Badgers Be Jammin'

The Badgers will make their second appearance at the Paradise Jam tournament in the U.S. Virgin Island this weekend.

With no slight to LBS or SIU-E, the Badgers will get their first real tests of the season. Up first for the Badgers are the Iona Gaels from the MAAC. Iona finished 12-20 last year and return 2 starters. The Gaels are young, particularly at the guards, but the guards do have talent and this team should not be overlooked.

If Wisconsin wins Friday night, they would face either San Diego — a team that returns everyone after advancing to the second round of last year's NCAA tournament with an upset win over UConn — or Valparaiso, a team that hung with the Badgers at the Kohl Center last year and if not for some mistakes down the stretch, could have won the game. I contend that the Badgers' win over Valpo was the turning point in the season last year, not the win at Texas.
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And should Wisconsin win in the semis, UW could face Connecticut — ranked second in the nation and considered a serious national title contender — or Miami (Fla.) — ranked in the top 25 and featuring star senior guard Jack McClinton — in the tournament final.

To compare, in 2005 the Badgers beat Norfolk State, Eastern Kentucky and Old Dominion to claim the Paradise title.

My first round picks:

UW (-16.5) over Iona 60-50
Miami (-6) over S. Miss 72-62
UConn (-16) over LaSalle 75-57
San Diego (-6) over Valpo 55-45

My semifinal picks (11/23 8 am):

UConn (-5) over Miami 72-69
UW (-4) over San Diego 58-56

Note: I expect two close, hard-fought games today. I'm going with my heart over my head with the UW pick. San Diego is a formidable opponent.

My final pick (11/24 4 pm)

UConn (-4.5) over UW 70-60

I hope I am wrong, but I believe that UConn has too much firepower for the Badgers. I hope this game is not a repeat of the Duke loss last year where the game was over at the half. This is a game against top-quality competition, so win or lose the Badgers will come away a better team.

Why Not the Wildcat

With one regular season game remaining and a hopeful trip to the Valley of the Sun for the Insight Bowl, the football Badgers are ending on a strong note after one of the most disappointing starts to conference play since the dawn of the Alvarez-Bielema era. Holes will remain next season, particularly along the defensive line and also at linebacker, but with PJ Hill returning for his senior season, and John Clay back as a sophomore, there has to be a way to get these two talented performers on the field more often.

The answer: try the Wildcat formation. Given that Dustin Sherrer is nothing more than the quarterback of the present, why not send him to the sidelines periodically and employ the formation Arkansas used so effectively with McFadden and Jones? The Dolphins have even used it in the NFL this season to get Ricky Williams on the field alongside stud Ronnie Brown.

I don't like Hill as a blocker and haven't seen much of Clay in this capacity, but Zach Brown is adequate in this area anyway, so he remains our best bet on third and long. Hill and Clay are great decoys and foils of one another. I would guess that Clay is a good enough athlete to split wide, too, as Alvarez did with Calhoun in his single season as a Badger.

Bottom line: there is some talent at wideout and tight end, but our two best players are stationed at running back, and it is imperative that Clay see more action while also capping off a solid career for Hill with another workmanlike 1,000 yard season. Soon-to-retire Joe Tiller took the league by storm with the spread a decade ago, and it's time for similar innovation on the ground in Madison. Perhaps our nine year drought in Pasadena will end with a thunder and lightning one-two punch in 2009.

Insightful

Let me get away from my thoughts on AC/DC that were mistakenly posted here to just give one quick thought:

Say what you will about the Badger football team this year and the disappointment and the poor coaching, poor development, poor play, poor everything- but you cannot say this team quit. Yes, they were bad in the 2nd half against Michigan and both halves against PSU and Iowa, but they should be on a 4 game streak right now and had their coaches developed any sort of depth on the D-Line they would have defeated OSU.

Thumbs up to the players for playing hard and trying to get better as the season went on. These guys deserve a good, spirited crowd on Saturday versus a good Cal Poly team.


With that being said, here is this week's power rankings and bowl predictions:


1. Penn State: The best team, too bad they had one slip up ROSE BOWL
2. OSU: Based on the big win over MSU, CAPITOL ONE BOWL
3. Michigan State: A really really good year for Sparty, OUTBACK BOWL
4. Northwestern: I did not expect Pat Fitzgerald to do this well. ALAMO BOWL
5. Iowa: An OK year for the Hawkeyes punctuated by the win vs PSU CHAMPS SPORTS
6. Wisconsin: Record be damned, the Badgers are the 6th best team. INSIGHT
7. Illinois: As big of a disappointment that the Badgers have been do not forget the Illini NO BOWL
8. Michigan: Yeah, right now the Wolverines are better than the Gophers NO BOWL
9. Minnesota: Minnesota did not play badly in Madison, unlike their previous 2 losses, MOTOR CITY BOWL
10. Purude: Not a good way for Joe to go, NO BOWL
11. Indiana: YEEEEEEEEEESH, NO BOWL