Paula Watkins crew finished 2012 with a 12-8-1 overall record and an even 5-5-1 in Big Ten play after scheduling a very difficult slate to prepare them for the challenge of Big Ten play. In 2013 it's a slightly different story as UW announced the Women's soccer schedule for the coming year.

Wisconsin will only face two teams out of conference that made the 2012 NCAA tournament in UCONN and Illinois State, with both games being road trips. 

In fact, road trip is the key word to the non-conference slate as UW will play it's first four games of the season on the road. After back-to-back games against UCONN and Illinois State the Badgers will head out west to take on Oregon (8-10-2, 3-7-1 Pac-12) and Oregon State (11-6-3, 3-5-3 Pac-12). 

UW will open play at the McClimon Complex on Sept. 6th against SEC foe Vanderbilt, whom Wisconsin has faced just twice in their history, holding a 1-0-1 record and winning the last meeting back in 2010 in Nashville. 

Perhaps the toughest slate of games will come when Wisconsin plays host to Penn State and Ohio State on the weekend of Oct. 4th. PSU and OSU finished 1st and 2nd last season in the Big Ten. 

Ron Dayne, you don't need to say anything more to Badger fans. To most he's the pinnacle of excellence in Wisconsin football. On Tuesday his legacy was cemented for all-time as he was announced as a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. 

Dayne, the 1999 Heisman Trophy winner (the 2nd in UW history), is still the all-time leading rusher in FBS history with  6,397 yards rushing and racked up 63 touchdowns for his collegiate career. He was a three time all-American for UW as well. 

That 6,397 yards total doesn't include the over 700 yards Dayne racked up in bowl games for his career. In total Dayne rushed for 7,125 yards on 1,220 carries with 73 touchdowns as a Badger.

His rushing totals by year: 

Freshman: 2,109yds
Sophomore: 1,457yds
Junior: 1,525yds
Senior: 2,034yds

Last week it was unveiled that the Badgers vs. Buckeyes Leaders division tilt would be a nationally televised night contest on one of the ESPN networks. This Monday the Big Ten Network unveiled their primetime night games and the Badgers will be on the road for a 2nd time at night in the 2013 season as they will take on fellow Leaders division foes Illinois on Oct. 19th. 

That means Wisconsin is on the road, inside the Big Ten, for two night games. It's something no other school in the Big Ten has to do. UW also joins Iowa as the only schools to not host a night game at all in the 2013 season. The Badgers remain a top draw though as UW will play at night twice in a season for the 7th straight year.

It is interesting that the Badgers vs. Northwestern game isn't a night affair as both teams have become upper echelon teams within the conference, but that would've meant back-to-back night games for UW and we all know the Big Ten doesn't like doing that to teams. 

Scheduling in the world of NCAA Volleyball has never been more important than it is now and in new head coach Kelly Sheffield's first season at Wisconsin he's going to challenge the Badgers with fourteen teams that made the NCAA tournament last season. 

“The non-conference schedule for us is a challenging one, no question, but one that I think will help prepare us for the Big Ten schedule,” said Sheffield. “Seven of our 12 non-conference matches are against teams that were in the NCAA tournament last year and just about every team finished in the top half of the RPI. We will be challenged every single tournament and that’s what I wanted for this team.”

Seven Big Ten teams made the tournament last season and the Badgers will also take on seven teams that made the NCAA tournament in the non-conference slate. 

Barry Alvarez is unquestionably the face of Wisconsin athletics on the whole, but what we in the general public see takes the work of hundreds of others who largely remain faceless and nameless. Those who know how things really work in college athletic departments know that sometimes an AD is only as good as the people you hire and especially those that you trust to be your "right hand man" if you will. 

At Wisconsin that man has been Sean Frazier, hired on in the athletics department in 2007 and elevated to deputy athletic director in 2011. 

However, Frazier appears to be a leading candidate to become the AD at Rutgers, who's AD resigned in the face of the Mike Rice abuse scandal just about a month ago or so. That could mean some big time ramifications for the inner workings of UW athletics, at least to some. 

Wisconsin came into Sunday needed two wins and some big time help from Penn State in order to take the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Big Ten tournament. That goal was on track after Wisconsin blanked the visiting Spartans 3-0 in the opener at Goodman Diamond. However, hope flamed out as MSU responded back with an 11-5 thrashing of UW to spoil Senior Weekend on the shores of Lake Mendota. 

