs or even the Madison suburbs: programs with a lot of money and a healthy farm system perform well.

• In the MLB, Pete Crowe-Armstrong is making all of the headlines these days as he continues his push for MVP. Sure his mouth may get him in some trouble, Oates says, but even Brewers fans have to admit he has a lot of raw talent. With his help, the Cubs are turning the NL Central into a real chase… 

• Speaking of the Brewers, Lucas and Oates want to know when people will stop being so surprised by them. As of recording they already have 77 wins and they’ve been a very good team for years now. They may not have any five-star players, but they specialize in getting the most out of guys like Jake Bauers and producing results. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates rejoice at the return of football. 

• The Packers take the field on Thursday in their first preseason game against Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers. Lucas and Oates agree that we likely won’t see Rodgers actually play, but Oates hopes to see Jordan Love get at least one series in. He could use the practice of playing against actual people before the regular season begins.

• The Wisconsin Badgers, meanwhile, put on pads for practice for the first time last week. Lucas got to take a peek at this year’s team, as was impressed by some of the new running backs in Madison. With 33 transfers and a new freshman class, you’d hope to find at least a few exciting new faces in the crowd. 

• Finally, the Brewers are on the west coast for a week against the Padres and the Dodgers. LA might be in a bit of a slump right now, but don’t worry, they’ll be ready by the post season. The Brewers may be winning games, but their offence has been hot and cold all year. Hopefully enough guys can pull it together come October. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Oates returns to the microphone after some time away to spend with family.

• The MLB trade deadline has come and gone, and the Brewers have once again failed to make a big splash. Lucas never thought that Tarik Skubal was really on the table, but Oates was hoping for at least one more starting pitcher. That said, Oates doesn’t think that there was any big conspiracy around Skubal throughout the entire league; a rental just isn’t worth some of our top prospects.

• One team that did make a few big moves at the deadline was the Cubs. Now that they’re only five and a half games back with a few new pitching arms, do they have a chance to catch the Brewers? They addressed some key needs in their lineup, but the Brewers aren’t exactly an easy team to beat these days. Unless you’re the Pirates. 

• Meanwhile in college sports, Congress seems to be moving on their Save College Sports Act to address the NIL situation. Both the Big 10 and the SEC are firmly against it, of course, but Oates thinks that something needs to be done. If not, then we can expect college sports to consist of five big spenders at the top every year while everyone else fights for scraps at the bottom. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, veteran sports writer Bill Brophy returns to reminisce about the old days. 

• The Big 10 held their media days in Chicago, and while it looks a lot different than it used to it still gives a lot of insight into the season ahead. Brophy and Lucas remember the days when coaches would sit down at tables with people, but those days are long gone. Not that it’s not a great event now, it’s just a bit more choreographed than it once was. 

• Speaking of college football, the Badgers are rumored to have a roster worth over $25 million this year. In this modern environment, hopefully they can at least stay competitive with a few of the other big name teams. If not, I guess they’re going to have to find some more patches for their jersey… 

• The MLB trade deadline is just a few days away now, and the question Brewers fans are asking is: will they make the big move for Tarik Skubal? He’d make a great addition to the roster, but rumor has it the Dodgers are also interested. By next week we should know the full picture, maybe we can settle with Freddy Peralta at least (so long as he’s back to being Milwaukee Freddy).

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, veteran sports writer Bill Brophy joins the show to chat about some of his favorite sports. 

• Brophy’s latest gig is with Rush Media covering many different sports, including high school sports. It’s a tougher gig, he says, because there’s just so little information about these young amateurs. But that also tends to make it exciting, because they put in the work to make a splash and for a lot of them, it’ll be the last time they play in any professional manner. 

• As of recording, the Brewers hold the best record in baseball, and Brophy says the Miz plays a big role in that. The closest comparison he can think of is maybe Nolan Ryan, but even that’s a stretch. Sure, they might be babying him a little with his innings right now, but that’s just to make sure he can make as big an impact as possible in October. 

