The Wisconsin Sportscast

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the Bucks made a series of moves in recent days, maybe most disappointingly releasing Dame Lillard. He was a 2024 All Star MVP and played 113 games with Milwaukee, an undeniable great player! But not a great fit for Milwaukee, Oates thinks. You can’t have two ball-dominant superstars on one team. Add in the fact that he will be out most of next season, is approaching 35, and would cost too much for the Bucks, and it’s no real surprise that he’s out. In his place is Myles Turner off the heels of an NBA Finals appearance. He has to be happy, as without Haliburton the Pacer will not be nearly as competitive next year. Turner was signed on a four year contract, and at 29 he’s exactly what the Bucks need: young and athletic. Unfortunately, the Bucks also had to lose a few more players, namely Brook Lopez and Pat Connaughton. Lopez was great in his prime, but has slowed down in recent years. And Connaughton is a bit of a fan favorite, but doesn’t have the ability to keep up with the Doc Rivers Bucks. Will the team be good enough for Giannis to be happy? No, Oates says, they aren’t a winning team quite yet. Lucas says they need one more good player to really round things out and be competitive. 

In a whirlwind of other basketball news, Nigel Hayes-Davis is back playing in America after he signed a deal with the Phoenix Suns. Hayes improved in his time in Wisconsin, and seems to have improved more in Europe, so it’ll be great to see him play in the NBA. He’ll certainly have some play time, it’s not like the Suns are a particularly competitive team these days anyways. Over in Oklahoma City, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has signed a massive $71 million contract with the team. Is it excessive? Yes, but will it actually help the Thunder next year (if they do in fact need help after winning a title)? Big money contracts can hamper a team, making it more difficult to find guys who can lift up those big money players. Just look at the Bucks! Finally, a handful of Badgers are NBA bound. John Tonje is going to Utah after he was picked in the second round, and Steven Crowl will play in their summer league this year. Do either have a chance to actually see some playtime? Maybe, but not right away. 

Finally, the Brewers offensive is heating up again, and so is their shiny new pitcher Jacob Misiorowski. Not only can The Miz throw good heat, but his throws have some movement to them too. It’s one thing to throw a 100 mph pitch right down the middle, it’s a lot harder to hit one that’s moving around on you. There were concerns about his pitch control when he first came up, and those concerns aren’t completely gone, but as long as he isn’t walking five guys every inning, we won’t complain. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the Wisconsin Badgers football team announced that they are suing the University of Miami. They’re accusing the school of tampering with the Badgers’ signing of Xavier Lucas, who supposedly already signed a contract with Wisconsin before being called away to Miami. What do those contracts look like? Who knows, the schools are all pretty secretive about the whole deal. But the NCAA and the Big 10 are certainly backing Wisconsin in this fight. A legal win for Wisconsin would give some validity to signed contracts and might even give the NCAA some teeth in fighting school hopping and poaching of student athletes from any college sport. But, it could also lead to issues down the road for the NCAA too, as pretty soon it would be hard to argue that the players aren’t employees, and employees can unionize, and we know the NCAA doesn’t want that. But while we don’t know how strong these contracts are exactly, they have to be strong enough for Wisconsin to think they have a chance here. The bottom line is this though: we’ll have to wait for the courts to do their thing and Lucas isn’t playing in Wisconsin no matter what. 

Meanwhile in the NBA, Oklahoma City beat the Pacers to take home the national championship after Tyrese Haliburton went out with a torn achilles. He’ll likely be out at least most of next season, which means another top NBA player is out with injuries. The best players in the league are out here suffering, Oates says, and the owners need to really think about toning down their schedule a bit. Just look at how many Bucks playoff runs have been derailed due to bad injuries, including just this year! Meanwhile, the “experts” sitting behind a broadcast booth on national TV were accusing Haliburton of faking it to get out of playing in the finals, because what competitor would want to sit out of a national championship game? 

But that’s the past, and in the near future of the NBA is the draft, taking place this week. The first two spots are likely already taken by Cooper Flag and Dylan Harper, but the rest of the spots are anyone’s guess. Where does that leave John Tonje? Oates thinks he’s a second round pick, and while that doesn’t guarantee any sort of future in the NBA he thinks he has a good chance. He’s a versatile player who can hit three’s, so hopefully someone can find a long-term home for him. 

Finally, there’s set to be a great matchup at American Family Field Wednesday night as two of the top young pitchers go head-to-head: Jacob Misiorowski and Paul Skenes. If you can catch the game, it will be a great one to watch. Misiorowski only has two games under his belt so far, but they’ve been more than impressive. Skenes, meanwhile, is more proven even with a not so great team. The matchup is great for the entire sport, Lucas says, but even more so for the Brewers as their hitting begins to wake up only a few games behind the Cubs. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Oates is on assignment, so Lucas brings in a new co-host for the week: Mike Mahnke! If you don’t know his name, you certainly know his voice if you’ve been to a Badger Football or Basketball game in recent decades. Mike has been the PA announcer for Camp Randall and the Kohl Center since the early 90s, and he has no intention of stopping. After taking over the role after the passing of Jack Rein, his first called football game was a nationally televised game against Colorado. Sure, the Badgers got their butts beat and the game took place on the due date for his second child (his wife was in the audience, at least it’s close to Meriter hospital), but since then Mike has been the voice of Camp Randall and the Kohl Center.

Mike grew up in Racine, and after graduating high school in 1977 started a career with the Army. After a few years overseas in Germany, he came home and started his college career at UW Madison, graduating with degrees in Theater and German Literature. While he came from a family of educators, his heart was initially set on either TV or radio, though he realized that that was not meant to be. He got a job in marketing in Madison after one semester of grad school, and works with clients both locally and nationally. While working at a firm he also began calling women’s basketball games, and eventually became the voice we know today.

