Believe it not.... We're Halfway there. Oh ya, I just did that and you can thank me later for the awesome Bon Jovi reference! On that note, we've reached just beyond the halfway point in our trip around the best of the college sports world on the MTB College Sports Bucket List. So before going into No.'s 49 - 1 let's take a look back at where we've already visited, shall we?

We hope you've enjoyed the list to date and make sure to check back later today as we begin the 2nd half of the countdown! As always, the easiest way to stay up to date is by following us on Twitter and Facebook & ON WISCONSIN!

Wisconsin's 2013 class is getting fuller by the week, or at least that's how it seems, but one player that's still out there and a Wisconsin target had perhaps one of the best weeks at the highly regarded "The Opening", which is a gathering of a lot of the top prospects around the country. That player is offensive lineman Scott Quessenberry. 

He had the 2nd best SPARQ testing rating of any offensive lineman, admittedly in a testing system that's not all that friendly to the big guys. He clocked a 5.10sec 40yard dash time and more according to this report from 247sports. Quessenberry finished off the event by being named one of the Top 5 offensive lineman at the camp and got to go head-to-head with some of the top D-Line prospects during the showcase of the event on ESPNU on Saturday. 

His showing there even earned him an invite to the 2013 Under Armour All-American game (insider alert) according Erick McKinney, ESPN's West Coast Recruiting Coordinator.

On the unfortunate side of things, it appears he is no longer keen on the Badgers, narrowing his list after The Opening, telling multiple sources that it's really between Cal, Nebraska, and Washington for his commitment.

Also at The Opening was 2014 offensive line target Ross Pierschbacher. We spoke with him earlier today to get his thoughts on the event and what's been going on with his recruitment over the summer.

Frederick Hugs Pederson, Could They Be Award Winners in 2012?

Just two days in to the unveiling of the college football awards watch lists and Wisconsin is a perfect 4-for-4. Center Travis Frederick and Tight End Jacob Pederson were named to the Rimington Award(best center) and Mackey Award (best tight end) watch lists respectively in an announcement made earlier today. 

Pederson is on the list for the 2nd straight season and was a semi-finalist for the 2011 award. He is one of just 6 Big Ten tight ends on the 33-person watch list for 2012. Wisconsin is continuing to become a hot bed for tight ends as Pederson's name on the watch list marks five out of the last six seasons with at least that honor. 

Pederson follows in the footsteps of only one other Badger, Travis Beckum, to be named to mulitple Mackey Award watch lists in their Badgers career. 

The list will be narrowed down to the semi-finalists on Nov. 12th this season, in case you are watching out for those things.

The Rimington Award is given to the best center in the country and is given out separately from the College Football Awards show that airs on Dec. 6th, it's given out Jan. 12th instead. 

Frederick is going into just his redshirt junior season and first as a full-time starter at the Center position after starting 11 games at left guard and two at center in 2011. He's a third year starter and has made 18 career starts already, becoming the first true freshman to ever start an opening game along the offensive line during the 2009 season.

The junior was a 2nd team all-Big Ten pick last season and is one of six players on the 51 man watch list. Frederick was one of six Big Ten players named to the list, second to only the SEC which had 10 players on the list. You can see the full list here.

Wisconsin probably won't have another shot of having players named to watch lists as tomorrow the Lou Groza and Ray Guy Award watch lists come out and Wisconsin is breaking in new players at both positions.  

Halfway through our countdown we take a look at a familiar rivalry here in Badger land.

No. 50: Wisconsin vs. Marquette (DI Men's Basketball)

The I-94 rivalry between Wisconsin and Marquette is one that has heated up immensely in the past decade. This game's anything but a new rivalry though. The two in-state rivals have played since 1917. The teams have met every year since the 1984-85 season. The Badgers own a 64-54 advantage over Marquette in the series.

Geography is just about the only thing these two teams have in common. The most evident difference between the Badgers and Golden Eagles is their style of play. Bo Ryan's slow, wind down the shot clock swing offense is an absolute opposite to Buzz William's run and gun, fast tempo play.