• Finally, as a hockey guy, Brophy says that Mark Johnson deserves a statue in Madison. Not only was he an amazing player, and is an amazing coach, but he’s also humble and able to connect with his players on another level. One day there should be a great book written about his life, just not by Lucas. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, it’s that time of year where all the sports writers gather round to make lists. 

• A players poll of the top 100 NFL players listed Jordan Love at #72. Lucas and Oates don’t particularly agree (and neither does Micah Parsons), but it’s not completely inaccurate. Sure, his stats are good, but he hasn’t taken the jump to greatness that everyone’s expected. At least not yet. 

• Monday night was the MLB Home Run Derby, with Jordan Walker taking home this year’s prize. The show was a lot more exciting in recent years, says Lucas, thanks to some changes in format. Still, Lucas wonders: if you asked someone on the street, could they even tell you what sport Jordan Walker plays?

• Sticking with baseball, the Brewers end the first half of their season with 59 wins, despite ending on a sour note. They are in desperate need of some new pitchers, Oates says. Could a big trade be on the horizon? Could another CC Sabathia be on their way to Milwaukee?

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates are back in the studio after Tuesday’s press conference at Camp Randall.

• Both boosters and former players were at Camp Randall to hear Shawn Eichorst give his welcome press conference. Those in attendance seemed to be giving him the benefit of the doubt after he admitted to some mistakes at Nebraska, but Oates still has one question: will he be able to reach out to all of his various constituencies, and not just focus on the players and coaches?

• Madison West grad Drake Baldwin is continuing his great run in the MLB as he will be the starting catcher for next week’s All Star Game. And to think, after high school, he was thinking about focusing on hockey! Lucas and Oates remember him from his Madison days (including a short stint with the Madison Mallards), and say that he’s always had the right character to make it big. 

• Sticking with baseball, as the Brewers hold the second best record in all of the MLB, is WIlliam Contreras the true leader of the team? Resoundingly yes, say Lucas and Oates. He’s a high impact player who’s able to get into his pitchers’ faces sometimes, and he can do that because he knows that his pitchers trust him. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates beat the heat with some sports news across the country and here at home. 

• Reports are saying that Shawn Eichorst is likely to become UW-Madison’s next Athletic Director. It’s a pick with a lot of goods and bads, Lucas and Oates think. One one hand, he’s a nuts-and-bolts guy who’s known to treat players and coaches well. On the other hand, what exactly happened at Nebraska? 

• Serena Williams has made her big comeback after four years away from the court, and fell big time. Williams is one of the greatest competitors of all time, Lucas and Oates think, but she looked slow and mechanical in what was supposed to be her big return. Hopefully she’s serious about returning to tennis, and hopefully a little more time on the court will get her back into game shape. 

• LeBron James says he’s playing again next year, but it won’t be with the Lakers. Lucas and Oates think that Golden State is creating a pretty nice looking team to surround him. He might be 42 and certainly doesn’t play like he did a decade ago, but LeBron has a real shot of getting one last championship under his belt with the right team. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates talk egos and a busy week for the Bucks

• Giannis Antetokounmpo is gone from the Bucks, and has been traded to the Miami Heat. In return, they got a handful of players (who may or may not still be around come the season) and some nice draft picks. It was about as fair of a trade as they could get, Lucas and Oates think, though when you trade someone like Giannis you’ll never truly get your money's worth.

• With those nice draft picks, the Bucks took in some decent players in the first round. It’ll be the last time they control their first round picks for many years, so you’d hope they’d make them count. Brayden Burries should be a very solid pick for the team, Oates thinks, as someone who could look a bit like Khris Middleton in the future. Nate Ament, on the other hand, could either work out really well or really poorly. Oates says he was drafted on his potential, so only time will tell if this draft was a success or a bust. 

• Finally, does Nick Boyd have a chance to still be drafted? As of Wednesday evening, Lucas and Oates think he has a chance late in the second round. His time with the Badgers really did him a lot of good, they think, as they let him show off what he could really do. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, no pro wrestlers join the show, to the disappointment of Lucas. 