Maybe his most infamous calls came just a few years into his career when he gave a personalized spin to calling the runs of Ron Dayne (or as he would say, Roooooooonnnnn Daaayyyynnneee). Mike says he didn’t even know that the fans would repeat it back to him, but later they would ask him to emulate his calls for answering machines and even wedding ceremonies. Mike was a fan of football, so he says it’s only natural that he would put a little excitement into the plays of such a great player. Years later, Mike says Dayne thanked him for giving him a little extra love on the field.

Mike gives his thoughts on the differences between calling games at the Kohl Center versus Camp Randall. For one, he gets to sit right on the floor at the Kohl Center, instead of his little booth at Camp Randall. Sitting on the floor not only gives him a close-up view of the game, but it allows him to better feel out the fans, and lets him act as cheerleader to help rally the team. The energy is completely different, he says, with the intimate environment of the Kohl Center helping to fuel his calls. But whether he’s calling basketball games, football games, or even the occasional volleyball matches, he says he isn’t going anywhere. Even if Greg Gard continues to scout in Europe and brings in more players with difficult-to-pronounce names. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates remember Jerry Petitgoue, who passed away at the age of 84. Jerry is the winningest coach in Wisconsin high school basketball history, achieving a staggering 1027 wins in his career. Most of those wins were made in Cuba City, where he coached for over 50 years. He was a giant, Oates says, and his record will likely never be beat. Petitgoue was a flexible coach, which you have to be when you coach for over 50 years, and took home a handful of state championships. His championships spanned decades, winning in 81, 91, and 98, and each team was a little different. He developed a lot of great talent and knew how to adapt to the talent that he had. But aside from just coaching, he also taught history in Cuba City for over 30 years. Petitgoue dedicated his life to the development of young people both on and off the court, and his name will be remembered statewide and, maybe more importantly, in Cuba City, where he is remembered fondly and helped foster a love of basketball across town. 

On other topics, the finances of college sports are changing. A judge has ruled that colleges can only share around $20 million with their athletes every year, effectively putting a salary cap on all college sports. Now, NIL still needs to be discussed, and the lawyers are still going to be very happy padding their pocketbooks with future litigation, but it’s finally a step in the right direction. Maybe. How will that $20 million be distributed between teams? $9 million for football, $9 million for basketball, and scraps for everything else? Just look at how many medals UW Madison’s Track and Field team is bringing in, how much are they entitled to? While there will be more lawsuits in the future, at least it’s the beginning of some guardrails and hopefully they do it right. 

Moving to the NFL, Jaire Alexander is gone from the Green Bay Packers. There is a lot of good and a lot of bad with that. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the best cornerbacks in the league. But he needs to be healthy, and since 2021 he’s only played in about half of the games. The Packers are going to be a bit shaky in the cornerback position this season, Lucas thinks. Even if their starters are alright, what happens when one of them gets hurt? Do you bring out Bo Melton? Finally, Aaron Rodgers finally has a team to play for this upcoming season: the Pittsburgh Steelers. They got him for a steal too at around $13 million base salary. They’ve had a rough few years with at their quarterback position, so they better not squander the fantastic deal they just got. Rodgers can still throw, and his football brain is still there. While he might not be as mobile as he once was, he’s still a threat. We will see how much of a threat he really is when the Packers play them in Pittsburgh though… 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, there is some breaking news as we begin recording as the Knicks announce that they have fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after their playoffs loss. Is he a scapegoat for that loss? Kind of. He’s not a bad coach, and he has a good track record of getting teams a long way. Sure, he got them into the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a very long time. But can he get his teams over the top? He won 56% of his games with the Knicks, and didn’t get along great with all of his players. One thing is known for sure is that whoever their next coach is will have a tough job. Not only do the Knicks have a bad owner, but they’re in New York. When you play in New York, everything you do is going to be magnified. So who will take the job? Well, Coach Bud could use a job…

Moving to the Bucks, Oates says he’s confident that Doc Rivers will be sticking around again next season. If he were to be fired, he would have been fired by now. But the question of Giannis is still being debated, at least by some pundits. He still says he doesn’t want to leave, and it’s not like the Bucks are a destitute team. Giannis seems like he wants to play his whole career in Milwaukee, Oates thinks, they just need to find the right guys to put around him.

Finally, the Brewers are red hot in Milwaukee. As of recording on Tuesday they were on an 8-game winning streak, sweeping the Phillies over the weekend. They played them at just the right time as they came off a double header and Bryce Harper was still out of commission. Winning and losing streaks never last long in baseball, but the Brewers are starting to do what they’ve needed to do all season: hit the ball. They’re pitching is still holding up, even if it’s held together by duct tape, and they can hit up and down their entire lineup. Pat Murphey’s move to make Yelich a designated hitter and keep him out of the field has been a great call too. He’s staying healthy, at least when he isn’t being hit by pitches. Their defense is looking great too, which was a big part of their success last year. They’ll need to keep this up if they want to catch the Cubs, though, and if they want to stay competitive in a great division. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Wisconsin basketball superstar Nigel Hayes may not be in the NBA but he’s still making waves. 10 years after helping the Badgers get to the Final Four, he’s now playing Euroleague basketball in Turkey where he was awarded the MVP for their Final Four. There are new rumors that he might be getting some NBA tryouts in his near future, and good for him! In Wisconsin, he got better every year. While it’s difficult to watch his more recent games, clips show that he’s been continuing his upward trajectory. He’s become a really dynamic player, Oates says, which is a real asset considering he was also a real team player when he was with the Badgers. 

Hayes played only a handful of games in the NBA, which is surprising considering his performance in the 2015 NCAA Championship Tournament. But when you look at that 2015 Badger Men’s Basketball team, no one has really met expectations in the NBA. Frank the Tank played for a while in the NBA, as did Sam Dekker. But none of them really made it in the NBA, which is unfortunate for such a fantastic group of players. Maybe Hayes can get another shot, but his age might be a deciding factor against him. If he doesn’t get another shot at it, hey, at least he’s likely not too upset about spending his time in Istanbul. 

