Last night incoming Freshman Zak Showalter announced via Twitter that he'll be recieving a basketball scholarship for the 2012-13 season.

Been working for this all my life! Hardwork really does pay off. Thanking God for this opportunity to play for the #Badgers for FREE!

— Zak Showalter (@ZShowbball333) June 13, 2012

In his senior season at Germantown High, Showalter averaged 22.1 points a game in route to becoming his school's all time leading scorer. Zak led his Warhawks to a perfect 28-0 season and a Division I state title. 

Despite being heavily reqruiting and offered by ten other mid major colleges, Showalter decided to walk on with the Badgers.

"I'm going to work as hard as I can, that has always been the strongest asset of my game." said Showalter after announcing his commitment to the Badgers.

Showalter was originally a preffered walk on to Bo Ryan's progam. With Uthoff transferring the Badgers had an extra scholarship to dish out. They made a very late push at Sheldon Jeter, who eventually commited to Vanderbilt. When Jeter declined, Showalter was next on the list.  

Showalter is an athletic freak who has great fundamentals. He is a high octane player who has a nose for scoring. If you haven't seen Showalter play, check out this highlight tape courtesy of Midwest Ballers.com

We're a few months ahead of the start of Badger fall camp, but coachs and players a like will tell you that it's the summer months that make the biggest difference in a player.  It's a time spent amongst the players themselves as coaches aren't allowed to have contact in terms of actual coaching.  So with that, what Badgers have the most to prove from this summer?

1. Danny O’Brien, QB

An obvious choice at #1 here, incoming transfer quarterback Danny O’Brien has the most to prove going into the 2012 season. With a battered corps of inexperienced QBs, O’Brien brings a boost of starts, health, and talent to the position group. But how much talent? In 2010 he was pronounced ACC Rookie of the Year, after posting 2,438 yards, 22 TDs (8 INTs), and a 57% completion rate in a pro-style system. Respectable numbers, although that is far too low a completion % than Badger fans have grown accustomed to (Russell Wilson – 72.8%, Scott Tolzien – 73%). After Randy Edsall arrived, Maryland changed to the spread, a system O’Brien was not suited or adjusted to. As a result, he threw for only 1,648 yards, 7 TDs, and 10 INTs before being benched. Badger fans hope (and some assume) that O’Brien will be the Badger’s starting QB this fall, and that he will be the team’s savior in a similar way that ACC transfer QB Russell Wilson was in 2011. Beware – O’Brien is not Wilson. O’Brien has the most to prove going into 2012 because he is a relatively unknown commodity at the most important position on the field. His career statistics are somewhat sporadic, but was that the result of the system he was in, a decrease in focus, or some other reason? Regardless, his leadership, work ethic, command of the offense, and chemistry with receivers will all be pivotal if the Badgers are to have a chance at a third consecutive Big Ten Title.

No. 63: "Arch Madness" (DI Men's Basketball)

The Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, otherwise known as "Arch Madness", is arguably the best sporting event in all of mid-major conferences. Held at the Scottrade Center in-St. Louis, Missouri- Arch Madness is a midwest fan favorite. 

What makes this tournament so special? The Missouri Valley conference, though not the biggest, has some of the nation's most rabid fanbases. The schools are located in the heart of basketball country, which means there are a lot of wild fans and basketball junkies.

Those rabid fanbases? They show up in numbers. St. Louis is just a bus ride away for most schools as the conference is only spread over a six state area.

So you have a great facility, a great city, and a great atmosphere. What else could you possibly need?

Great competition.

Being a conference full of mid-majors, the Missouri Valley usually doesn't usually have too many high power teams. That means 10 teams are usually battling for one NCAA tournament bid. That's 10 small colleges fighting for their chance on the big stage. You better believe that the stakes are high.

It may not be the best basketball featuring the nation's best players, but the atmosphere, competition, and stakes of Arch Madness are what makes it so special. 

To see the crazyness that is Arch Madness, check out this video made by the Missouri Valley Conference. 

You guessed it right, it's a 2-for-1 Monday here on the MTB College Sports Bucket List as we bring you the greatest games and events that any real college sports fan should want to see, well at least according to our staff, that is.  