• Lucas and Oates attended the celebration of life of former Badgers Football Assistant Coach Henry Mason this past weekend. The room was filled to the brim with great people sharing great stories about a man who, while maybe not as well known to the fans, was beloved in the locker room. Mason, who died this past spring, was known for his warmth and as a guy who treated everyone who came his way with respect. 

• Turning to the NBA, the Knicks had a fantastic story come to a close after they took home the NBA Championship. Jalen Brunson was the star of the show, says Oates, as someone who’s been a true winner even since high school. At the end of the day, the Spurs were just too inexperienced to take on that kind of talent that was dominating the entire playoffs. 

• By this time next week, Lucas and Oates think that Giannis Antetokounmpo will have a new home. Miami, Cleveland and Boston are on the shortlist, with both good players and draft capital to spend that might equal what Giannis is worth. But whoever they get as a player should be secondary, they say, because the high draft picks are vital for the Bucks to create a long-term plan to create a winning team once again. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the boys skip the Banana Ball to dive right into the Packers

• It’s been suspected that Micah Parsons would miss the beginning of the season, and now it’s confirmed that he’ll miss at least four games to start the year. Lucas and Oates think that’s fine; Parsons should heal up as much as possible so that he’s 100% ready to go when he hits the field. But that does mean he might miss some important games at the top of the season and the Packers might want to start looking around for a decent pass rusher, unless they plan on relying solely on Lukas Van Ness… 

• Texas Tech will have their starting quarterback after all, after a group of judges decided that Brenden Sorsby cannot be banned by the NCAA from playing. That’s despite his history of betting on college football games, including ones he’s been involved in. It’s just another way the college sports is a complete mess, Oates thinks. Even the MLB banned Pete Rose for betting on games, why shouldn’t the NCAA ban him?

• Wauwatosa star basketball player Jalen Brown is coming to Wisconsin as the Badgers decide to keep one of the state’s big players close to home. It’s a great move, Lucas and Oates think. If he plays his cards right, Brown can set himself up for life. Just look at how Sam Dekker is treated these days…

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, big moves are happening across the NFL this week.

• The Rams are making a big move, bringing Myles Garrett into the fold. Lucas and Oates think that move is a lot like the Packers bringing in Micah Parsons; they’re nearly equals as players and both the Rams and the Packers paid roughly the same price. It also shows that both teams are making serious Super Bowl pushes, which will be interesting when the Packers play the Rams on Thanksgiving Eve.

• Speaking of the Packers, they have a major problem at running back after Josh Jacobs was arrested (but as of recording not yet charged) for domestic assault. It’s in the hands of the Brown County District Attorney and there’s not much to comment on at the moment until they make a move, Lucas and Oates say. Regardless of charges, the Packers need to make a big move; they need to have a great running back if they want to continue running the kind of offense they’re running. 

• Russell Wilson is stepping away from the field and entering the CBS studio as an analyst. Lucas and Oates aren’t sure if he’s entirely fit for the role, however. Sure, he knows football and is highly articulate, but will he be able to be critical of the players on the field? He’s a very nice guy, which is a great thing for most avenues of life, but he needs to have that critical edge if he wants to succeed in the studio.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, not even a tooth extraction can keep Lucas and Oates away from marveling at The Miz

• Jacob Misiorowski had basically a perfect Memorial Day, throwing 57 pitches over 100 mph. He now leads the majors in strikeouts, hitting 100 before the calendar turns to June. Lucas and Oates think it may be a bit early to start thinking too hard about the Cy Young, but if it were decided now it would have to be between him and Ohtani. 

• Victor Wembanyama, or Wemby, is in the news not because of his playing, but because his basketball card sold for over $5 million. It’s fair, Lucas and Oates say, as he has to be one of the big three transformative big guys in the game of basketball, next to Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It takes a certain type of big man to be able to truly change the sport; but those few guys who are big and long can bring an extra something to make them one of the greats. 

• Former Badgers star Sam Dekker is returning to America, now as an assistant coach at South Carolina. He’ll be a great coach, Oates says, because he’s a guy who loves the game and has a great understanding of the fundamentals of basketball. It might be a bit sooner than we expected, but we had to know that he’d turn to coaching sooner or later and we wish him the very best. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates start their timers: as of recording there are 100 days until week zero of college football.

