Best of the decade: How I voted

Here's how I voted:

Best play of the decade
Football (Oct. 15, 2005) Jonathan Casillas blocks a punt that Ben Strickland recovers for a touchdown with 30 seconds left to complete a 10-point comeback in the final three minutes and give UW a 38-34 win at Minnesota.

Maybe the most excited I've ever been at a Badger sporting event. Those of us who were in that dump of a dome will never forget it.

Close #2: Men’s Hockey (March 26, 2006) Jack Skille scores the game-winning goal in the third overtime against Cornell to advance to the Frozen Four. My brother and I were there, what a tremendous game. The aftermath of this one was a little different than the Casillas-Strickland game, since they'd been playing for about six hours, we were dead tired, and had a long drive home ahead of us. Andy and I waited in line at a concession stand behind Darrell Bevell during one overtiem intermission, he had just been named the Vikings' offensive coordinator, good guy.

But it's hard to argue with Michael Flowers' shot to beat Texas (watched it in my bedroom) or the Scott Starks Purdue play (watched it somewhere in Central Washington at in-laws' house).

Best Student-Athlete of the Decade
I chose Devin Harris. Chris Solinsky, Joe Thomas, Dany Heatley and Alando Tucker are my runners-up. Jimmy Leonhard, too.

Best Team of the Decade
2005-06 men's hockey. Why them and not any of the women's national champions, who were more dominant? Because there are a lot more teams playing Division 1 men's hockey, tougher to reach the top of the mountain.

Who did you vote for?

The Haves

Here's my second big takeaway from reading the Athlon preview: the truly elite teams in college football are so far ahead of the rest that it's not even funny. Here's the magazine's preseason top 5, which will probably be very similar to the AP's when it comes out in August, and with which I wholeheartedly agree.

1. Florida
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. USC
5. Ohio State

Florida is an easy choice, even though they lost Percy Harvin early. But think about who some of these other teams lost.

Oklahoma's offensive line, best in the nation last year, was gutted. Texas lost Brian Orakpo and Quan Cosby. USC lost Mark Sanchez and a bunch of dudes from their nasty defense. Ohio State lost Beanie Wells, Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins, Marcus Freeman, and a couple good wideouts.

So even though these teams all suffered significant losses, they are still head and shoulders above everyone else. These aren't Jonathan Casillases and Kraig Urbiks they're losing without skipping a beat, they're All-Americans and first round draft picks. That's no disrespect to Casillas and Urbik, but the point is that nowadays, our best players are topping out at mid-level all-conference picks, and we're going to take a step back without them.

It's not just Wisconsin that doesn't come close to measuring up to these heavyweights. Here are Athlon's #6-#10: Alabama, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss. None of those teams strike me as being able to beat any of the top 5 in a five-game series.

And it isn't going to change anytime soon, as these schools all had top-1o recruiting classes this year, per usual.

In many respects, this isn't unusual at all, as these schools all have tradition, regional advantages, and money. They've had down years or average stretches, yet are no strangers to the top 5. But I can't ever remember the disparity between the elite programs, the second-tier elite programs, and the solid programs being so great.

Free agent thoughts

A little bit surprised that P.J. Hill and Jonathan Casillas weren't drafted, their issues notwithstanding. The nice thing is, their baggage (injuries for JC, running into Open Pantrys for PJ) are pretty much irrelevant now that they'll be in pro camps.

Thoughts on these guys and the other free agent signees:

Hill, Saints: The consensus is New Orleans was a good landing spot for P.J., what with Deuce McAllister leaving, but I don't know. Pierre Thomas was pretty good last year (for my fantasy team!), Reggie Bush is Reggie Bush, and Mike Bell and Aaron Stecker have been solid pros. I'm guessing P.J. doesn't make the team and ends up on someone's practice squad.

Casillas, Saints: Conversely, as long as Casillas gets healthy, I think he makes this team on the merits of special teams play. I can see him being a guy who plays on those units for several years while he puts on weight and learns a defense, then makes an impact there in his third year.

Andy Kemp, Vikings: I hope he's terrible with Minnesota, gets cut, and goes on to a successful career somewhere else.

Mike Newkirk, Rams: Can't see him making the team, unless he can do some things on special teams.

Chris Pressley, Bengals: They've got a lot of average players in the backfield, but if Pressley is similar to his competition in talent, he may get an edge because of his character and leadership abilities, both sorely lacking in Cincinnati.

Bill Rentmeester, Chargers: Joins Michael Bennett in San Diego. Stop me if you've heard this before, but ... he can make this team with standout special teams play. Actually, of all these guys he's got the best track record, so it's not implausible.

Jason Chapman and Dave Peck were invited to try out with the Redskins and Bears. Of those two Peck has a better shot of making someone's roster, since he's a long snapper.

Good bye, seniors

The other day I was taking down the 2008 Wisconsin football poster/calendar in my office to make room for the one Jana made me. Before doing so I looked one last time at the guys on the poster who, for all the disappointments of this season, still contributed to 38 wins in their careers. Not too shabby.

Mike Newkirk
Good contributor for several years. His dad says he's bulked up to 275 pounds and could play in the NFL. We'll see. Part of me thinks if we'd had a really good line, he would have been best suited to be a backup who could play 50% of the snaps swinging between end and tackle.

Jason Chapman
Chappy was never the same after his knee injury. It was a shame, he was so quick off the ball. Every time he'd get whistled for jumping the snap I'd get upset with him, but then remember all the times he got away with it and disrupted the opponent's backfield.

Matt Shaughnessy
Never became the star many thought he would become after his strong freshman year, but always produced. Who knows, maybe his production will increase as a professional. The thing I'll remember about him is he always seemed to be disciplined, staying at home on reverses or quarterback rollouts. And don't forget, he was playing with a heavy heart this year.

Eric Vanden Heuvel
Not a star, but it was obvious the line was at its best this year when he was at right tackle.

Andy Kemp
The memory of Kemp I'll retain is of him chucking his helmet in celebration after the win over Cal Poly this year, out of character for a seemingly quiet kid, but enjoyable to watch. Against the weak non-conference teams we played he had success pulling. Will be interesting to see if he gets a shot professionally.

Dave Peck
I've already got Will practicing long snapping, it can earn you a Division 1 scholarship, and maybe a shot at the NFL. Don't know if Dave is good enough for that, but who would've thought Mike Solwold was?

Kraig Urbik
Only special players start four years on our offensive line. Joe Thomas, Chris McIntosh, Casey Rabach ... Kraig Urbik. Nice to see him get All-American honors from ESPN.com, even if it was sort of a stretch -- not that he didn't perform well, it's just that he was hurt this season.