Turning to football, as of recording we are exactly 100 days away from the beginning of the NFL season. While the season will officially open with the Eagles taking on the Cowboys, the Packers will have a difficult week 1 as they take on the Lions. Their mandatory minicamp is just a few weeks away on June 10-12, and Lucas has to ask: what are we to focus on in this year’s camp? Do we go for the obvious and watch how Jordan Love performs? Or maybe how the team can perform with, or maybe without Jaire Alexander? He is still a big question mark for the team, but they seem to be trying to come to some sort of agreement. He takes home a pretty big paycheck, and Oates thinks that when he’s healthy he can live up to it. But the emphasis there is the word “healthy.”

With 100 days left until NFL Football, ESPN has a list out of players to watch this season that includes two Packers. The first is Edgerrin Cooper, who Oates thinks will play a major role this season. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the best players on the defense, and when teaming up with Quay Walker they have a chance to really dominate. The second is Elgton Jenkins, who is anticipated to be moving to Center. He’ll be a great asset, though he’s still in a contract dispute because of his move to Center. He’s a versatile player who can move around, and he thinks he deserves a bit more money because of it. Oates says that he’s likely correct in that assessment, and the Packers should do what they can to lock him down for what will likely be the best years of his career.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the MLB announced that Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson will now be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame. That’s great and all, but would they actually get in? Probably not, Oates thinks, if the Hall of Fame voters’ view on steroid users is any indication. At least in Pete Rose’s case, his sports betting scandal really cut to the integrity of baseball itself, and will the voters forgive him? They shouldn’t. But the views on sports betting has changed dramatically in just the past few years. It’s hard to watch any sport these days without seeing an ad for some sports betting site pop up. But it wasn’t just his sports betting that made people mad, it was his attitude toward it. Ironically, that attitude is also what made him hall of fame eligible in the first place. But just look at how people view Ryan Braun today. He still gets booed for how he handled his steroid scandal. 

Speaking of baseball, the Brewers are not looking too hot these days. Recently, they were even shut out of four out of five games, which speaks to just how cold their hitting is these days. Manager Pat Murphy even has a decent excuse, they haven’t spent any money to fill the hole that was created when Willy Adames left during the offseason. Sure, Rys Hoskins is doing alright, but he’s not doing enough. Really, though, we shouldn’t be surprised. During the offseason, owner Mark Attanasio made his priorities clear when he said his job is not to win a world series, but to create a “summer of fun” for the fans. You know what would be really fun for the fans? Winning some games. 

Finally, a new sport is looking like it’s coming to the Olympics: flag football. The NFL has given the OK for players to play flag football in the 2028 Olympics. Flag football as an Olympic sport is interesting, mostly because it’ll likely be a battle for second place. But who would that second place even be? At least in baseball, there are plenty of other countries that are sending great players to the MLB. Do other countries even have enough football players to make up a team? And if they did, would they really want to go up against the likes of Lamar Jackson, Tyreek Hill, and Travis Hunter, who all seem perfectly suited for flag football? That is, at least, who they would be going up against if their coaches let them play in the Olympics. We have to wonder if they will allow the tush push in Olympic flag football… 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the NBA may still be holding their playoffs, but it’s already time to start thinking about the NBA draft. Back in ‘85, there were conspiracies abound when the Knicks were given the first pick. Who wouldn’t want the biggest player playing in the biggest market? Well, the conspiracies are back as the Dallas draw number one in the draft and are likely to be taking home Cooper Flagg. Because of course they would! After all the bad press in trading Luka this season, Flagg is a similar player who will likely fill that hole. It’s all rigged, says the internet pundits! But Oates says no it’s not. There are too many people involved today and too many moving parts for something like that to happen. Sure, they had minuscule odds to draw the number one pick, but that’s called luck. At least something a little bit memorable is happening in this draft, unlike last year’s completely forgetting one. Can you even remember who the number one pick was last year?

The Bucks don’t get a first round pick this year, and they won’t until the 2030s. So with that in mind, how are they going to build around Giannis? There’s been reporting this week that he is “open to discussion about his future,” and while these stories happen every year now these reports might have a bit more meat on them. Who could blame Giannis for wanting out of the Bucks? They haven’t built any great team around him, which is what is needed for them to be truly competitive, and Doc Rivers has failed to create any sort of identity within the team. Add in the fact that Dame might be out for next season already and it’s no wonder Giannis is looking at tax laws in other states. Now, he hasn’t given any indication yet that he actually wants to leave, so for now it’s all speculation. Oates thinks he’ll be back next year, but they’ll have to make some moves to put some fresh talent around him.

Finally, it’s the NFL schedule announcement extravaganza! They’ve turned it into a whole moment, a three day event where everyone is clamoring to know who’s playing who when next year. Is Oates clamoring with them? No, because he isn’t looking for hotel rooms in Lambeau too much any more. But what is important is the international games. There will be seven international NFL games next year, and the Packers don’t play in any of them. After last year’s loss in Brazil we can only be happy about that. The Vikings, however, aren’t so lucky, and are playing two games in Europe in back-to-back weeks. Which, all things considered, at least gives them time to recover there, so they shouldn’t be complaining too much. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the Bucks have lost to the Indiana Pacers and are out of the NBA playoffs. But that part was expected, at least it was after their first few games. What was expected was what happened after the game when John Haliburton, father of Tyrese Haliburton, got on the court and into Giannis’ face as soon as the game came to an end. Giannis handled it about as well as you would hope, both in the moment and after the game, and John Haliburton has been asked not to attend any more games this season. Let’s see if he actually sticks to that. Tyrese himself is a Wisconsin native, and possibly one of the best players to come from the state in recent years. He was a late bloomer but brough Oshkosh North to win the championship. Oates calls him a winning NBA player, one of the biggest compliments he can give. Sure, he can be a little mouthy, but for him the team comes first.