Up 2nd on the docket today is one of the grandest and oldest rivalries in all of college hockey, yet it's a game that often gets buried by some.  Of course we're talking about the Battle for the Gold Pan, a.k.a Colorado College vs. Denver.  

Ask players from either side and this is easily the most intense game on either schools calendar any season, some have even compared it to USA vs. Canada in terms of it's intensity.  Part of that is due to the fact that it's been played for so long.

It's the 2nd most played rivalry in college hockey, dating back to 1950, trailing only Michigan vs. Michigan State for the most played overall.  Both teams are charter members of the WCHA and will become charter members of the NCHC in 2013-14.  

The trophy - a gold pan (obviously) - was not around for the first 40 or so years, but was introduced in the '90's by a meeting of the minds between the coaches of the Tigers and Pioneers. 

Every year these two find each other four times, one weekend at CC and another at DU.  With the rivalry being so important it's often the first and last series of their seasons.  Currently the overall record between these teams stands at 157-111-15 in favor of the Pioneers of Denver.  However, since the inception of the Gold Pan to the rivalry it's been advantage CC, as they lead 11-8 in winning the season series'.

It's such an intense and long standing rivalry that back in the 2007-08 season College Hockey News ranked it the 4th best in the sport, beating out the likes of Minnesota vs. North Dakota and Cornell vs. Harvard and that's saying a lot for where this rivalry is.

Welcome to a new week here on the MTB College Sports Bucket List and it's going to be a week full of great games as we continue the countdown.  Today, it's one of the smallest states in the Union that's also home to one of the most contentious, bitter, and newest rivalries in college sports - Delaware vs. Delaware State, which comes in 65th on our list.

Prior to 2009 the Blue Hens of Delaware hadn't played their intra-state rivals, the Hornets of Delaware State, ever in a regular season game.  In fact if it weren't for a 2007 NCAA 1-AA Playoff game that saw a record crowd of nearly 20,000 at Delaware Stadium these teams would've never have met.  

The controversy really got going thanks to a 2007 E!SPN Page 2 article claiming some of the reason had to do with DSU being a Historically Black University, but many other MEAC programs (the conference the Hornets belong to) have played UD in the past and it was taken as an affront by many in the Blue Hens community.  They also pointed out that the two programs weren't on the same level in terms of competitiveness and that other sports play games between the two schools. 

That all changed thanks to an opponent canceling on the Blue Hens in 2009 and this series, known as the Route 1 Rivalry, and played for the First State Cup, began in earnest.  Because of the capacity at Delaware Stadium being quite a bit larger the games are all scheduled to be played there. 

While this game has only been played twice with Delaware winning 27-17 and 45-0 in those games anytime you have intrastate public schools going at it on the football field it's must see stuff.  Over 20,000 people saw the first edition of the Route 1 Rivalry and over 18,000 attended last years game.  The game is scheduled to happen again in 2012, 2013, and 2014 and I'd expect it to be extended as it's a good thing for the state as a whole.  

The game isn't quite as bitter on the field as it is off the field for the obvious reasons of one side feeling like the other ducked them.  However, the final score in 2011 may serve as an impetious for this one to start getting nasty on the field of play as no one likes to be embarrassed, let alone shutout by a rival.

While this game is young and not as competitive as some of the others, the feelings surrounding the game and what it means to the Union's First State make this a must see event and why it lands so high on our College Sports Bucket List. 

According to reports Sam Dekker was one of 12 players to make the final cut for the United States U18 team that will compete in the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Brazil.  The tournament will run June 16-20 in Sao Sebastiao do Paraiso, Brazil.  