DeAndre Levy
What I'll remember about Dre was his reaction after our embarrassing loss at Penn State in 2007. It was genuine, heartfelt, and showed that he really cared, which is not always the impression that some of these guys give. He represented the Milwaukee City Conference well, and hopefully inspired some of those kids to take football more seriously.

Travis Beckum
His emergence as a star in 2006 was one of the most pleasant surprises of a pleasantly surprising season, and he kept it up in 2007. That was more important than just on-field production. Becks was one of the most highly-rated recruits we've ever brought in, and had he failed, it would have hurt future recruiting. He was obviously not going to cut it at linebacker -- too tall -- and he lacked the instincts and aggressiveness to play defensive end. Kudos to the coaching staff for finding the right spot for his abilities, and kudos to Travis for making the most of the opportunity.

Allan Evridge
To think: I was expecting and hoping for him to beat out Tyler Donovan for the starting job in 2007. The thought was that a two-year starter would be better than back-to-back one-year starters. Wrong-o, T.

Jonathan Casillas
Anyone who was at the Metrodome for our 2005 game will remember him for his involvement in the greatest blocked punt in UW history. He was a playmaker on defense, too, when healthy. I hope he gets a shot in the pros, maybe he'll make an impact on some team's special teams and maybe get a shot at being a backup safety.

Ryan Flasch
When he transferred in I thought he'd factor into the mix at linebacker, but no.

Chris Pressley
Solid kid for the program. Heard that Bielema said few kids get as much out of playing college football as Pressley has, which is a great compliment. He'll represent UW well in whatever he chooses to do after college.

Josh Neal
Moved around a lot -- linebacker, fullback, defensive line -- wherever he was needed. Seemed to be a favorite of his teammates.

Bill Rentmeester
Favorite memory: his eight-yard run to clinch the Fresno State game. Apparently he was also a killer on special teams, although it never jumped out at me.

Allen Langford
Who would've thought this guy would be the well-deserved team MVP as a senior? What a story. Not as talented as Jack Ikegwuonu, but he wasn't a major liability when teams avoided throwing at Ike. Hurts his knee as a junior, but unlike many guys makes a full recovery in time for his senior season. Thrown out there with two rookie corners on the other side, and the secondary holds its own for the most part. Langford comes off like he was a 10-year NFL veteran, a consummate professional who happens to still be an amateur. He probably won't get the chance to play professionally, but I could see him being a good coach.

Damn, that was a good class. Probably the most individual talent of a departing senior class in a few years. No way they should have lost six games. It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff produces with classes made up of more Dave Pecks than Travis Beckums.

Champs Sports Bowl, forecast time

It's funny: December 27 is only five days before January 1, our bowl date of choice the last four years, but it seems like five weeks. Just yesterday I was trading emails with Florida State bloggers about this matchup that seemed so far off, then all of a sudden it's the day before the game. I'd prefer we go back to January 1.

Whatever, game time is almost here. Here's what I'm thinking:

Bobby Bowden has noted that his team is a handful plays away from being 10-2. The same could be said about the Badgers. But the truth is, 7-5 just about sums up this team, and I'm guessing 8-4 is just about right for the 'Noles. Both teams have plenty of strengths, but critical weaknesses relegated them to playing on a Saturday in December.

Florida State is probably the better team. If we had better quarterback play, and a healthy Travis Beckum, I might feel differently, but these are the cards we've been dealt. From what I've read FSU is vulnerable against tight ends, and while Garrett Graham ought to be able to exploit that, he won't dominate like he and Beckum could have combined. Lance Kendricks' unexpected return is a pleasant surprise and could be very good for us.

I see the Badgers putting together two legitimate scoring drives, each showing the offense at its best: power running setting up conservative intermediate passes. I see plenty of other promising drives stalling from the same bugaboos that have plagued the team all year: turnovers, dropped passes, lack of commitment to the run, penalties. In particular, I see several false starts called on our offensive line trying to hurry back into protection against FSU's speedy D-Line.

I see the Seminoles putting together two legitimate scoring drives as well. As in the Ohio State game, the Badgers defense will play pretty well but prove vulnerable to big plays in the passing game. UW's defense will miss Jonathan Casillas, but Culmer St. Jean will not embarrass himself and will give us hope for the linebacking corps next year. I see Christian Ponder bail the Badgers out with turnovers on at least two drives.

I see the game being decided by special teams, specifically Florida State's excellent return game. Philip Welch has had a fantastic freshman season, but his kickoffs have been on the short side. As such, I see Michael Ray Garvin breaking off a long kickoff return for either a score or setting up a short touchdown drive for FSU. I also see Welch missing a makable field goal attempt, and FSU's Lou Groza Award-winning kicker Graham Gano making a long field goal attempt, both swinging momentum.

(It is heartening, however, to read that Bret Bielema is planning on playing many defensive starters on the kick coverage units during the bowl: Jay Valai, Jae McFadden, DeAndre Levy, O'Brien Schofield, Aubrey Pleasant. That can only be positive, even if these guys might be a little rusty at staying in their lanes.)

I see this bowl game being tight, and when it's all over the Badgers and their fans will look back on it and think about the missed opportunities to do something great against one of the legendary programs in college football. A microcosm of 2008 on the whole.

Florida State 20, Wisconsin 10

Prove me wrong, boys!

Langford, Graham named All-Big Ten

Congrats to Allen Langford and Garrett Graham, who were named All-Big Ten on Monday. Especially Langford, who was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dreary season.

Always playing second fiddle to Jack Ikegwuonu, Langford was the less physically gifted of the two cornerbacks in his class, but he consistently received praise for his technique and grit. Then he blew out his knee last year, robbing him of the little speed he had. All he did was respond with a near-flawless senior season, leading the conference with 11 passes defended in league play. Seldom was he embarrassed in coverage. Good for him.

Graham probably didn't have the season he would have wished for, but he still led Big Ten tight ends in receiving. He should do some great things next year.

Also receiving all-conference honors were linebacker Jonathan Casillas, honorable mention; defensive lineman Jason Chapman, honorable mention; wide receiver David Gilreath, second team; running back P.J. Hill, honorable mention; guard Andy Kemp, honorable mention; linebacker DeAndre Levy, honorable mention; defensive tackle Mike Newkirk, second team; fullback Chris Pressley, sportsmanship award honoree; defensive end Matt Shaughnessy, honorable mention; guard Kraig Urbik, second etam; safety Jay Valai, second team; tackle Eric Vanden Heuvel, honorable mention; kicker Philip Welch, honorable mention.

Tell you what, that's a lot of honors for a team that went 3-5 in the conference.

