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.

Wisconsin has been known to produce an Olympic athlete or two in it's days as an athletic program and 2012 is sure to be no different.  Before we look ahead to those competing at the 2012 games we were honored to look back with one of the greatest Badgers of all-time, Carly Piper.  She was a 2011 Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, an 18 time collegiate all-American, a 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, and a former World Record Holder.  She sat down and shared some of her Badger and Olympic memories with us. 

The question for anyone attending college whether and athlete or not is always, why?

"I knew right when I stepped foot [on campus] I wanted to go there," Carly said about her fist visit to campus.

"Walking around the campus, seeing all the facilities, seeing everything around.  It feels big but it's very small too."

While at Wisconsin she served as the team captain and was twice named the Big Ten Conference Swimmer of the year in addition to the 18 all-American honors she received, but those aren't the only memories she takes away from her time at Wisconsin.  

"Being a part of a team - it was kind of like a family atmosphere." Piper said.  "Just know that you had that built in support system, trying to reach that same goal."

She competed in the 200, 500, and 1650 for the Badgers and was one of the lucky athletes able to compete at both the distance and mid-sprint levels. 

In 2004 Carly made it out of the United State Olympic trials as a member of the 4x200 freestyle relay team while still being a member of the Badgers.  It turns out that her versatility as both a distance and sprint swimmer paid off.

In a report first published by XOfan.com Jarrod Uthoff made it official that he will end his recruitment after transfering from Wisconsin and has picked Big Ten rival Iowa as his new home.  

Uthoff will return to his roots, as the Cedar Rapids native, will play his basketball about 25 minutes from his home town.  He will have to sit out next season and because he redshirted this past year at Wisconsin will loose a year of eligiblity.  He'll also be paying his own way at the University of Iowa for next year as he decided to go to a school on the restricted list and thus by Big Ten rules can not recieve a scholarship for the next year.

Most of this isn't exactly earth shattering news as we talked about it earlier in the day on MadTownBadgers own radio program - Badgers Power Hour - so check that out for opinions galore. 

However, one section of this article really caught my eye and may be the most head scratching part of this whole saga:  His reasoning for leaving Wisconsin - you know, the "Style of Play" reason.  

Well, here's how they describe Uthoff's style of play and why he'd fit in as a Hawkeye: 

"The 2011 Iowa Mr. Basketball has the ability to score facing to the arc, he can take bigs off the dribble and has a deadly mid-range game off the dribble. He is an excellent passer, who can hit open man out of post or facing the rim. he is similar in a number ways to current HAwkeye Aaron White. So he will add to Iowa’s inside-out game in the half-court and their transition game. He is very quick in open court and has ball skills to get to rim off one-two dribble drive and finish. He is a solid rebounder who uses his length to snatch board and to finish with jump hook or turnaround in the paint."

So, where exactly does his "style of play" not fit in at Wisconsin?  I'm just curious?  Last time I checked that's exactly how the 4 position plays for the Badgers.  Sure, I could be off the mark, but the years of studying the fundamentals of basketball and growing up with the swing offense as religion in the Green Bay area might give me a good grasp on the basics of the offense at least, huh?

His quotes about liking their style of play vs. Wisconsin's also begs the question of what the heck this young man was watching when he was being recruited by the Badgers and Hawkeyes.  I mean, seriously, not sure you could get offenses much different than that in the game of basketball.  If you wanted to run and were thinking Wiscnosin would change then that's on you and your team of advisors for not doing your homework.  

I'll give him credit for at least seemingly finding in his soul just what he wanted to do, but don't expect Wisconsin fans to applaud you anytime in the future.  Leaving Wisconsin is one thing, but going to the enemy and the way you did it is a totally different subject all together.  This sure is going to be an interesting ride over the next four years of Iowa vs. Wisconsin.

Representatives of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors announced its preferences for the future of the college football postseason in a teleconference on Monday. League representatives stated that they do not have any issues with the current procedure, but they recognized that as an unlikely option moving forward.

The representatives went on to say that they would be in favor of a four-plus one scenario where the top four teams would play and whoever was determined to be the top two would play for a national championship. A four-team playoff within the current bowl parameters was mentioned as a secondary preference.

23 players hit the hardwood in Colorado Springs for beginning of the U-18 National Team Training Camp Tuesday and incoming freshman Sam Dekker was among them. Head coach Billy Donovan and assistants Mark Few and Shaka Smart will eventually whittle the group down to a 12-man roster. The first round of cuts are expected to be made Thursday.