Having two very successful basketball programs in the same 80 mile radius can lead to a lot of conflict between fans. I've experienced this first hand as a diehard Badger fan living in Milwaukee, attending Marquette University High School. In a environment full of 75% Marquette fans, I've had to defend my Badgers quite a few times. Specifically in the arguments of "which program has better history" and "who will get farther in the NCAA tourney. Believe me, Marquette fans love their team just as much as Badger fans do.

If you think these two teams only battle once a year, you're very wrong. Marquette and Wisconsin often find themselves fighting for in state talent in the recruiting periods. Some big names from the state of Wisconsin very frequently narrow their list to two teams; the Badgers and Golden Eagles. The Badgers have snagged some Milwaukee area talent from Marquette in guys like Devin Harris, Marcus Landry, and Josh Gasser. The Golden Eagles have also stolen a few Badger commits, ala Wesley Matthews and Vander Blue. The positional battle in recruiting only heats up the action on the court.

 If you live in Wisconsin, you surely know a both a diehard Badger fan and a Golden Eagle fanatic. While this game is certainly one of the best to win, it's also likely the most painful to lose. The winner's fans receive in state bragging rights for the year as the states top team. 

The accolades keep coming for Wisconsin running back Montee Ball. In addition to being named to the Maxwell Award watch list, Ball was tabbed as the No. 1 running back in the Big Ten by ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.

Over the next two weeks the National College Football Awards Association will roll out their respective watch lists and it all starts with two of the biggest in the Maxwell Award (Outstanding Collegiate Player of the Year) and the Bednarik Award (Defensive Player of the Year) announcing theirs first today. 

Wisconsin saw RB Montee Ball have his name placed on the Maxwell Award watch list and MLB Chris Borland was named to the Benarik Award watch list in an announcement earlier today. 

Ball was one of 65 names on the preseason list which included 8 Big Ten players on it. You can find the entire list here.

Borland was named to the Bednarik preseason list for the second straight year and that list of players can be found here.

The lists won't be pared down until semi-finalists will be announced on Oct. 29th. Congrats to Ball and Borland and we'll be sure to keep you up to speed on any other Badgers named to these lists over the next few weeks. 

Can Bielema Lead Wisconsin to a National Title?

The position most talked about as a key to Wisconsin's success in 2012 has been the play of Danny O'Brien at Quarterback, but interestingly, if the Badgers are looking to compete at the highest levels on the national scale it just may be the defensive line that holds the key to Wisconsin's success and not Danny O'Brien, but why?

Well, it may come down to just one little statistical anomaly from the 2011 version of the Badgers and if corrected Wisconsin could be on it's way to another Top Ten ranking and National Title contention.

If you're like me then you love you some football stat breakdowns and frankly no one does it better than Phil Steele himself. He released his 2012 list of National Championship contenders earlier today, coming up with 11 schools capable of competing for a title based on last year's stats and a few other factors. Did Wisconsin make that list? Count me as not shocked, but NO they didn't make his list. But this isn't some arbitrary list, it's got guts to back it up in the form of statistical analysis.

The college basketball world was turned upside down one day in 1982 and that day spawned one of the greatest traditions in college basketball, the Maui Invitational. The day in question? December 23, 1982 when Chaminade University (a D2 school) took down Ralph Sampson and the University of Virginia. 

No. 51: Maui Invitational (D1 Basketball): 

Without that upset it's very doubtful we'd be sitting here talking about any tournament on the islands of Hawaii. The Maui Invitational began in 1984 and has been hosted by Chaminade since then at the Lahaina Center. 

It's a tournament that's attracted the best of the best in college basketbal on an annual basis because of that upset. Teams like Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, and North Carolina have all won the tournament in the past. The original tournament saw Providence take down Chaminade in the finals, but it wasn't easy, winning 60-58. 

What makes the tournament so fun besides being on the island of Maui is it's in a true old-school basketball gym that seats just 2,400 people yet hosts lineups of teams that could fill a 24,000 seat arena easily. 

This tournament has been won by many a great team, but no other team can compare to the record that Duke has, winning 5 Maui Invitational titles. It's also been a launching pad for a few teams on their way to national titles as three teams have won both the Maui and the National Championship in the same year, Michigan (88-89), North Carolina twice (2004-05, 2008-09) and finally UConn (2010-11).