• With just 100 days (as of recording) to go until college football begins, all of the pundits are busy putting out their lists and predictions. That includes ESPN’s list of coaches who are in the hot seat this year. Of course, Luke Fickell sits at number three on that list. But with a lighter schedule this year and (hopefully) and an AD who’s behind him, Lucas and Oates think that his job may not be in danger quite yet. 

• In college basketball, Greg Gard says he’s in favor of expanding the conference schedule. That’ll be tough, say Lucas and Oates, as that basically becomes a professional schedule at that point. It all comes down to the money, of course, because all college sports today are about the money. 

• Aaron Rodgers announced that this season with the Steelers will be his last as an NFL quarterback. It’s hard to argue that he isn’t one of the top five quarterbacks of all time, Oates says. It’s a shame he only got one Super Bowl in Green Bay, though, thanks to his team’s defenses, special teams, and at times coaching. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, movement finally begins in UW Madison’s search for a new athletic director. 

• The Badgers announce that Eric Wilcotts, the interim chancellor, will head the search and ultimately hire the school’s next AD. Oates was sure they’d start with the search for a new chancellor, but at least he’s someone who’s been around the university for decades. The university announced their selection committee too, and it’s filled with some old names and some we aren’t familiar with. The varied backgrounds of everyone on the committee will be a useful asset, says Lucas. 

• What is needed out of a new AD for UW-Madison? Oates says someone who knows how to raise money. NIL isn’t going away any time soon and Wisconsin is falling behind in raising money. Whoever the next AD is has to be comfortable cozying up to some rich alumni.

• The Brewers swept the Yankees over the weekend, with Jacob Misiorowski getting all the national attention. With a 103.6 mph fastball, he holds the record now for the fastest pitch thrown by a starter during the pitch tracking era. Now that he’s found his control, and some confidence in his other pitches, he’s becoming more and more of a threat to even guys like Aaron Judge. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates talk about changes to one of their favorite sport events of the year. 

• The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament looks likely to expand to 76 teams. Lucas and Oates are not fans of the move. That’s eight more teams today, but they don’t think it’ll ever stop. The commissioners of the big conferences run all of college sports now, and they want more and more of their teams in the tournament. How long until we’re filling out 128 team brackets?

• Tryod Taylor is the new backup quarterback in Green Bay. He’s a journeyman who’s played for many teams over the years, so you know he has to be a student of the game to keep getting work. Jordan Love may not be injury prone, but Lucas and Oates think that having a veteran on standby will be a big improvement over someone like Desmond Ritter. 

• Russell Wilson’s name has been thrown around as a potential backup quarterback to Love (if he would ever accept it), and at least he has Wisconsin ties. Wilson is likely one of the best quarterbacks the Badgers have ever had, or at the very least would appear on anyone’s Mount Rushmore of Badger quarterbacks. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the NFL Draft takes over Pittsburg and leaves Wisconsin sports fans with questions.

• No players from the Badgers are drafted this year after seven rounds, though a few former Badgers did make the cut. It reflects the current state of the Badgers, and while we shouldn’t read too much into this, Lucas and Oates are happy that Luke Fickell hit the transfer portal hard this year.

• A few Badger football players were signed to free agency contracts after the draft. While nobody can see the future, a lot of them do have the talent to have fruitful NFL careers. 

• The Packers, meanwhile, had either a great or an okay draft, depending on if you count Micah Parsons as their first round pick. The Packers had more position needs than normal this year, and were able to meet a lot of their defensive holes. But there are still plenty of question marks on the roster, most notably in the backup positions for several key offensive players. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, it’s hard to remember how many roster spots the Badgers Men’s Basketball team has left after a flurry of transactions. 

• John Blackwell is heading to Duke, where he hopes to grow his skills for the NBA while competing for a national championship. He’ll have to contend with not being the star of the offense anymore, but Lucas and Oates wish him well and are glad he’s at least not in the Big 10. 