Newkirk overachieved this year, he finished fourth on the team in tackles and led with eight tackles for loss. If Shaughnessy was honorable mention -- and that's about what he deserved -- then O'Brien Schofield should have been, too, he had 7.5 tackles for loss and led the team with five sacks. Loved the energy Valai brought to the defense, even if didn't always seem to rub off. And what about Niles Brinkley? He led the team with four interceptions and had nine pass breakups.

Badger classic: Wisconsin 38, Minnesota 34

Here's an anecdote anyone with multiple children can relate to: On June 21 I recorded the 2005 Minnesota-Wisconsin game on the Big Ten Network. On November 11 I was able to devote two hours to watching it.

Very fun to watch it again. Actually, it was the first time I'd seen the television broadcast, having attended the epic with most of the same friends I'll be with at Camp Randall this Saturday.

The thing I couldn't shake was that Minnesota seemed to play much like we've been playing this year. They seemed to have the better players and the better game plan, but kept making mistakes that let the other team escape with a win.

Just think about the last sequence of events. Soft defense allows a John Stocco-to-Brandon Williams touchdown. Stupid facemask penalty lets the Badgers kick off from the 50. Inability to handle the onside kick leads to a weird bounce that Maroney recovers inside the Gopher 10. The Gophers, who had been running at will all day, couldn't convert on third-and-short. Kucek fumbles a perfectly good snap. Their returner fumbles the kickoff.

That's six things that had to go wrong for Minnesota, and right for Wisconsin, for that outcome to take place. And they all did.

What a day!

-It occurred to me during the game that 2008 isn't the first time Wisconsin fans have been skeptical of Bret Bielema. Think back to 2005. In 2004 he came in and completely reinvigorated the Badger defense. Then, in 2005, the defense he coordinated was porous, leading UW fans everywhere to question Barry Alvarez's decision to promote him to head coach. Bielema had a tremendous rookie year in 2006, before a so-so 2007 and a borderline disastrous 2008.

The point is, Coach B has rebounded from tough seasons before, and I have faith he will again. But I think we'd all rather avoid the tough seasons altogether. Maybe this is part of the inescapable maturation process of a young coach thrust into prominence early on.

-The thing is, Bielema's 2005 defense was so decimated by injuries it's hard to tell if he could have done anything to make that unit a plus. Brandon Kelly, who barely saw the field at all last year as a senior, played a lot. Hell, Gino Cruse played a lot.

-A ton of guys who will lace up their spikes for Wisconsin on Saturday played in that game. Kraig Urbik. Chris Pressley. Matt Shaughnessy (who looked so thin and fast). Jason Chapman. Allen Langford. Mike Newkirk. DeAndre Levy (who I never realized recovered the fumble on the last kickoff). Jonathan Casillas, the one everyone remembers for blocking Kucek's punt. Aubrey Pleasant. Shane Carter.

Perhaps that paragraph illustrates why this year has been so frustrating. We've got a lot of guys who have been through a lot of wars, so to consistently lose games because of mental errors defies reason.

-Williams and Stocco had awesome games. Brian Calhoun was an incredible back.

-This has been a high-scoring rivalry this century. Look at the winners' point total since 2000: 41, 42, 49, 37, 38, 38, 48, 41.

-Bryan Cupito missed the game for Minnesota, and you've got to think that if he'd started at quarterback instead of Tony Mortensen they would have hit on a big pass play or two that could have sealed the deal for the Gophers.

-As exciting as the end of the game was, the first half was really boring.

It's going to be tougher to get tickets to see this game in Minneapolis in the future, which is too bad, it's always been fun. Then again, it's seemed to get nastier and nastier over the years, which is good for the rivalry but not the blood pressure.

But even if I never see another Wisconsin-Minnesota game out of state again, we'll always remember that day in the Dome when Kucek dropped the snap.

Sunday morning thoughts

Still happy that the boys played a good game yesterday, but can't shake just how down Indiana is, I feel bad for them. After an emotional bowl qualifying year in 2007 they get this. Look at all the guys who are hurt or who have been hurt: Kellen Lewis, Nick Polk, Will Patterson, Marcus Thigpen, Ben Chappell, Roger Saffold, Bryan Payton ... all pretty good players that would have made this team more competitive this year had they remained healthy.

Their quarterback situation was especially troubling. They had four guys attempt at least four passes against us, don't think I've ever seen that before. If I were them I would have started Lewis and played him until he couldn't walk any more, he's the only one who gave them a chance to win.

Looking at our defensive stats, it was apparent Niles Brinkley recovered from his rough trip to East Lansing -- four pass breakups and tied for second on the team with five tackles. He played well. Allen Langford was solid two with two pass breakups and no horribly blown coverages. He has quietly had a good year, not all-conference good, but solid. His leadership has meant a lot to the youngsters' development.

Jay Valai had 10 tackles and was around the ball a lot. Jonathan Casillas had two tackles for 14 yards of negative yardage. Hopefully Jae McFadden's injury isn't too bad.

My Big Ten rankings:

1. Penn State. Still the best, even with the loss. Hopefully this doesn't negatively impact our chances of making a bowl game. Haven't put too much thought into that, will if we beat Minnesota. I was kind of hoping PSU would win the national title; they're a good check against Ohio State and Michigan, and they don't typically compete with us for recruits.

2. Ohio State. Terrelle Pryor appears to be throwing the ball better. Too bad Beanie and those wideouts won't be around next year.

3. Michigan State. Unimpressive in beating Purdue. They're having a season similar to our 2006, just winning. I'd take that in a heartbeat.

4-9. Everyone except the teams from Indiana. If forced, I'd say:

4. Iowa. OK, their win today ought to set them above the rest of this mediocre lot.

5. Minnesota. The Gophers' most "impressive" win this season came against ...

6. Illinois, which lost to Western Michigan. Yeah, they're on a Journey all right.

7. Michigan. Now that they're not bowl-eligible, I'm kind of hoping they win a couple games here at the end of the season.

8. Wisconsin. The Badgers' most "impressive" win this season came against ... see Minnesota. Anybody still think beating Fresno was impressive? Anybody see them get hammered at home against Nevada the other night? Looks like their season has paralleled ours.

9. Northwestern. They were doing it with smoke and mirrors. They and Minnesota are threatening to lose out and quell all the good vibes they'd built up.

10. Purdue. Showing a little fight.

11. Indiana. Almost as bad as Tom Crean's basketball team will be. At least he has Kelvin Sampson to blame.

UW-Iowa thoughts

Watching the postgame on the Big Ten Network, I saw Bret Bielema's press conference. At one point he ended a sentence with "The team that's beating Wisconsin the most is Wisconsin."

That sums it up. Because let's face it, this Iowa team that crushed us today is, at best, marginally above average. In this year's Big Ten, that could be enough for a top three finish, but that team has good lines and a good back and not much more.

Right now, that's a lot more than what you need to beat the Badgers.

