Super Bowl Takeaways and the Badger Basketball Slump

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Mike Lucas and Tom Oates recap the Kansas City Chiefs' victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. Lucas says the better quarterback won. 

“(Chiefs QB) Patrick Mahomes led the team in rushing. He’s got one of the most deceptive gates,” says Lucas, a Cap Times sports freelance writer and former radio color analyst for the Badgers. “I did think it was a bad first half for a Super Bowl. I thought it dragged. I thought there wasn’t much going.” 

Oates agrees Mahomes proved why he’s the best quarterback in the league.

“The Niners played some pretty good defense for most of that game. Even the long drives at the end, they gave up ground grudgingly. The Chiefs had to string together some first downs to go up the field,” says Oates, the former Wisconsin State Journal sports columnist. He does think 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan forgot to study the NFL’s new playoff overtime rules. 

“He just blew that. As soon as that rule changed about each team being guaranteed a position, they should have looked at the college game and learned something.” 

Also on the podcast, the veteran sports journalist discusses whether  the Wisconsin men’s basketball team is “fragile” after losing four straight games. 

“Where’s the team that kicked Michigan State’s butt at the boards in two games?” asks Oates. “They have strayed from Wisconsin basketball in a number of ways — turnovers, defense, etc.” 

Lucas says it doesn’t help that Badgers are without reserve guard Kamari McGee due to injury. 

“McGee has been a bit of spark this season coming off the bench because he brings a little fire to the lineup,” says Lucas. “You look at the Badgers' body language during the Rutgers game, there was no fire with any of those guys.”

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Dylan Brogan. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

A weekly podcast with insights and analysis on the Wisconsin Badgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Bucks from two of Wisconsin’s most experienced sports journalists. Mike Lucas is a veteran sports columnist for the Cap Times and was a Badgers radio color commentator for over 25 years. Tom Oates was a sports reporter and columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal for 40 years.