With the Buck’s latest first round ejection from the playoffs, it’s once again time to speculate about Giannis’ future with the Bucks. Will he go to Houston? Or maybe San Antonio? Oates doesn’t think so. The Bucks won’t want to trade him, there aren’t enough draft picks out there and they don’t want another Kareem Abdul-Jabbar situation on their hands. And Giannis has said that he wants to stay and has a real life set for both him and his family in Milwaukee. There will be a lot of talk in the next few months, but Oates says he thinks he’ll stay put. 

Finally, a big headline in college sports this week is that Texas is expected to spend $20-40 million on their football team this year. After seeing how well Duke did in basketball with that strategy, who can blame them. The Big 10 announced that they had over $900 million in revenue last year and each school will be getting around $62 million each. And Nebraska Quarterback Dylan Raiola signed a big NIL deal with Adidas. The money is certainly flowing in college sports these days. Let’s just hope the players' transcripts and GPA grows with their pocketbooks… 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the NFL Draft has left Green Bay, bringing praise to the smallest city in the National Football League. At least, Oates’ nephew had a good time. Attendance was better than expected at around 600,000. At least that’s how many free tickets were given out, who knows how many more were hanging out in bars across town. It’s certainly better for the old timers like Lucas to hang out in a bar than standing around on concrete all day. The Packers did a great job at showcasing Wisconsin, and did a pretty good job drafting too.

The highlight was obvious to everyone: Mark Murphy coming on stage on Thursday to announce that the Packers had drafted wide receiver Matthew Golden. The Packers, and Murphy, played to the crowd and it worked. Not only that, but the Packers took home two wide receivers, with Savion Williams coming into the third round. Was this a surprise? Sure, says Oates, but not entirely unexpected. The Packers current wide receivers have grown a little too comfortable in their roles while failing to take the big jump that was expected of them. Add in Christian Watson’s injury that will take him out for the majority of next season and maybe the receiving core could use a little fire. The Packers didn’t focus on everything that Oates expected, but you can’t scratch every itch. They still made some good moves, and while Oates isn’t one to issue draft grades, he still thinks they did pretty well for themselves. Golden is about as fast of a guy as you can get, and in the modern NFL that can do you some real good. Just look at what Xavier Worthy did for Kansas City after all… 

Finally, Lucas turns to the Bucks and Damian Lillard’s season-ending injury. Dame tore his Achilles on Sunday, and an injury like that could take him out for next season as well. Is this the end of Dame? Probably not, Oates thinks. He’s a great player and a proud player, and while he is up there age-wise he certainly isn’t out of the picture yet. This show was recorded as the Bucks were taking on the Pacers in what could be the last game of the season for Milwaukee and Lucas has one suggestion: it’s time to fire Doc Rivers. The Bucks roster is an embarrassment right now, and the team is at real risk of losing Giannis. When that happens, the Bucks stock is going to go down and down. The Bucks have been a real mess of an organization as of late, one that reminds Lucas a little bit of Browns. Who knows why! 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the NFL Draft is almost here and after months of preparations Green Bay is just about ready for action. Is the town of 105,000 ready for the draft? They have to be, Oates thinks. The NFL wouldn’t allow the Draft to come to town if they weren’t. The crowds shouldn’t overwhelm anything, and Appleton and the Fox Valley are just down the road. If you can’t find something to do in Green Bay, you can certainly find a bar in Appleton. Still, this is the first time in a very long time that the Draft has come to Wisconsin, and Oates thinks it might have taken some bargaining to happen. After all, the Packers didn’t want to play any international games until last year. But it’s Lambeau Field, so why wouldn’t it be in Green Bay? How many other stadiums are out there that people make pilgrimages to? It’s a great thing for the entire state, Oates says, just as long as people aren’t upset that the frozen tundra isn’t frozen in April…

The Packers have pick number 23 this year, and plenty of names have been thrown around for the next potential name to wear the green and gold. But it likely won’t be any Badger players. Lucas and Oates agree that no one from Madison is being drafted in the first round. Maybe by Saturday, but not likely before then. The last time the Badgers had any first round draft picks was 2017 when T.J. Watt was picked up by the Steelers. It’s not that the Badger’s haven’t had solid players who are NFL ready. But ever since they had six offensive linemen drafted in one year, they’ve had a hit.

But the Packers are the real star this week, and Lucas wants to know: how is Gutekunst as a drafter? He’s fine, Oates thinks, but he relies too much on pure athletics and RAS scores. The Packers have drafted a few great RAS players in recent years, and have they had a particularly dynamic time in the NFL? Did they even when they were in college? You can’t ignore the RAS, obviously, but playability needs to be a factor. Still, everyone has to pick a few busts every once in a while. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates meet up over Zoom after  the Masters had one of their biggest tournaments in years. They averaged over 12 million viewers on CBS this year, the biggest since 2018, as Rory McIlroy took the victory. Does Oates watch a lot of golf? Not really, but he’ll watch the Masters every year. Golf can be a bit slow, but it can also have some of the best drama in sports. McIlroy was running away with it, then made some big mistakes, then was facing off against Bryson DeChambeau. Augusta National is a beautiful course, and a real workout too. You only have a little bit of space to hit your drives, with the crowd bunched right up against the fareway. Good thing Lucas and Oates don’t have to play there… 

McIlroy had a great success story, Oates thinks. He’s aggressive, but has learned over time not to take every risky shot that comes his way. He blew a big lead in the 2011 Masters because of that, and now has earned a grand slam of golf championships. According to Oates, he has got to be one of the world’s top players. 