-I really hate to say "I told you so," especially when it involves the subpar play of an amateur athlete who's out there trying his best. But does anyone still think Dustin Sherer is a better option at quarterback than Allan Evridge? With a couple exceptions, Sherer was pretty bad today. His accuracy was spotty. He locked onto his primary receiver and never seemed to progress from there. He's not mobile. He threw two picks and was a couple inches from throwing four or five.

The offensive line protected reasonably well, and we had receivers open, but the passing game never hit a rhythm today. I thought Scott Tolzien looked better at the end, but circumstances and personnel force you to take that with a grain of salt.

Who should start next week? Right now I'd say Tolzien, but might change my mind in a couple days ... or a couple hours.

-The BTN crew was going on and on about Shonn Greene and touting him as a Heisman candidate, but my mom could have run for 100 yards behind that offensive line today. On most of Greene's successful runs he wasn't touched for what seemed like 10 yards, and while he did show some nice moves and toughness to make everything he could out of those runs, his performance today was a reflection of his line's dominance.

Or our defensive front's ineptness. Forget getting into the backfield and recording tackles for loss. These guys were getting dominated at the point of attack, putting all the pressure on our defensive backs to make saving tackles.

-On Greene's first touchdown run, DeAndre Levy took a bad angle. Greene showed terrific patience, just waiting for our defenders to run themselves out of position to make a play.

On Greene's second touchdown run, he broke about 73 tackles. On his third touchdown run, Shane Carter ran himself to the wrong side of the Iowa blocking wall, and was in no position to even get a hand on Greene. On Greene's fourth TD run, he ran untouched until he was about 15 yards past the line of scrimmage.

Last year the problem on defense was overpursuit and bad angles to the ball. This year it seems to be the opposite problem, guys playing tentatively, then reacting after it's too late. Having never been an effective defensive football player myself, I imagine there's a fine line between the two that you need to hit to be effective. I can't remember another Badger team struggling so much to toe that line.

-John Clay ran fine, but BTN's Chris Martin said his pad level needed to be lower -- good point. Clay's a legit 6-2 and needs to make sure he's hitting linebackers in their stomachs, not their shoulders. Also thought P.J. Hill ran reasonably well until getting hurt. If his ankle was hurt, why was he standing on the sidelines? When I hurt my ankle enough to sit out at noontime hoops, no way I'm standing after that. Unfortunately he's on the verge of complete irrelevance.

-Iowa's tough against the run, but why did we throw the ball 20 times in the first half with a scattershot quarterback making his first start?

-The hang time on Brad Nortman's punts seems to be about a second less than it should be, doesn't it?

-The announcers commented that O'Brien Schofield was late getting on the field for the first play of the second half. After we kicked off. After knowing all of halftime that the first play from scrimmage in the second half would have our defense on the field. This is the stuff that's killing us.

-Josh Oglesby really struggled at tackle today, flat-out whiffing on pass rushers several times and committing at least one penalty. On the other side of the line, Eric Vanden Heuvel played fine, but there was one pass play, a designed swing pass to Zach Brown, where EVH was supposed to get out and block an Iowa cornerback in space, a la Joe Thomas. There's only one Joe Thomas.

-Officiating by no means cost us this game, but I wanted to bring to light two calls that really killed us. The first was a roughing the passer penalty on Jonathan Casillas. From the replays BTN showed, that looked like a horrible call. Iowa scored a couple plays later.

The second was the punt preceding the blocked Nortman punt. The refs got Prince Moody for hitting Andy Brodell after he apparently called fair catch. The replays showed a second or two before Brodell fielded the ball, and I never saw his hand go up. Brodell had to be calling for a fair catch the second the ball left Nortman's foot, or else it would have been caught on camera. He may have gotten his hand up, but I didn't see it. The offsetting penalties nullified what would have been a first down and made us re-kick, and we know what happened next.

-POSITIVE BADGER PLAY ALERT: The first two drives on offense and defense in the second half were solid. And Philip Welch continues to make the placekicking game the least of our concerns. Also thought our cornerbacks played well, or at least they didn't get beat badly today by Iowa's pedestrian quarterbacks and receivers. Sounds like Mario Goins has a concussion, though, hopefully he'll be all right for Illinois. Brown showed a spark late.

-If you would have told me that we'd outgain Iowa 409-375, hold them to 1-of-10 on third down conversions, and go 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, I would have liked our chances.

Where do we go from here? If you're like most of the people who've voted in the poll in the right-hand corner, not to a bowl, that's for sure.

Sunday thoughts

Looks like we've moved up to #8 in both polls that matter, which is nice. Unfortunately, our big win last night doesn't seem to have made he radar of most national media. For instance, the Badgers' win on the road against a ranked team in its biggest game ever didn't even merit mention in Yahoo's "Winners" list, and it's making few if any lists of Saturday's college football headlines. Hmmm. Not that surprising, given that our game got over at about 2 a.m. EST.

-Read that this was our first road win over a ranked non-conference team since 1958. Unbelievable. As much as that's a reflection of our program's quality over that time, it's also a sign that we should probably take more shots at big time programs.

-As bad as Ohio State looked yesterday, I think it's premature to declare Wisconsin, Penn State, or Illinois the new Big Ten favorite. Especially if Jim Tressel makes the move to start Terrelle Pryor at quarterback immediately.

-Any national media coverage of our game is focusing on Fresno's lost opportunity to crash the BCS, not our gain. Whatever, keep us under the radar.

-Key to yesterday's win: no fumbles, no interceptions. Seven penalties is too many.

-That may have been DeAndre Levy's best game. Nine tackles, three for loss, one sack, one interception and one pass breakup. Good time for it Dre!

-Seniors carried the defensive effort overall. Allen Langford had seven tackles. Jonathan Casillas had seven tackles and ran down Mathews on the long screen pass after the ridiculous fumble call overturn, saving four points on the possession. Jason Chapman was quick off the ball as usual, with six tackles, a sack, and two tackles for loss. Mike Newkirk had four tackles, 1.5 for loss. And Matt Shaughnessy had those two deflected passes and a TFL (not noted in the official stats).

-Nice to see that Jeff Stehle, Patrick Butrym and Chris Maragos all saw time on defense in meaningful situations. The first two are sorely needed for depth. Also nice to see Aubrey Pleasant still contribution in pass defense packages.

-Now that our game is in the past, I'm a huge Fresno fan. If the Bulldogs can win out and get back in the top 25 our win looks much better over time.

-With all due respect to Cal Poly, the non-conference season is essentially over. How do you feel about it compared to how you felt at this time last year? Wins over Akron and Marshall feel about the same as wins over Washington State and UNLV, but beating Fresno is about 100 times more satisfying than beating The Citadel.