Coaching the team will be Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan.  According to a release from USA Basketball the final roster looks like this: 

Nate Britt, II (Gonzaga H.S., D.C./Upper Marlboro, Md./North Carolina signee)

Sam Dekker (Sheboygan Lutheran H.S./Sheboygan, Wis./Wisconsin signee)

Shaq Goodwin (Southwest DeKalb H.S./Decatur, Ga./Memphis signee)

Jerami Grant(DeMatha Catholic/Bowie, Md./Syracuse signee)

Montrezl Harrell(Hargrave Military Academy/Tarboro, N.C./Louisville signee)

Jake Layman(King Phillip Regional H.S./Wrentham, Mass./Maryland signee)

Rodney Purvis (Upper Room Christian/Raleigh, N.C./NC State signee)

Julius Randle (Prestonwood Christian Academy/ McKinney, Texas/Uncommitted)

James Robinson (DeMatha Catholic H.S./Mitchellville, Md./Pittsburgh signee)

Marcus Smart (Marcus H.S./Flower Mound, Texas/Oklahoma State signee)

Jarnell Stokes (Memphis, Tenn./Tennessee sophomore)

Rasheed Sulaimon (Strake Jesuit College Prep/Houston, Texas/Duke signee)

Dekker is certainly in some fine company on this team, especially playing with the likes of Sulaimon, Britt, Harrell, and Purvis.  We'll be following the action in the tournament, so look for reports as they warrant.

The 2012 NCAA Finals are complete and Wisconsin placed 11 runners/throwers on the all-American teams.  The Badgers had five first team all-Americans - led by Rob Finnerty's 5th place finish for the men in the 1500 and Jessica Flax's 4th place in the Women's Heptathlon.  Six Badgers earned second team all-American honors as well.  

Wisconsin's domination in the 1500 meters continued with Finnerty's performance at the Finals.  He is the 10th all-American for the Badgers in the event and the school's 17th all-American award with his 5th place finish.  Most of the domination has come lately as Wisconsin has seven AA's in the past five seasons.  

Joining Finnerty as a first team all-American were Mohammed Ahmed (7th in 5000M), Elliot Krause (6th in 10000M) and the Women's heptathlon duo of Jessica Flax (4th) and Dorcas Akinniyi (8th). 

On the second team were Dan Block (12th in Men's Discuss), Japheth Cato (14th in Men's Decathlon), Austin Mudd (11th in Men's 800M), Kelsey Card (16th in Women's Discus), Caitlin Comfort (9th in Women's 10,000M), and Danna Latham (T-10th in Women's Heptathlon).

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the meet has to go to the contingent of Badgers competing in the Women's Heptathlon.  Akinniyi, Flax, and Latham were 1-2-3 finishers in the Big Ten Championships and all three managed to become all-Americans in the same season.  

On the team side of things the men finished 32nd with just 9 points and the National Championship went to Florida who beat out 2nd place LSU 50 to 48.  The Women finished tied for 40th with 6 points and the National Championship went to LSU in commanding fashion (76 points to Oregon's 62).  

Following the end of the meet UWBadgers.com caught up with Rob Finnerty, so check out his interview here:

Over the next few weeks we'll be keeping tabs as a lot of Badgers will be competing for spots on national teams for the Olympics in London this year.

With the end of the meet yesterday the 2011-12 season of Wisconisn Athletics has come to a conclusion.  Over the next few weeks we'll be doing a recap of the best in Badger moments from the last season, so be on the look out for that.

The campuses of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and St. Norbert College are just over an hour drive from one another.

For almost two decades, their hockey teams have done battle.

There is no denying that the two teams are familiar with one another. There is also no denying that one team has, at least historically, held a distinct advantage over the other. The Green Knights are 41-19-5 against the Pointers all time.

What makes this matchup especially intriguing is the connections that the two programs have.

Each program has had their heyday. The Pointers claimed three national championships under head coach Mark Mazzoleni. The captain of the first national championship squad in 1989: Tim Coghlin. Coghlin a two-time All-American defenseman at UW-Stevens Point became the head coach at St. Norbert in 1993 and has rapidly built a dynasty in De Pere.

The Green Knights have won three national championships under Coghlin and have appeared in the Frozen Four seven times. One of his assistants for the sizeable part of his tenure is none other than Mazzoleni.

The Pointers believe that they have found the man to lead them back to the glory the program once knew and the early results seem to support that belief. In his first season as head coach, Chris Brooks knocked off then top-ranked St. Norbert in UWSP’s conference opener. He then piloted his squad all the way into the Peters Cup Championship and another date with the Green Knights. Despite the fact that SNC won the title and the NCHA’s automatic bid into the national tournament, the Pointers have shown that they plan to be knocking on the door for years to come.