Turning to Madison, the Badgers Football team will hold their spring showdown this Saturday at Camp Randall. They took some big hits in the past few days, losing two big players. Left Tackle Kevin Heywood is out for the season already with a torn ACL, and Tight End Tanner Koziol says he’s entering the transfer portal. The portal window will be open through Friday, and hopefully the Badgers can make a few moves to bring some new faces on board. But whoever they bring in, if you do go to the showdown this weekend, maybe bring a program. They already have 30 new players on the roster if you include the freshmen…

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Florida beat out Houston to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, but Houston didn’t have the biggest meltdown of the week. That would go to Duke, who’s offense seemed to entirely shut down in the second half of their loss against Houston in their Final Four matchup. How do you go more than 10 minutes only scoring one basket? Why would Duke let Houston set up their press? Whenever Houston scored, Duke took their time setting up the ball and giving Houston a chance to set up their press, which stopped any chance Duke had at making a play. Houston’s defense is good, reminding Oates of a Dick Bennett defense, and shut down Duke so effectively they were able to head to the finals. 

But then it was Houston’s turn to have a meltdown when they were unable to close Florida. Houston had four straight possessions with turnovers to end the game, confusing even head coach Kelvin Sampson. But that wasn’t the real kicker of the game, Lucas thinks, it was the fouls. Whistles were few and far between in the first half, and the coaches decided to make up for it in the second half. It cheats the players, Lucas thinks, and it’s even worse when the refs decide that teams need to have an equal number of fouls to end the game. Just look at Wisconsin vs Duke for proof of that…

Meanwhile, the Badgers Men’s Basketball team hit the portal hard, picking up three potentially big players. Point Guard Nick Boyd will be coming in from San Diego, who Oates thinks will bring some real toughness and experience to the team. Boyd was convinced to come to Madison thanks to John Tonje, who spoke with him and convinced him that the locker room was worth it. Then there’s the Aussie Austin Rapp, who last played in Portland. He will add some good size to the Badgers, as long as he can get over his fear of getting to the paint… Then there’s Andrew Rohde, a Wisconsin native from Brookfield who will be coming home from a stint in Virginia. All three players look good on paper, and Lucas and Oates are excited to see what they’ll bring next year. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the boys are back in the studio as they take a look at the Brewers performance so far. They hadn’t yet won a game as of recording and are in rough shape. Most of their pitching staff is hurt, with tons of players on the IL. Where was the offseason improvement? They lost Devin Williams and Willy Adames during the offseason, and it doesn’t look so far like they’ve made any real improvement since last year. Some say that Mark Attanasio is just looking to sell the team at this point, but the Brewers have been good in recent years! Whatever Attansio wants to do with the team, there’s still an entire season ahead of the Brewers and they still have plenty of time to turn things around. 

Meanwhile in college basketball, the transfer portal is open and over 1,300 players are looking for a move. That includes freshman guard for the Badgers Daniel Freitag, who we just haven’t had a real chance to see this season. Is there a chance that he doesn’t have talent? Sure. But it’s more likely his spot was taken by Kamari McGee. Freitag had a lot going athletically and had size and speed, but he wasn’t a great shooter, which is a must in modern basketball. Maybe it was just that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Players aren’t the only ones moving around either, as coaches are beginning to fall like dominoes. One notable move is Buzz Williams heading to Maryland, which Lucas and Oates think is a good move. Buzz is someone who can make teams competitive enough to get into the NCAA Tournament, and he likes to throw some money around for recruits. That’s all fine and good, until an athletic director decides to turn off the money…

Finally in the NCAA Tournament, it’s down to the Final Four: Duke, Florida, Houston, and Auburn. Four number one seeds, which Oates thinks might be the beginning of the end of college basketball, all thanks to NIL. These power conference teams can just buy up any good player from mid-sized schools, leaving everyone else in the dust. There were no real Cinderella teams this year, and if things keep going this way Oates doesn’t think there will be in the future. Just think about what all this transferring year after year is doing to these players' academic transcripts! 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates are again remote as the Badgers Men’s Basketball team falls to BYU in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. John Tonje gave an incredible effort, setting a new school record for points scored in a NCAA Tournament game with 37, but it wasn’t enough. The second round of the tournament is always going to be against a good team, and nothing can be taken for granted. With a disappointing defense, Tonje’s efforts were almost enough to save the Badgers but not quite. BYU has a great offense, and without good defense to counter that it was a tough game.
It would have been great to have more than just one year with Tonje, Lucas says, but he was still a great pickup for the team. He’s what people like to call a “multi-leveled scorer,” and can shoot from just about anywhere. He was not at the top of anybody’s list last year, but Greg Gard saw the potential in him and brought it out. Will he make it in the NBA? Maybe! He’s not the tallest player in the world, but he’s athletic and he can score, a must in modern basketball. That is to say, it makes sense why Gard gave him the ball in the final play of the year.

Speaking of Gard, there are still plenty of people who have never liked him and never will, and a loss in the second round of the tournament is likely to fuel some of that discourse. But Oates is still behind him, saying that coaches around the league still have big respect for him. He navigated tough waters this year, with NIL and the transfer portal, but at the end of the day, Oates thinks he’s still a pretty good coach. 

Finally, and speaking of great coaches, Lucas and Oates turned to Women’s Hockey as Mark Johnson took home his eighth national title, and his fourth in six years. One day, there might be a statue of Mark Johnson, or at least something to honor what he’s done. He builds a great program, not just recruiting but coaching players. He’s all about Wisconsin, and he’s even humble. What more could someone do to deserve a statue in Wisconsin?