• Greg Gard was able to pick up a few players in the transfer portal, mostly from smaller schools like Miami-Ohio and Washington. Lucas and Oates say that Gard has had success in the portal in recent years; every year there seems to be at least one big hit. 

• The NFL Draft starts this week, and the Packers will head to Pittsburgh without a first round pick. But when Lucas and Oates take a look at who the Packers have drafted in the second round over the past decade, the list is filled with heavy hitters. 

For this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, not even storms kept Lucas and Oates away from the recording studio.

Topics:

• Chris McIntosh announced his time as athletic director with UW-Madison has come to an end, as he is accepting a position in the Big Ten front office as deputy commissioner for strategy. Mike Lucas isn’t too surprised, but Tom Oates is, at least a little.
• The Wisconsin Badgers football team’s general manager, Marcus Sedberry, has been named interim athletic director. Lucas and Oates discuss what they know about Sedberry's new responsibilities and how this could put even more pressure on coach Luke Fickell, who considers McIntosh a friend.
• Who comes next? The role of athletic director has become that of a business man. UW-Madison will need someone who can shake hands and woo boosters to raise money for the team. Lucas and Oates discuss the right and wrong types of people for this job and some possible names already surfacing.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the transfer portal is open, which means big news for Badger Men’s Basketball. John Blackwell has announced that he is officially entering the portal. Badger fans might be mad or upset at him for the decision, but we should be thanking Blackwell and the Badgers for the three years we got to have him in Madison. That’s pretty rare in the new NCAA! Lucas was a bit surprised by the move, but Oates was not. It’s a smart move for both his career and his financial future. He’ll probably get a few NBA tryouts to find out if and where he might be drafted, but most likely next year will be the most money he’s ever going to make playing basketball. He likely won’t be a second round NBA draft pick, and he’ll likely end up in either the G League or in Europe. Any money he could make there won’t compare to the millions he can be making if he can get some big schools in a bidding war.

Greg Gard has always had success with the transfer portal, and the Badgers have already added an exciting face to the roster. The 22 year old Owen Foxwell already has some experience playing guard in Australia. If he works out, he could be joining Nolan Winter, Austin Rapp and Will Garlock on the starting line next year, so long as Garlock continues to step up as he had to end the season. Gard has around 2,000 players to pick from in the transfer portal, and he’s shown that he’s able to find guys like Nick Boyd when he needs one more star player that nobody is paying attention to.

Finishing off the college basketball season, Michigan has beat UConn to take home the NCAA National Championship. The millions they’ve spent on players has paid off! UConn tried to bully Michigan early, but that didn’t work and Michigan ended up bullying them instead. Michigan only made two triples in the championship game, but went 25 for 28 at the free throw line. With the Men’s Basketball National Championship secured in the Big 10, college sports is falling right into the lap of the conference. Add in football, women’s basketball, women’s hockey and maybe men’s hockey into the mix, and it’s clear that the talent is going to where the money is, and that resource is in the Big 10. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Oate’s NCAA Men’s Basketball brackets are alive, if just barely. After UConn beat Michigan State and Duke, a lot of people’s brackets probably look pretty similar. Duke had a good team, sure, but it was built on freshmen. When your team is filled with freshmen, they’re going to make some freshmen mistakes, and that’s exactly what happened to Duke. UConn, meanwhile, has great team construction and a great coach in Dan Hurley. That said, Hurley needs to tone down the theatrics a bit before he does real damage to his team. Refs don’t like it if you complain after every call, and Hurley is one who does just that. Every time he gets close to an official, he gets close to going over the line and hurting his team.

UConn will take on Illinois in the Final Four, two teams that most people didn’t expect to be facing each other in the tournament. Illinois has really stepped up their defense compared to the beginning of the season, positioning themselves as almost a mini-Michigan on defense. They’re playing like the big team they are and using their size to their benefit. But UConn has a certain toughness in them that’ll make them hard to beat. On the other side of the bracket is Michigan vs Arizona in a battle between two big heavyweights. Arizona is maybe the only team in the NCAA that doesn’t rely on threes to win games anymore, and ultimately that makes them really difficult to contend with. There are three games left in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, and all three look to be great battles between great teams. 