Over the next two years the tournament stays on the forefront of college basketball with 2012 featuring the likes of Butler, Illinois, Marquette, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Texas, and USC. 2013 will have Arkansas, Baylor, Cal, Dayton, Gonzaga, Minnesota, and Syracuse. 

Without a shadow of a doubt this is simply the best in-season tournament in all of college basketball and hey, who wouldn't want to be on the island of Maui around Thanksgiving weekend, right? I know it's way up there on my personal list of must see events because of the basketball first, but hey a vacation while watching basketball is a plus as well. 

We're constantly attempting to give you unique, fun, and interesting coverage here at MTB and with it being summer the recruiting world is heating up like no other and we're stepping up our game on that front as well. With that we were able to hook up with one of the first huge offers in the 2014 class, Quarterback Chance Stewart, who has been picking up interest from around the Big Ten.

2014 QB Recruit Chance Stewart

Stewart is a QB from Sturgis, MI and he fits the mold of a typical drop back passer and Pro-Style QB as he stands 6'5" and is about 210 right now. So Wisconsin's interest should be easy to see.

He received his first offer from a BCS school from Wisconsin after camping at the school in mid-June. "It was a great weekend, I got to spend the hole weekend with my dad," said Stewart in our exclusive first interview with him. "Then on fathers day I earned my 1st BCS offer. So it was a very fun weekend."

After camping at Wisconsin he came away impressed by both Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada and Coach Bielema and is also anxious to see what the facilities look like after construction is done.

Wisconsin is not the only Big Ten school after his services and Stewart has camped this summer at Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State. He's also been to Notre Dame for their camp as well. Currently Wisconsin and Western Michigan are the only known offers out there for Stewart. 

When asked about where Wisconsin fits in to his recruitment Stewart stated, "I really like Wisconsin, and Michigan. I'd say those two schools are on the top of my list."

Currently Eddie Faulkner is the main recruiter for Wisconsin and he's proven to be able to land the big fish after getting a huge commitment from Darius Latham in the 2013 class earlier this week. 

It's safe to say Stewart is enjoying his recruitment process overall, but there's been a downside as well, "The hardest part is probably waiting for that phone call," said Stewart. "[The] majority of the coaches said we'd be in contact in the future after camp. So that's the hardest part."

As for making a decision on a school Stewart says "Well, I'm more of a pro-style QB so that's something that'd be nice [a pro-style offense]. And as a time frame- Id like to make a decision by the end of my junior year."

He could be a key piece to Wisconsin's 2014 class and his offer sheet should become numerous over the next few months, but the Badgers are clearly making an impression on him and he's one to watch over his Junior season as the QB inches closer to a decision. 

What would a college sports bucket list be without visiting the SEC, right? I mean seriously, these guys and gals take their football to levels that are very hard for people from some other parts of the United States to totally grasp until you see it in person. 

So, we've come to our first venture into SEC football here on the MTB College Sports Bucket List. 

No. 52: LSU vs. Arkansas (FBS Football): 

There may not be an older, yet newer rivalry in the SEC than the Battle for the Golden Boot between these two border rivals. I say that because this is a rivalry that dates back to 1901, yet it wasn't really annually played until Arkansas joined the SEC after leaving the famed Southwest Conference in 1992. Since then it's been an annual game centered around Thanksgiving weekend.

The Golden Boot trophy wasn't added until the 1996 game, which was a 17-7 LSU victory over the Razorbacks. 

Just because it wasn't played all the time doesn't mean the hate subsided as these two teams have played 57 times overall with LSU leading the series 35-20-4. What makes this rivalry so interesting is that they also have played twice in the famed Cotton Bowl (1947 & 1966). 

It's a rivalry that's been born out of the results on the field more so than anything off of it, with three of the last five games going to Arkansas and just three touchdowns separating the teams in the last six games. 

Then why isn't it higher on the list? Well, it simply doesn't have quite the same cache as say Florida-Georgia, Ole Miss-Mississippi State, and some other SEC rivalries which have a lot to do with on the field stuff, but also with the cultures of the schools they represent.