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates are back in the studio to talk about, what else, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Badger’s drew a 3 seed (as they should), playing Montana on Thursday in Denver (which they shouldn’t). Not only are they playing just days after their loss to Michigan on Sunday, but Denver has some real altitude to it. Montana has played at a higher altitude, but the Badgers will need to adjust a little bit. More importantly, though, they should be playing in Milwaukee! Lucas and Oates are just about ready to launch a federal investigation into the matter…

But seriously, the Badger’s have a tight turnaround playing Thursday afternoon, as do all the Big 10 teams. It’s too tight a turnaround, Oates says, to have to potentially play a Big 10 Championship game on Sunday then turn around and play again on Thursday. He still thinks it’s best for teams to win one, maybe two games in the Big 10 tournament, then lose to a good team and rest up before the NCAA Tournament half a week later. Teams aren’t judged by their performance in the Big 10 Tournament, they are judged by their March Madness performance. Should it be that way?  Maybe, maybe not. But that’s the way it is, and that isn’t going to change. The Big 10 should make some sort of deal with the tournament committee to give the players some kind of a break, even if it’s just a day.

But in the meanwhile, the Badgers will take on Montana on Thursday afternoon in a game that should be nothing to worry about. After that, it’s either BYU or VCU. Sure, BYU are good shooters, but Wisconsin is likely the most balanced team in the country right now and can score from just about anywhere. If the Badgers want to say they had a decent season, they’re going to have to make it to the second weekend. Of course, you want to see them do even better than the second weekend, but if they want to be taken seriously it’s a must. They’re good enough for it too, Oates says, but it’s still the NCAA Tournament, so anything can happen. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Oates is out on assignment, so Lucas is joined by the Dean of Wisconsin Sportscasting: Jay Wilson! Jay was in Duluth over the weekend for Badgers Women's Hockey as they continued another dominant season. They are ranked number one in the NCAA, having lost only one game this season so far. Only one team has gone undefeated throughout an entire season in NCAA Women’s Hockey, and the fact that the Badger’s are right behind that is historic. The strategy? Have a team filled with great talent and one of the best coaches in Wisconsin history in Mark Johnson. 

Maybe it’s a debate about whether or not Johnson is one of the greatest coaches in Wisconsin collegiate history, but Lucas and Jay don’t think so. He already has seven national championships under his belt, and might secure another this year. He’s still the top goal scorer in Men’s Hockey in Wisconsin. And he does great work to uplift the sport of women’s hockey. Johnson can make a move that has everyone else scratching their heads, and it just works. He understands the real philosophy of hockey and his players. There’s been chatter that he might retire if he wins another championship, but Jay says that he still has the knowledge and energy to keep going. Like a lot of college sports, it might come down to how much he wants to deal with continuing to work around NIL.The Badger Women’s next game is Saturday, and they have a real chance of going all the way again this year. At the very least, they are probably the best team in the league.

Meanwhile, the Men’s Basketball team had a tough loss to Penn State in Madison over the weekend. The last time Penn State won in the Kohl Center was in 1995, and the loss sets a bad momentum heading into the Big 10 tournament. But that might not be the end of the world, as a quick loss in the Big 10 tournament would give them a little rest before the NCAA tournament starts up shortly after. But Lucas says they need at least one win to build up some momentum ahead of their chance to play in Milwaukee to start off the NCAA tournament. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates join the show from the field once again as the Badger’s Men’s Basketball team sits slated, as of Tuesday night, as a number 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. There’s even a chance that they could play in Milwaukee, though that would require you to read into some of the predictions being thrown around. They’ll need to hold onto that number 3 seed for a little while longer if they want that to happen. We know the NCAA wants to put the Badgers in Milwaukee, if only because it’ll be sure to put some butts in the seats. There’s been plenty of great NCAA tournament Badger games in Milwaukee, and going back would be great for ticket sales.

But first they have to win some games. They took a loss to Michigan State on Sunday, even after leading at halftime. While their shooting faced some real trouble, there was one good number coming out of that game. Nolan Winter had 17 rebounds against the Spartans. It’s been a while since the Badgers have seen that, since the Orlando Tucker days. Winter might not be the strongest physically on the court, but he’s certainly active, and when there’s a body on him he can move. The Badgers take on Minnesota on Wednesday before ending the regular season on Saturday in the Kohl Center with Senior Night. They’ll be losing a handful of great players after this season, with McGee, Tonje, Crowl, Klesmit and others graduating this year. They’ve signed a few incoming freshmen already, including a good handful from Wisconsin high schools. As they should, Oates thinks, as more and more good players come out of the Badger state in recent years.

Meanwhile, the Packers have some work to do on their roster, and one name is sticking out: Davante Adams. He’s a free agent, and certainly would be of interest to Green Bay. It’ll come at his price, though, even if he wanted to be a star player on a Super Bowl contender team. Yes, the Packers need a top receiver, but they have a few other needs too, and that might take salary cap priority. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates join the show from the field to discuss the reunion of the 2000 Wisconsin Badgers Men’s Basketball Team. Making it to the Final Four before losing to Michigan State, Dick Bennett joined the team on the court ahead of last Saturday’s loss to Oregon. Bennett got a great reaction, as he should as a great Wisconsin basketball coach. The 2000 Badgers Basketball Team wasn’t filled with superstars, but the sum was greater by the sum of its parts. That’s not to say that the players themselves weren’t good, smart players. But together, under the tutelage of Dick Bennett, they became a really great team. 

Bennett’s teams were defensive teams, and his defense is still being played in high schools across the state. You add in players getting hot and they could go far. Well, not far enough to beat Michigan State, but it’s hard to knock them for that in 2000. The team even had one of the greatest players to come out of Madison with Roy Boone. He was versatile, and worked with Bennett in a way that made the whole team shine. Boone’s now coaching here in Madison, with other players from the 2000 team also coaching across Wisconsin.