UW-Fresno State halftime thoughts

Can't believe I'd be this happy with a 10-0 halftime lead. But we played a nice first half. Took their fired-up crowd out of the game early, which has been important. Offensive line is blocking well, defensive line has made a lot of plays.

-On the first (and only thus far) three-and-out drive, Allan Evridge locked onto Travis Beckum on third down and forced a tough pass into a tight spot for an incompletion. I was afraid he'd do that, but Evridge has spread the ball around well since.

-Niles Brinkley started at cornerback opposite Allen Langford.

-Good push by the right side of the offensive line on the second drive that ended at the goal line, especially by Kraig Urbik.

-On that drive: why wasn't P.J. Hill in on third and goal? Zach Brown is not the right guy for that run. It was no surprise Fresno stuffed us on fourth down, but I'm still glad we went for it and didn't kick the field goal.

-It looks like Blake Sorensen is coming in for Jonathan Casillas on third downs, yet Casillas has been matched up on Bear Pascoe on certain passes by Fresno. Casillas made two really nice tackles in traffic on Fresno running backs.

-Really good half for Matt Shaughnessy, with his tip on Deandre Levy's interception, tackle for loss, and another tip. Mike Newkirk did a nice job splitting blockers on a tackle for loss, and Jason Chapman ran a great stunt around the offense's left end to sack Brandstater.

-Great call on the touchdown pass to Garrett Graham, the play-action pass ought to be there the way we're running. Another solid half for Graham. Interesting to hear the announcers talk about how Graham might be the better tight end than Beckum. They're both really good, in different ways.

-It's nice to see an opposing offense running the I on offense, a man's offensive scheme.

-Even though the late field goal attempt was blocked, I like the aggressive play calling on the drive to get us in position to kick.

Keep it going in the second half and Charlie's baptism Sunday will be off to a good start!

UW-Fresno preview

Let's get this out of the way right off the bat: I don't think Wisconsin will beat Fresno State tomorrow night.

Wherever my brother is when he reads this, he'll be rolling his eyes and grumbling about my set-the-bar-low philosophy.

But consider everything going against us:

-This is a program that routinely plays BCS schools and often beats them, and is not the least bit intimidated by our pedigree or size. They humbled us at Camp Randall seven years ago, a game I won't forget.

-This is at their stadium, which will be amped to a fever pitch. It's being billed as the biggest game in school history, and they will sure as hell be jacked for that. (I love Deandre Levy's quote about how they had "cute little T-shirts" made for the game.) If we come out flat like we did against Marshall, or suffer a quarter-long brain freeze like against Akron, we could get blown out in a hurry. Last year's loss at Penn State comes to mind as a worst-case scenario.

-This is a team that looked really good in the second half of its opener against Rutgers two weeks ago. The defense, especially, completely shut down Rutgers.

-This is a team with a lot of good players. One coach has said quarterback Tom Brandsteter is the best QB we'll see this year. Ryan Mathews is a good running back. A couple of their offensive linemen are all-conference caliber. They've got a really good tight end named Bear (Pascoe), and we've shown vulnerability covering tight ends. They've got an elite safety in Moses Harris. Lots of players here.

-Two of our best players, Travis Beckum and Jonathan Casillas, haven't played yet this year. They're bound to be rusty.

All that said, I can definitely see scenarios in which we win this game. Here are what needs to happen or what I'd like to see happen.

-Play like the underdog. So what if we're from the Big Ten and they're from the WAC? They should win this game. So try something to sucker punch them right off the bat, like an onside kick or a fake punt (see last year's game at Ohio State).

-Use their crowd-fueled energy against them. Call a screen on the second play of the game. Run a reverse on a kickoff return. Call some run blitzes early.

-Get Beckum involved immediately. Against Tennessee in the bowl game last season he was taken out of the game and even though Garrett Graham had a nice day, the offense was limited as a result.

-Put Casillas on Pascoe and bracket him with Jay Valai over the top.

-Pound the rock. Pound the rock, pound the rock, pound the rock. Even if we're not breaking off big chunks of yardage and first downs right away, or even if they get up 14 points early, the commitment to the run needs to be made. Even though Allan Evridge showed aptitude passing against Marshall, I would rather not put the game on his shoulders. Pound P.J., Zach, and Johnny behind our road graders and give us a chance to hold a stamina advantage in the fourth quarter.

An LA Times columnist wrote earlier this week that the loser of our game has more to lose than the loser of the Ohio State-USC game. I disagree -- the quality of both teams is established enough that barring a lopsided outcome both will be ranked afterward, and there's a lot of season to go. Realistically, neither one of these teams is a legitimate national title contender.

Fresno 26, Wisconsin 23. Prove me wrong Badgers!

They are Marshall

First off let's all breathe a sigh of relief.

Randy Moss won't be suiting up for Marshall this weekend.

And neither will Chad Pennington.

Or Byron Leftwich. Or Doug Chapman. Or any of the other excellent football players who have passed through Huntington, W. Va., in the not-so-distant past.

I'm not sure when this game was scheduled (Polzin?), but considering how far in advance some non-conference games are scheduled, when we booked this one Marshall could have been in their borderline top 25 phase. In 1999 they went 13-0, and in 2001 and 2002 they went 11-2.

So at one point our non-conference schedule may have included Marshall, Fresno State, and Virginia Tech — all programs capable of reeling off 10-win seasons. Not too shabby. But because most programs have dry spells at times, we now welcome a program that has gone 4-7, 5-7, and 3-9 in the last three seasons to Madison this weekend.

That doesn't mean this Thundering Herd team can't give us a good game.

Apparently, Marshall thinks they can match our offensive line size-wise. That's interesting, because not many non-BCS teams could; not many BCS teams could, either.

Size aside, the Herd have some defensive playmakers, like safety C.J. Spillman and defensive end Albert McClellan. If you don't think a defensive back we've never heard of before can't come in to Camp Randall and derail a favored UW team, remember what Jamaal Brimmer and UNLV did in 2003.

On our side, Travis Beckum might back, and Jonathan Casillas is going to test his knee, although he probably won't play. As much as I think we'd win this game without Beckum, it would be nice for him and Allan Evridge to get some game work in together before heading to Fresno.

Don't think we're going to lose this one, but can see it being a good test. Depends on how Evridge plays. Last week Paul Chryst was very conservative with the passing game, and with good reason — if you can run for 400 yards, you do it, and save some of the passing playbook or bigger games. My guess is that Evridge throws 15-20 passes this week after throwing 10 last week; whether or not any of those are intercepted, in addition to how we do against the Herd's — sigh — Spread offense will determine how long Marshall has a shot in this one.