This is yet another series that’s future remains in question due to the creation of Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference hockey. WIAC hockey is set to begin during the 2013-14 academic season. UWSP is a member. As of now, SNC is not.

We're already halfway through the NCAA Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, IA and that means results are pouring in fast and furious.  Wisconsin has had a mixed bag of results so far, but earned two second team all-America honors after Day 2.  

Japheth Cato took 14th in the decathlon, earning the final spot on the 2nd team all-America list.  Things weren't quite as good for his teammate David Grzesiak who finished 20th in his final appearance in his Badger career.  

Cato is just a sophomore and it was his 2nd appearance at the Finals.  "My freshman year I was 15th (at the NCAA championships).  This is something to really grow off of," said Cato. "It was a really good experience and I'm really glad I got to share it with (teammate) Dave Grzesiak." 

The other second team all-American was Caitlin Comfort who finished 9th in the Women's 10,000 meter event with a time of 33:19.54.  

Back over on the men's side one of Wisconsin's best hopes for a possible podium finish, Rob Finnerty, qualified for Saturday's 1500 meter final.  

Comfort wasn't the best of the Badger Women at the meet on Thursday as the 1-2-3 Big Ten finishers in the Women's heptathlon began competition and Big Ten champion Dorcas Akinniyi sits 3rd after four of seven events with 3,590 points.  Currently she is only 6 points behind 2nd and is over 200 points behind leader Brianne Theisen of Oregon.  

Jessica Flax sits in 6th while Deanna Latham brings up the Badgers rear at 11th place heading into the final day of competition today.  The highlight of the night for the tiro of heptathletes was that all three hit their personal bests in the shot put at the meet.  

Friday will see Wisconsin have a bit of lighter schedule as only Mohammed Ahmed competes on the track in the 5000 meter final.  The three heptathletes will also finish up with the final three events of their meet.  On the field side of things Monica Jakute will compete in the hammer throw and Taylor Smith will go off in the shot put event. 

Before diving in to one of the best West Coast rivalries in all of college football, don't forget to check out our double dose from yesterday in case you missed it.  

But today we're talking one city divided by two schools - one public, one private - yep, we're talking UCLA vs. USC.  With both of these schools located in Los Angeles and just 12 miles apart in that city it makes for a unique and quite intense rivalry between the two schools.  

That rivalry manifests all the good, bad, and ugly when they annually get together on the gridiron, something that started way back in 1919. The winner of the annual grudge match is award the Victory Bell - a shinny old Southern Pacific railroad bell.  However, it wasn't the trophy until it was stolen by USC students prior to the 1941 game and thus the traveling nature of the trophy was born.

On the field the Trojans own a commanding lead in the series, which stands at 46-28-7 (two of those victories vacated). UCLA last won this game back in the 2006 season.

While the game on the field may not always be a close one, as USC is one of the historically best college football programs and UCLA one of the historically best basketball programs, it's many times what happens in tailgating and on campus that makes this not only a must see game, but a week of events that prove just why college sports are so darn special in America.  

Students routinely attempt to play pranks on the other school's campus and in the past the most frequent targets were the largest ones - Tommy Trojan at USC and the Bruin Bear at UCLA.  It's spawned new traditions of hiding or wrapping up the statues so neither can be painted.  Also, students on both campuses can be found camping out to "keep guard" against pranks on those two landmarks.  

Many other pranks have occurred throughout the ages as these two schools proximity helps in that.  Add in the fact that alumni find themselves usually in the same cities and working/living with people that attended their bitter rivals and you've got a powder keg of ideas for pranks. 

Add in the fact that many Trojans don't see UCLA as their main rivals (that honor belongs to Notre Dame) and you have even more animosity on the part of Bruins fans.

What also makes this a very unique rivalry was that up until the 1982 season both teams called the LA Coliseum home.  In 1982 the Bruins moved to their current home at the Rose Bowl.  It's not all that often that you see teams, let alone rivals sharing the same stadium in college football.  

My suggestion is to head out to LA for the week leading up to this one, take in the atmosphere, and enjoy what is quintessentially college sports, UCLA - USC.