Turning to the modern day Badgers, they had a tough overtime loss to Oregon over the weekend after dominating for three-quarters of the game. Oregon didn’t so much win as much as the Badgers lost. The game revealed some weaknesses in the Badgers that could be exploited by other teams down the line. Mostly, if you put real pressure on the Badgers, they won’t recover. Or at least they didn’t. Oates thinks that this has a chance to turn into a positive for the Badgers, teaching them some humility, and as long as it doesn’t fracture the team (which it likely won’t), it could put some fire under the Badgers ahead of tournament play. 

Finally, the Packers are in Indy for the NFL Combine and making some moves. The Packers were, as it turns out, the first team to call for the ban of the Tush Push. It should be banned! At least Oates thinks so. If it’s illegal to pull a runner forward, why should you be able to push a runner forward? At the end of the day, most teams will probably be glad to see the play banned.  Except the Eagles, that is. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates take to the ice as Team USA’s hockey team took on Team Canada. The game set a record, with Matthew Tkachuk throwing the first punch in the first two seconds, and three fights breaking out in nine seconds. If any game was going to sell the game of hockey, it’ll be that one! There were some, let's say, political overtones to the fighting, which died down once 10 seconds had passed. Team USA got booed right out of the gate, and a few guys took umbrage with that. 

Lucas thinks the game was fun because of the fights! It was boys being real boys, almost as a throwback to the “old days” of hockey. There isn’t as much fighting in hockey anymore, as evidenced by the fact that teams don’t have a designated fighter on the roster anymore. But it’s part of the game, at the end of the day. In Madison, there have been plenty of fights on the ice. The most famous probably being the “Water Bottle Game” against North Dakota in 1982, which grew so big it spilled into the beer gardens. Lucas loves hockey fights, saying that there is a real art to it. Yes, there have been some attempts to cut down on fighting in recent years, but at the end of the day it was just good clean fun. 

Speaking of the Badgers, the Men’s Basketball Team currently sit at #3 within the Big 10, in part because of their big win over Purdue over the weekend. The game certainly opened some people’s eyes, as it’s not just any team that’s able to put up 94 points against Purdue at home. The Badgers just shot really well and showed up Purdue with a super connected offense. The Badgers are turning into a team where everyone needs to be blocked at the 3-point line and several guys can run to the basket reliably. Just look at Klesmet, who’s really grown this season and is showing to be deceptive in what he’s able to do. As a team, they’re improving every week, and they have 100% earned their spot.

 Finally, sticking with the Badgers, Oates has some thoughts on Kamari McGee’s flagrant foul against Purdue. It didn’t look on purpose, thinks Oates, and he didn’t hit very hard. But within the Big 10, any contact to the groin is going to be called a flagrant. Oates doesn’t love it, plenty of former Badgers didn’t love it, but it still ended up helping the Badgers as they became fired up looking for revenge. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the Eagles beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl as the NFL season comes to an end. That means it’s time to look ahead to next season, and hopefully the Packers were able to learn a few things while watching the game on Sunday. One of the big deciders in the Super Bowl was the pass rush the Eagles were able to put on against Mahomes. The NFL’s star quarterback was sacked six times, with never more than four men rushing him. That shows something that’s been lacking in the Packers defense this year: consistent pass rush can win big games. The NFL may look a bit different, but the games are still won in the trenches, and the Eagles were able to rattle Mahomes and keep him on high alert all game. You get hit a few times and pretty quick you’re going to be looking for that next hit instead of looking for an open passer. 

Oates says that what the Packers need to be on the lookout for this offseason is a great speed rusher, someone who can fly off the edge and get in the quarterback’s face. Even if he doesn’t make the tackle, he’ll still be able to force the quarterback to move around instead of looking for their target. They need a speed rusher even more than they need a number 1 wide receiver, Oates thinks. Sure, they need a great receiver, but so does everyone. At this time, the team needs to prioritize their needs and get someone who can put some heat on the offense. Or so Oates thinks. Meanwhile, Lucas has to ask: where is Aaron Rodgers going to end up next year? Or maybe the better question is: who can put up with him? 

Meanwhile in Milwaukee, the Bucks have traded away Khris Middleton, one of their integral players who helped win them their championship ring. It’s a sad development, but maybe the right move. Sure, when he wasn’t hurt he was great. Maybe he wasn’t a superstar like Giannis, but he was underrated and will likely have his number retired one day. But ever since he hurt his knee in 2022, he just hasn’t been the same. He’s been with the Bucks for 12 years, and it’ll be sad to see him go. But in his place, the Bucks get Kyle Kuzma, who is bigger and younger than Middleton and brings some athleticism to the Bucks, which at the end of last season was one of the biggest things they needed. Like it or not, he’ll be able to help the Bucks in ways that Middleton couldn’t anymore.  

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates look at what is being called “the biggest sports trade of all time!” It likely isn’t, and there is probably a little recency bias coming from the people calling it that. But that’s not to say that the Mav’s trading Luca Doncic to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis (plus a little extra) isn’t a big deal. It’s still a huge deal! Both Luca and Davis are NBA All-Stars, if not even better. Yes, Luca doesn’t play defense, but he helped bring the Mavs to the NBA Finals last year! The big shock with this trade is that it came out of nowhere. Nobody seemed to see this coming. Could the Mavs have gotten more from this trade? Probably, but a lot of trades don’t make sense. Plus, Anthony Davis is also an amazing player! Prone to injury? Yes. On the older end? Also yes (he’s been playing for over a decade). But that doesn’t mean he’s not an amazing player.

The trade was big, and it got Lucas thinking: could this happen in Milwaukee with Giannis? It could, Oates thinks, but likely won’t. Sure, the Bucks haven’t been surrounding him with the greatest players in the league. But he’s playing great this year. That said, Giannis has about two years left on his contract, which is right about the time you’d want to trade a big-time player like that. Oates still doesn’t think it’ll happen, but if Luca can be traded, anyone can. 