Wisconsin 31, Marshall 20

Breaking down the schedule

Put the 2008 team poster up in my office earlier this week, and during phone calls have found myself staring at the Badgers' 2008 schedule. Here's how I see it going;

August 30: vs. Akron. Win. Won't be pretty, but should be a good game to establish a dominant ground game and see guys like Blake Sorensen and Garrett Graham play big roles in place of injured starters.

September 6: vs. Marshall. Win. Ten years ago I went to see Marshall play Bowling Green at Bowling Green with my boss at the time, Mickey Johnson, a huge Thundering Herd backer. Chad Pennington, Doug Chapman, and Byron Leftwich were on that Marshall team, and Randy Moss had just left. Somehow BG won. Can't see this Herd team posing much of a threat.

September 13, at Fresno State. Loss. The talk about the Badgers' weak non-conference schedule continues, but considering that they will be clear underdog in one of their non-conference games, why is that? Further, if Virginia Tech had remained on the schedule, Wisconsin's non-conference schedule would easily be the toughest of any BCS team. Still, don't see us winning this one, and if we do it'll be a huge boost.

September 27, at Michigan. Win. Michigan is down a bit this year but still has lots of talent. Still, the main reason I'm picking win here is our bye week before this game, it should give guys like Beckum and Casillas more time to heal up. Michigan has a bye before this game, too.

October 4, vs. Ohio State. Win. This ends up being OSU's one regular season loss, but they still win the conference. This game's on the offensive line and P.J. Hill, they need to impose their will on this one. The atmosphere at Camp Randall will be electric for this one.

October 11, vs. Penn State. Win. PSU has some players, but I just can't see them winning a night game in Madison.

October 18, at Iowa. Win. This should be the easiest game in this brutal stretch, but that isn't a given. No way Bielema lets the team let down for this one.

October 25, vs. Illinois. Loss. Last year's 31-26 loss to the Illini in Champaign wasn't that close. We got are butts kicked in that one, and even though they lost Mendenhall and Leman, they've got a lot of big-time recruits who will be coming into their own this year.

November 1, at Michigan State. Loss. Still can't shake that image of our horrendous tackling against Sparty in Madison last year, and one of the guys we had so much trouble bringing down, Javon Ringer, is back.

November 8, at Indiana. Win. Finally, what should be a breather after a brutal two-month stretch.

November 15, vs. Minnesota. Win. Who will still be eligible for the Gophers by then? (Apparently Brew's incoming Minnesota freshmen have the lowest composite ACT scores of eight schools that responded to the Star-Trib's request for such data; Wisconsin's were the highest, although Northwestern's were probably even higher.)

November 22, vs. Cal Poly. Win. Yeah, an anti-climactic way to end the regular season, but at this point, a win's a win.

January 1, vs. LSU, Capital One Bowl. Win. Here again? LSU's lines are dominant, but they've got a huge question mark at quarterback and are missing some playmakers on defense. This is where they landed after their last national title, and they lost to Iowa in a terrific game. I see something similar this year.

10-3, no conference championship, but a double-digit win total and January bowl. What would you think of that?

Season preview

So here we are, perched on another season that could hold big things for the Badgers. Many people are calling for a BCS bowl for UW, and mentioning "Wisconsin" and "national title" in the same sentence, although never throwing "will win the" in between. Ohio State is the clear favorite, but we've seen clear favorites fall before, right?

But from my basement, it doesn't seem like this will be the season Wisconsin will end its Big Ten championship drought. It seems more like a nine-win season that ends in Orlando or Tampa.

The schedule's too tough. The question marks too abundant. The injury bug too vicious.

Of course, the Badgers' schedule and roster have looked less promising in years past and the team has produced big results; 1998 comes to mind. But there's a folly in college sports comparing teams more than a couple years apart. The Badger football program in 2008 is completely different than it was in 1998 — coaching staff, offensive approach, home stadium.

I'm not going to waste bandwidth discussing the well-hashed out keys for the season: quarterback play, secondary inexperience, defensive line injuries, kicking game questions. Here are my two biggest keys for Badger success this season:

The offensive line has to block better. Sounds obvious, right? But it's not. As I wrote earlier this summer, I believe our offensive line has been overrated as a result of many years of producing top-notch blockers and good running games. Recently, the State Journal's Tom Mulhern wrote a good story about the alarming rate at which Badger quarterbacks have been sacked in recent years.

The pieces are in place for this to be a really good line. Kraig Urbik is one of the best guards in the country. Gabe Carimi is an athletic youngster who has the makings of a star. Andy Kemp and Eric Vanden Heuvel have tons of starting experience at guard and tackle. And John Moffitt was promising in his first experience last year.

The offensive line has to be dominant this year. If this line is stellar, everything falls in place: the running game grinds out 4-plus yards per carry, setting up reasonable distances on second and third down; less pressure on Allan Evridge to be anything more than a game manager, more time for him to read defenses and his young receivers to get open; more touchdowns, less field goal attempts for our unproven kickers; scoreless drives ending further up the field, lessening the pressure on a true freshman punter; a decisive edge in time of possession gives the defense rest and makes opposing offenses more predictable.

For all the talk of Ron Dayne and Tom Burke and Brent Moss, the Badgers' Rose Bowl teams of the last two decades have been built around Joe Panos and Cory Raymer and Chris McIntosh and Aaron Gibson. The 12-1 team of 2006 is inexplicably overlooked, but it was led by Joe Thomas. If the 2008 offensive line rises to the occasion, this year can be special.

How will the defense play under Dave Doeren? Like the San Antonio Spurs and Bret Saberhagen, the Badger defense seems to adopt an every-other-year performance schedule. Dominant in 2004 and 2006. Sieve-like in 2005 and 2007. But, as cautioned earlier, past performance means nothing, given the completely new cast of characters.

That said, the defense could be special in 2008. When Bret Bielema came on board in 2004, he gave a jolt of energy to a unit that had gone stale under Kevin Cosgrove. When Mike Hankwitz came in in 2006, his new approach worked well. Can Doeren do the same thing now that he's running things himself?

As much as energy and scheme play into it, it depends on a lot the play of certain individuals. Matt Shaughnessy has to elevate his play beyond the second team all-conference level he's been at the last two years. Deandre Levy and Jonathan Casillas have to make as many big plays as they did in 2006, if not more. Shane Carter has to round out his game and become a better tackler.

Most of the preseason focus on the defense has been on the new guys who need to step in and contribute: Mario Goins, Niles Brinkley, Jay Valai, Jae McFadden. Their play is important, undoubtedly — if any of those guys are terrible and suitable replacements aren't found, the defense is in trouble.

But to me, the key is more our good players playing great. If Shaughnessy, Casillas, Levy, et al are spectacular, the newbies' warts won't be as visible.