Meanwhile in the NBA, did anyone notice that the Bucks have missed the postseason for the first time in a decade? If anyone is paying attention regularly, they shouldn’t be surprised . They’ve been sliding ever since their championship, and this year they’re looking almost like a G League team. Doc Rivers may have gotten into the Hall of Fame, but he needs to leave Milwaukee and the team needs to figure out what’ll happen with Giannis. At this point, anything they do will be welcome as long as it’s part of a complete makeover. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, we have to celebrate Mark Johnson on his ninth career NCAA Women’s Hockey National Championship. That puts him in the running for most national championships in college sports, and he’s in some good company. Mark Johnson has really created a dynasty in Madison, fostering a serious program that develops and recruits perfectly and contends for titles nearly every year. Some credit has to be due to Ohio State; the past four years have been a duel between Wisconsin and Ohio State in the National Championship and it’s always a close and competitive game. Johnson was much more demonstrative than his usual calm and cool self this last weekend. Ohio State went on a bit of a run, and he had to do something to get them to stand back up. The UW isn’t exactly one to honor their legends too much, but something should be done for Mark Johnson. There’s even the perfect plaza between the Kohl Center and LaBahn Arena that would be a great spot for a statue.

Meanwhile in Badgers Men’s Basketball, Greg Gard’s team once again failed to make it to the second weekend after their first round loss to High Point. They shouldn’t feel too terrible, High Point is a pretty good team! It’s one thing to say that when they beat the Badgers, but then they went toe-to-toe with Arkansas, even if they ultimately lost in the second round. Their point guard, Rob Martin, shows some real speed on the floor, and High Point has a little money to throw around. The game came down to athleticism, and High Point won out in the end. It was talked about before Thursday that the Badgers would have a tough game and they did. It would have helped, though, if they had gone on one of their three-point runs. They hit their second fewest threes all season, lacking all energy behind the line. Then they got out-rebounded too, against a team that isn’t very big! It was a game of athleticism, and ultimately the Badgers couldn’t hack it.

The Badgers have had a pretty bad run of NCAA Tournament outings in recent years; the last time they made it to the second weekend was in 2017. But now that Madison’s tournament is over, it’s time to look ahead. There are two big questions in front of the Badgers: can Gard find success in the portal again, and who can they get to stick around? On the portal front, they should be able to manage that. That leaves the questions of who’s staying, particularly Blackwell and Winter. They’ll both probably have some real money thrown at them, but the Badgers have some money to throw around too. Blackwell at least might be thinking of the NBA too, but if he were to stay in Madison he might be able to develop just a little more to further his chances. There is a lot of future ahead of the Badgers still, and only time will tell what the team looks like next year. Oates’ hope? There are less than nine big new players on the team next year.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the brackets for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament are out and Wisconsin is coming in with a 5 seed. Both Lucas and Oates have their brackets filled out already; the NCAA Tournament is always a great few weeks of basketball. Even after retiring from working at the paper, Oates still manages to win more than his fair share of brackets every year. The winner is always a well-balanced team that ranks in the top 20-ish on both offense and defense. Of course, all four 1 seeds this year are ranked in the top ten for both sides of the ball, as it was last year. But you can’t just look at the data; you need to have your own specific values on a basketball team. How much does having a veteran point guard matter in the long run? What about rebounds? Find your value, and mix that in with a frank look at matchups, and you can start to get an idea of how the tournament will shake out. Barring any major upsets, of course. 