Turning to the NFL, Mason Crosby announced Tuesday that he’s retiring after 17 seasons. Or maybe the NFL is retiring him, it’s hard to say. Either way, he left an important mark on the Green Bay Packers. After one bad season, he stuck around and since became a clutch kicker who could be depended on ninety nine times out of a hundred. A true Green Bay fixture, he was a great athlete and was held to a high stature in the locker room. He even quietly broke records, being the teams all-time top scorer with 1,918 points over his career with the Packers (over 800 points more than number two on the list Ryan Longwell). He also quietly appeared in a record number of games for the Packers with 258, three more than even Brett Farve. He’ll be remembered fondly in Wisconsin.

Finally, the Super Bowl is just a few days away, and Oates thinks it’ll be a great game. It was two years ago! He’s taking the Eagles, breaking from his “best quarterback wins” rule. The Eagles just have more talent on their side, and the Eagles have been playing great in recent weeks. That leaves one burning question: will we see the last tush push in the NFL this Sunday? Hopefully we do.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Wisconsin Men’s Basketball has continued to be on a roll in recent weeks (minus a loss to UCLA last week). Lucas and Oates decide to look back a bit and ask: where are Wisconsin's big name transfers from last year now? The big one they tackle first is AJ Storr, who left the Badgers for a big money contract in Kansas. Since his big move though, Storr’s been floundering and averaging around six points per game. Sure, he got some good money, but if he keeps this up his odds of landing in the NBA are slim.

Chucky Hepburn, on the other hand, has been doing pretty well for himself in Louisville. After setting the school’s record for assists, his playing has been more uptempo than what we saw in Madison. That’s the team’s doing, but at the same time Wisconsin is a bit more uptempo than they were with Chucky on the team. Oates would love to see him return, but then who would be replaced? He certainly would thrive with the current Badgers, and Lucas thinks the Badgers could have still gotten Tonje if he would have stayed. 

Finally, Connor Essegian has also been thriving in Nebraska. After the Badgers win against the Cornhuskers over the weekend, Wisconsin showed him a lot of respect, as they should! He was a great kid in Wisconsin who didn’t complain when he wasn’t played, he just didn’t work out for Wisconsin. The student section at the Kohl Center did not show him the same amount of respect. While Essegian shouldn’t be booed, Oates thinks that booing college players isn’t entirely uncalled for these days, especially when you can see how much they’re getting paid now. 

Shifting to some Badger players finally, Wisconsin has a tough game on Wednesday night as they take on Maryland. Two teams that have been a bit of a surprise, and Maryland has been in the process of brushing themselves off. It’ll be a tough game for the Badgers ahead of a stretch of tough games. The Big 10 is filled with a lot of great teams, and it’s likely that several teams will be making it to week 2 of the NCAA tournament this year. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates remember one of the biggest figures in Wisconsin sports: Mr. Baseball himself Bob Uecker. Uecker was the man who could laugh at himself and made a career out of it. Sure, he was known before he became the voice of the Brewers, but you’ll be hard to hear an argument from anyone that he wasn’t one of the best baseball announcers in the history of the sport. He didn’t script out any of his calls (other than his signature calls, which were more spur-of-the-moment mannerisms than anything else), and he was at his best when the game was a blowout and he was allowed to tell stories and jokes. Baseball has its challenges when trying to call play-by-play, but Uecker could do it all and there was nobody who was better at calling those big moments.  

There’s been a lot of big Brewers in history, from Yount to Yellich, but Uecker was always on top. His TV and movie appearances definitely helped, but also because of his cordial attitude and his love of both baseball and people. It’s telling when players both young and old have had nothing but fantastic stories to share about him. Uecker was even a Milwaukee native and proud of it. The Brewers will not be the same without Uecker, and his presence has been felt at every Brewer game since they entered the major leagues. 

But there are other stories of the day, including Ohio State becoming the college football national champions with the best team that money can buy. Okay, so they’ve brought out the big money and brought in some great players, but if you look at the team you likely won’t find more pure talent on any other team in the nation. Maybe it took losing to Michigan to happen, but once they started playing to their level of talent there was no question who the best team around was. This does now prove to be a good test for Ohio State fans. What’s more important, winning the national championship or beating Michigan. Sure, Ryan Day is now 70-10 as a coach, but is that enough to satiate Ohio State fans?

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates start with some breaking news out of college sports as the NCAA proposes to reduce the transfer windows into a single transfer window. Under the proposal, there would be just one 10 transfer window in January. No more players checking out before the bowl games! Lucas says hey, progress is progress. Oates is not so sure. Not that he doesn’t think it’s a good idea, just that he isn’t holding his breath that it’ll come anytime soon. He’ll wait to see if it will hold up before a judge before he starts celebrating.

But of course, the main topic today is the Packers. Green Bay’s season came to an end in Philly after losing to the Eagles on Sunday. To sum up the season with a phrase: they were a good team, but not a good enough team. So many people expected them to really step up this year, and they simply didn’t. Yes, they spent their money well last offseason when they picked up some top players on both sides of the ball. But look at Love. Expectations were high at the end of last season, and he just didn’t grow this season (though Oates thinks he didn’t regress either). Yes, he had some injuries, and those probably played into why he wasn’t as mobile as he needed to be. But people just expected more.

The defense played well this year, Lucas thinks, but the issues laid in the offense. There is a lot of talent on the Packers offense, but there needs to be a standout, specifically a standout wide receiver. Jacobs is great, but there were very few explosive plays on Sunday. 

Look at next year, the locker room will be looking different. One thing that we know is that Tom Clements, the Packers’ long time quarterback coach, is retiring. As a man who had worked with Farve, Rodgers, and Love, the Packers are definitely going to miss him next year. Plus, two major players are almost certainly gone: Christian Watson and Jaire Alexander. It’s neither of their faults, and nobody would rather sit around hurt than play. But you still need to show up, and both of their absences were felt on the field.