So in a nutshell, I think it is more important that our good players perform at a great level than it is for our unproven players to perform at an acceptable level. If the first happens, the second will be a natural byproduct.

Akron preview

Opening Day is tomorrow, and I'm very excited. Unfortunately, my chances of seeing the game live are not great, as I'll be attending a good friend's wedding reception in Edgerton.

It won't be the last time I'll miss a game, and it certainly isn't the first. In fact, tomorrow is my fifth wedding anniversary. I can still remember huddling in my parents' room at the Ramada in Marquette, Mich., with friends watching the Badgers' opener at West Virginia. About halfway through the second quarter I realized that I wasn't dressed yet and was due at the church in less than an hour for pictures. It ended up being a close game that the Badgers won, but aside from the win over Ohio State at Camp Randall, 2003 was an unremarkable season.

Here's hoping 2008 is more remarkable.

A season preview is coming up later today, but let's talk about Akron for a minute. And no more.

This has the makings of a sloppy game. By all accounts, Akron isn't very good, but will probably come in spunky and looking to play well enough to provide a boost going into the MAC season.

As has been well-documented, we are riddled with injuries and have lots of question marks. Travis Beckum's hamstring. Chris Pressley's hand. Jonathan Casillas's knee. All of the other guy coming off 2007 or offseason injuries — Matt Shaughnessy, Allen Langford, Jason Chapman, Kirk DeCremer.

Throw in Allan Evridge's first start, inconsistency at wide receiver and cornerback, and a new kicker, and this game might not be the blowout it appears to be on the surface.

Bodog has us favored by 27. I'll say we don't cover that: Wisconsin 36, Akron 17. We focus on pounding the ball down Akron's throats, with P.J. Hill and Zach Brown both scoring rushing touchdowns. Garrett Graham has the Badgers' lone receiving touchdown. The UW defense bends but doesn't break much, and Jay Valai forces a big turnover.

We're talkin' about practice

Over the weekend I was able to record the Big Ten Network's broadcast of a Badger football practice, which appears to have aired about two weeks ago. Allan Evridge hadn't yet been named the starter, and Jonathan Casillas wasn't hurt yet.

Missed the first half-hour, but was able to catch the 11-on-11 red zone drills, which was fun. Some observations from that:

-Kyle Jefferson had two pretty bad drops, including one in the end zone, and drew some pretty sharp criticism from Bret Bielema ("That's weak Kyle!"). Gotta make those catches Kyle!

-Zach Brown had a nice catch, as well as a nice touchdown run from a Spread-type formation.

-O'Brien Schofield ran a nice stunt to come clean on a pass rush. It would be nice if this kid gave us 5-6 sacks this season, because my sense is he's seen as a placeholder for now.

-David Gilreath made a nice catch on a ball thrown behind him.

-Overall Evridge looked pretty good, didn't have any critical errors and his passes were generally on target.

-Dustin Sherer did not look good. He threw a terrible pass in the end zone that Mario Goins picked off. Sherer did, however, come right back with a nice pass to Garrett Graham.

-John Clay ran well, but it was three other things he did that stood out: he looked confident on a blitz pickup, made a nice catch out of the backfield, and chipped on a pass rusher on his way into a passing route. These were not things he was asked to do in high school, but are so important in earning him playing time this year.

-Mickey Turner lined up at fullback with the second string in some formations. He's a pretty versatile blocker.

-BTN showed a lengthy clip of what, as far as I can tell, was P.J. Hill and some other Badgers talking about what they were eating. Riveting stuff. As has been reported elsewhere, P.J.'s body looks better than I remember it.

By the way, there's a new line from Bodog on how many yards and touchdowns P.J. is going to run for this year: the over-under on yards is 1,075, touchdowns is 13-1/2. I'll take the over on yards, the under on touchdowns.

-Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith were talking about the linebacker position, and how the Badger defense is built to defend the Spread. Really? I suppose so, but let's start seeing that come to fruition with some killer performances against Spread teams.

-On a similar note, Bielema told the crew that he thought with so many Spread offenses used nowadays, running a traditional offense gives Wisconsin an edge. Who prepares to face a fullback or two tight ends nowadays? Good point. His other valid point was that the Badger defense doesn't see actual Spread much during practice.

-DiNardo sees nine wins for the Badgers, Griffith 10. Both see a January bowl for the team (USC and West Virginia are the only other teams in college football to play in January bowls in each of the last four years). I don't know, it all looks good on paper, but something isn't quite sitting right with me.

We'll see.

Breaking down the depth chart

Bret Bielema announced the Badgers' opening day depth chart last week, and here's what it looks like. Not many surprises, but a few things I feel compelled to comment on.

Offense
Quarterback
4 Allan Evridge, 6-2, 212, Sr.
18 Dustin Sherer, 6-4, 213, Jr.

Again, feeling strangely confident in Evridge. What might hold him back is not his performance, but the inexperience of his receiving corps, although we have arguably the best group of tight ends in the country.

Tailback
39 P.J. Hill, 5-11, 236, Jr.
30 Zach Brown, 5-11, 207, So.

Is John Clay #3, or is Bradie Ewing? I really hope it doesn't matter.

Fullback
44 Chris Pressley, 6-1, 259, Sr.
34 Bill Rentmeester, 6-1, 248, Sr.

Sounds like Pressley's going to miss the opener with a broken finger. Doesn't matter much, as long as we can run out of two-tight end sets, as I think we can.

Wide Receiver
85 David Gilreath, 5-11, 165, So.
1 Nick Toon, 6-3, 214, Fr. OR
13 Daven Jones, 6-1, 200, So.

Wide Receiver
3 Maurice Moore, 5-11, 167, So. OR
7 Kyle Jefferson, 6-5, 175, So.
6 Issac Anderson, 5-11, 176, So.

Right now, this looks like the weakest group of Badger wide receivers since 2002, when Lee Evans' injury forced Jonathan Orr, Brandon Williams and Darrin Charles into prominent roles prematurely. Then again, two years ago I might have said the same thing about Luke Swan and Paul Hubbard. If Jefferson becomes the big-play guy he can be, and Gilreath becomes the slippery underneath guy a la Williams, they'll be fine.

H-Back
9 Travis Beckum, 6-4, 235, Sr.
84 Lance Kendricks, 6-4, 227, So.

Tight End
89 Garrett Graham, 6-4, 237, Jr.
36 Mickey Turner, 6-4, 252, Jr.

Really like what this group can do.

Left Tackle
68 Gabe Carimi, 6-8, 301, So.
78 Jake Bscherer, 6-7, 294, Jr.

Left Guard
75 Andy Kemp, 6-6, 315, Sr.
60 Jake Current, 6-4, 278, Fr. OR
66 Peter Konz, 6-6, 300, Fr.