The Badgers finish the regular season with a record of 39-11, setting a school record for wins in a season along the way and will have the 3rd seed in the upcoming Big Ten tournament on May 9-12 in Lincoln, NE. 

In the opener things got off to a cracking start, quite literally as leadoff hitter Marry Massei cracked a solo home run to put Wisconsin up 1-0. It was her 7th home run of the season and set the tone for UW. 

After a bit of trouble in the opening frame for Cassandra Darrah at the circle, she settled down quite a bit, getting back-to-back 1,2,3 innings in the 2nd and 3rd. 

SHEBOYGAN,WIS.-A combination of extra innings and yet another strong pitching performance lifted the Wisconsin club baseball team to a 1-0 win over Minnesota State-Moorhead in the championship game of the NCBA Division II District V regional.

With the eight-inning win, the Badgers advance to the NCBA Division II World Series in Paducah, Ky. May 17-21.

Offense, in any form, was hard to come by in this affair. In fact, UW mustered just two hits for the game.

But this is where starting pitcher Adam Rubatt came into the picture.  The junior south paw delivered a big-time pitching performance when his team needed him. Rubatt went eight shut-out innings, allowing only six hits. He struck out eight and walked three. 

Head Coach Gary Andersen said on national signing day that the Badgers weren't likely finished recruiting for the 2013 class and today those words became prophetic as UW added to their class with the commitment of Tekeim Reynard. 

I'm now a Wisconsin Badger! Can't wait to ball out ! I'm truly blessed ! I thank God for everything he has blessed me with !

— Tekeim Reynard (@KINGREYNARD7) May 5, 2013

Reynard, a 5'11", 175lbs. cornerback comes to Wisconsin from Independence (Kansas) Community College and has not been rated yet, but will likely change because of his commitment to Wisconsin (gotta love rankings sometimes, huh). 

There was little secret that the Badgers were looking to add depth in their secondary and Reynard provides instant help at a position of need. In 2012 he recorded 83 tackles, 2 interceptions and 5 pass break up's this past season for Independence.

He had other offers from Colorado, Kentucky, and Georgia Southern and according to multiple reports was leaning towards Wisconsin before the visit this weekend, but committed during his visit. 

Reynard is originally a native of Chesapeake, Virginia and could help provide the Badgers with some momentum in the area - especially with a shootout from friend and Badger target Jamil Kamara. Whatever benefit that may be is minimal compared to the help he'll provide to a very thin defensive backfield at the moment. 

Wisconsin softball came into it's final series at home ridding a nine game winning streak and unfortunately for UW that number would be an unlucky one as the Badgers (38-10, 15-6) went down to Michigan State, 9-4, in the series opener on Saturday afternoon. 

Nine was a key number as the Spartans (23-23, 8-9 B1G) offense was efficient, getting the nine runs on nine hits in the win. It didn't take MSU long to get on the board either as they opened things up quickly, going up 2-0 in their half of the 1st inning. 

However, the Badgers looked like they would have the answers on the afternoon, scoring four runs in their half of the 1st to make it a 4-2 lead to the home team.

That was all the offense the Badgers could muster though as they managed just four hits the rest of the day and were befuddled by Spartans pitcher Kelly Smith who struck out nine UW batters in here five and two-third's of work on the afternoon. 

SHEBOYGAN,WIS.-Though they were in an, admittedly, good position after a win on the opening day of the NCBA District V Regional, the Wisconsin Division II club baseball team still had work to do when they took the field for day two.

A win, and the Badgers were off to the championship on Sunday morning. A loss, and they would be forced to play for their tournament lives in an elimination game approximately an hour later.

Wisconsin proved to be up to the occasion, but no one delivered a more timely performance than starting pitcher Logan August. 

August pitched a no-hitter and, in-turn, keyed a 2-0 Badgers’ victory over Lakehead Saturday afternoon at Wildwood Baseball Park.

The sophomore right-hander silenced the Thunderwolves’ bats with a six strikeout performance and a strong supporting cast.

“I have a fastball and a slider. I like to mix it up a lot-mixed in a changeup today,” August said. “What I was just trying to do was throw a lot of first-pitch strikes. Once you get that first one in, they don’t know what’s coming. You can really have a little bit of fun with them.”

Offensively, UW scraped together just three hits in the first three innings, but a Lakehead error and a clutch run-scoring double from Adam Rubatt helped the Badgers assume a 1-0 edge in the bottom of the third.