But before playing in the NCAA Tournament, the Badgers had to play in the Big 10 Tournament last weekend. Wisconsin had a great showing against Illinois before falling to Michigan on Saturday. In that Illinois game, both Nick Boyd and John Blackwell were both on fire scoring over 30 points a piece. The last time two players scored 30 points each on the Badgers was in 1968, and it was only the third time in school history that it’s happened. Maybe they had a chip on their shoulder after the debacle with their inclusion on the Big 10 All Conference team. They made it to Saturday in this tournament, which is a good effort and gave them a bit of a break before the real fun begins in Portland…

The Badgers take on the #12 High Point Panthers on Thursday afternoon. High Point has some good guards who know how to score, and they’ve racked up 30 wins this season. Now, those wins have been against no-too-impressive teams, but still. While they’re a team that is capable of an upset, both Lucas and Oates think that the Badgers have learned how to succeed enough to move onto the next round. There, their likely opponent will be Arkansas, a team with a lot of history with the Badgers in this tournament. Arkansas might have the best point guard in the country with Darius Acuff Jr. While they may be a team of mostly freshmen, they have a lot of really good freshmen. But after beating Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois, and others just in the past few weeks, the Badgers shouldn’t be afraid of anybody. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the Packers made some big moves as the NFL enters the free agency period. None of the moves should come at a particular surprise to anyone. There are a lot of good players leaving Green Bay, who while good are not worth what they’re getting elsewhere to the Packers. The biggest, and maybe least surprising move, is Malik Willis, who’s getting a big payday to join Jeff Hafley with the Dolphins. Willis deserves whatever he got, Oates thinks, as he did more than alright by the Packers. He was a great backup quarterback who caught some people’s attention and is getting rewarded for being a safety net the Packers could trust. The other eye catching move is Romeo Doubs, who’s also getting a big payday with his move to the Patriots. Doubs is a good receiver, but between Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, and Jayden Reed, it didn’t make sense to throw a bunch of money at him.

The Packers had their biggest shakeups on defense, with Quay Walker, Kingsley Enagbare, and Rashan Gary all out. Again, these were a lot of good players who just didn’t live up to what was needed in Green Bay. Gary is a good player, but he was being payed like a great player. After his poor performance at the end of the last season (finding zero sacks in his last ten games), he needed to step up and he simply didn’t. As for Quay Walker, the newly signed Zaire Franklin is looking like he’ll just be more physical. Were any of these moves surprises? No, but there’s still plenty of time for a big splash to happen.

Meanwhile with the Badgers Men’s Basketball Team, the Big 10 Tournament has begun after the Badgers were largely left out of the all conference team. After a big win at Purdue, the Badgers will play Thursday against a yet-to-be-decided opponent. But how hard should they really be trying to win the tournament? Bo Ryan was never the biggest fan, considering that the more important NCAA Tournament begins just a few days after the Big 10 finals. Lucas and Oates have their strategy: play until you get to Saturday, then take a little bit extra rest. The Badgers have a recent history of playing in the Sunday finals, and then quickly losing in the NCAA Tournament. Ultimately, kids don’t dream of playing in the Big 10 Tournament, they dream of playing on the national stage in March Madness. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates remember Jerome Fishbain, who recently passed away. Fishbain, or Fish, probably knew more people in Wisconsin sports than just about anyone. He coached football all over the midwest, from Milwaukee to Racine to Minnesota to UW Madison. He stayed involved with the Badgers for years, and helped many of the team's coaches one time or another. Fish touched so many people across the entire football world. Lucas and Oates have plenty of stories to share about him, but at the end of the day he was a great guy who lived a great life. 

Turning to Badger Men’s Basketball, who had a bit of a weird west coast trip last weekend. First they lose to Oregon, then they bounce back and beat Washington. Against Oregon, the Badgers just looked sluggish, and weren’t thinking clearly. The announcer called it correctly during the game: Wisconsin is a team with a very high ceiling, but also a very low floor. When they play well, they can take on almost any team out there. But then they go and lose by double digits to Oregon, who is not a particularly great team this year. All we can hope is that they keep up the energy they had against Washington throughout the rest of the year.

The Badgers take on Maryland Wednesday night for senior night in the Kohl Center. Among the seniors being honored are Nick Boyd, Andrew Rohde, Isaac Gard, and of course Braeden Carrington. Carrington is once again showing that he is part of the glue of this Badgers team, even breaking a Wisconsin record by hitting nine three-point shots on 15 attempts against Washington. When he gets into a rhythm, distance doesn’t seem to matter quite as much. Carrington should have some good confidence going into Wednesday night. They’ll need it; the Badgers have lost four of their last five senior nights…