Center
74 John Moffitt, 6-4, 323, So.
76 Bill Nagy, 6-4, 300, So.

Right Guard
63 Kraig Urbik, 6-6, 332, Sr.
70 Kevin Zeitler, 6-4, 285, Fr.

Right Tackle
71 Eric Vanden Heuvel, 6-7, 324, Sr.
67 Josh Oglesby, 6-7, 328, Fr.

Three true freshmen on the two-deep, as well as a redshirt freshman in Oglesby. I don't see a big drop-off in the line next season.

Defense
Left End
50 O’Brien Schofield, 6-3, 232, Jr.
45 Dan Moore, 6-2, 280, Jr. OR
97 Brendan Kelly, 6-6, 230, Fr.

Left Tackle
91 Jason Chapman, 6-4, 285, Sr.
95 Patrick Butrym, 6-4, 264, Fr.

Right Tackle
54 Mike Newkirk, 6-3, 264, Sr.
79 Jeff Stehle, 6-6, 290, Jr.

Right End
92 Matt Shaughnessy, 6-6, 253, Sr.
99 Kirk DeCremer, 6-5, 230, So. OR
93 Louis Nzegwu, 6-3, 228, Fr.

Sam Linebacker
11 DeAndre Levy, 6-3, 228, Sr.
42 Erik Prather, 6-3, 227, Jr.

Mike Linebacker
47 Jaevery McFadden, 6-3, 220, Jr.
15 Culmer St. Jean, 6-1, 228, So.

Elijah Hodge isn't even on the two-deep. After his brother's outstanding career at Iowa, he was one recruit I was really excited to get, second only to Beckum in that recruiting class. But he couldn't beat out St. Jean, who was no world beater last year, and McFadden, who doesn't appear to be the second coming of Mike Singletary. Hopefully he can still pull it together and contribute in his last two seasons.

Will Linebacker
2 Jonathan Casillas, 6-2, 226, Sr.
27 Blake Sorensen, 6-1, 217, So.

Sounds like Casillas won't play against Akron, and I would bet he's not on the field much against Marshall. We're going to need him against Fresno, though.

Left Cornerback
23 Mario Goins, 6-1, 186, Fr.
7 Aaron Henry, 6-0, 191, So. OR
26 Antonio Fenelus, 5-10, 175, Fr.

Interesting to see Fenelus's name here, didn't count on him being in the mix so early in his career. I like Goins' size.

Strong Safety
12 Jay Valai, 5-9, 197, So.
8 Aubrey Pleasant, 6-1, 198, Jr.

Free Safety
25 Shane Carter, 6-2, 202, Jr.
21 Chris Maragos, 6-0, 189, Jr.

Right Cornerback
17 Allen Langford, 5-11, 189, Sr. OR
29 Niles Brinkley, 5-10, 177, So.

Special Teams
Punter
98 Brad Nortman, 6-3, 215, Fr.

Placekicker
96 Matt Fischer, 5-11, 179, Jr. OR
18 Philip Welch, 6-3, 190, Fr.

Long Snapper
81 Dave Peck, 6-5, 246, Sr.
57 Drew Woodward, 6-4, 228, Jr.

Holder
21 Chris Maragos, 6-0, 189, Jr.
98 Brad Nortman, 6-3, 215, Fr.

Punt Returners
85 David Gilreath, 5-11, 165, So.
3 Maurice Moore, 5-11, 167, So.

Kickoff Returners
85 David Gilreath, 5-11, 165, So.
3 Maurice Moore, 5-11, 167, So.

If Gilreath and Moore are indeed our starting receivers, that's not a lot of beef out there. Jefferson's no sumo wrestler, either. Weight and strength are not necessarily a prerequisite for success at the position, but they certainly help beating jams and in the running game.

Finally: what's with all these "ORs" that started popping up on the depth chart a couple years ago. It's a two-deep, not a three-deep — make up your mind and pick someone!

Five great players

When Barry first rolled out his Five Great Players theory a decade ago I really liked it. Everyone's always looking for a formula for sporting success, and the fact that he could point to Gibby, Dayne, Burke, Davenport, and Stemke and a cast of pretty good guys as the reason the '98 Badgers won the Rose Bowl.

So what about the 2008 edition? Does it have five great players? I would argue it has one.

Travis Beckum. That's it.

P.J. Hill? Could get there, but injury prone. Kraig Urbik? An above-average lineman, but not great. Matt Shaughnessy? Still waiting for him to advance beyond second team All-Big Ten performances. Shane Carter? Great ball skills, subpar tackler.

Jonathan Casillas has the ability to perform at a great level, but I wouldn't put him in that category yet. David Gilreath could be a great returner, but I'm still thinking his success last year was more the result of ample opportunity than flat-out excellence.

So, here it is in the second week of July, and Badgercentric is already forecasting a less-than-special year for our boys. Prove me wrong, guys.

Another one bites the dust: Shaughnessy

It was confirmed this afternoon that Matt Shaughnessy, the last remaining healthy defensive lineman on the Wisconsin roster, broke his leg in practice last night. Great. Does Azree Commander have any eligibility left?

To recap, the walking wounded on the D-line include: Shaughnessy, Kirk DeCremer, Jason Chapman, Brandon Hoey, Dan Moore, Dan Cascone, and Mike Newkirk. So at the spring game tomorrow it's Jeff Stehle, O'Brien Schofield, and some guys they picked up at the Nat on the D-line.

At one point, the injuries didn't bother me, because they allowed some younger guys to get more reps in spring practice. But this is ridiculous. Assuming all of these guys are back in time for fall camp - a big assumption that it is probably not appropriate to make - the unit should be at least mediocre. But add that on top of our two best cornerbacks recovering from knee injuries, and the defense becomes even more of a question mark than it was in January.

Then again ... last year's unit came in with a lot of hype and underdelivered. I've got a feeling that we'll be really down on the D coming into this season and they'll play better than expectations. Why?

1. I think Shaughnessy will be back and fully healthy by August and dominate this fall.
2. I think Jonathan Casillas and DeAndre Levy will be All-Big Ten-type guys this season, and Elijah Hodge and his platoon mates will be good enough in the middle.
3. I think Shane Carter will show a more well-rounded game, and our play at cornerback will not be disastrous.
4. Our defense has been really good in even-numbered years under Bielema. That one's a stretch, and I don't think this unit will be as good as those from 2004 and 2006 ... but what were your expectations for the defense in those years?

We may have the offensive horses to win some shootouts this fall, but who can tell with the offense playing against the JV squad. Has there been a less interesting spring game in recent memory? Like most people, I'm most interested in seeing if Allan Evridge or Dustin Sherer outplay one another, and how Johnny Clay looks.