The Jared Uthoff saga could be coming to a close in the near future, but before it does, storminspank.com had a little fun with the situation. You can read all about it here.
The Big Ten Conference announced its 24 winners of the Outstanding Sportsmanship Awards for the 2011-12 academic year. Kyle Jefferson (mens track and field) and Any Covington (womens basketball) took home the honor for the Badgers.

The Big Ten also released its list of athletes in Spring and at-large sports who qualified for the All-Academic Team. 90 Wisconsin athletes representing 11 different sports qualified for the list. The women’s track team led the way with 14 selections.

Former Badgers defenseman Davis Drewiske and the Los Angeles Kings are one win away from claiming the first Stanley Cup in franchise. The Kings could seal the deal with a win over the New Jersey Devils tonight.

That's right... Just because it's summer doesn't mean we don't have all the inside info and opinons from Badger Power Hour on complete hiatus!!  In fact we've been working hard behind the scenes to make it just that much better for Season 2.  We'll be going LIVE today at 4pm Central with our second summer episode!!

Today Andy will be joined by MTB contributor Nate Woelfel as we discuss the possible end of the Jarrod Uthoff transfer saga... Only it could be a begining, not an end?  We'll also have the latest updats from Des Moines as Wisconsin Track & Field is competing in the NCAA Championships starting today.  

Increasingly news is broken via twitter these days and because of that it got us to thinking about coming up with a list of the people and accounts you should be following.  Well, just as we got that idea our friends at scacchoops.com approached us ahead of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge announcement of that very thing involving the Big Ten.  As a result they've compiled a list that's about as extensive as possible and we are honored to be included on that.  You can find the entire list here, but here's a sampling of it below for your viewing pleasure this morning:

Blogs
1.  @HawkeyeNation – Jon Miller is publisher HawkeyeNation, an independent and free (e.g. non-pay) site. They cover University of Iowa Hawkeye athletics. 

2.  @bhgp – Black Heart Gold Pants is your SB Nation blog for all things Iowa Hawkeyes.

3.  @IllinoisLoyalty – Illinois Loyalty is a fan-centric Illini sports blog and message board that is run by Dan O’Brien.

4.  @crimsonquarry –Also on SBNation is the The Crimson Quarry, a major source for Indiana Hoosiers athletics.

5.  @InsideTheHall – Inside The Hall is an Indiana Hoosiers blog that is solely focused on men’s basketball.

6.  @UMGoBlog – Probably the most well known of all Michigan blogs is UMGoBlog. Your definitive source for Michigan Wolverines athletics. The. Best.

7.  @MazeBlueNation – Maize and Blue Nation is a Wolverine-based recommendation from @MTBadgers

8.  @spartansordie – Mike Wilson runs the Bloguin-based Michigan State Spartans blog, The Little Brother Blog. 

9.  @gopherhole – Gopher Hole is one of the more well-known University of Minnesota blogs on Gophers Athletics. Here is a great bio on @NadineBabu who runs Gopher Hole. 

10. @FromTheBarn – From the Barn is a University Minnesota Gophers blog that focuses specifically on men’s basketball.

Don't fret, we are on that list, but they went in alphabetical order, so make sure to check out the entire list as they also give you some of the best "mainstream media" accounts to follow and we can't argue against any of the accounts they put on.

In the college hockey world there's rivalries and then there's great games and our No. 70 represents both as the two teams that make up this game can normally find themselves at the top of the college hockey heap.  What teams am I talking about?

That would be WCHA foes North Dakota and Denver as they have easily one of the most intense rivalries out there and with the future switch by both schools to the eight team NCHC (National Collegiate Hockey Conference) after this upcoming season things are only going to get more intense as they play each other more often.  

Just how intense?  Well, take this quote from Denver head coach George Gwozdecky who responded to a question about UND just this past season by saying, "We respect them because they've had success, but we don't like them.  You want to drive them through the boards and through the walls of the arena."  

What makes this series so intense and full of hate is because of the stakes involved.  Usually a McNaughton Cup, WCHA Final Five championships, or even NCAA Frozen Fours are at stake when these two teams meet.  Both teams made the 2011 NCAA West regional in Green Bay and neither teams fans wanted any part of the other squad at first, but once that game became a reality, boy oh boy did the UND fans revel in the 6-1 victory over their hated rivals that got them to the Frozen Four.  

That game wasn't quite as good in the stands because the Denver fans really didn't show up in Green Bay, but seeing the venom and intensity of the Fighting Sioux fans towards the Pioneers was something I'll never forget having seen it in person.

For some people this is one of the rivalries inside the WCHA that may not jump right out at you, but those on the inside and/or having studied the conference know that this could very well be the biggest and best of all the rivalries out there, at least on the ice.

Overall the series stands at 134-116-8 in favor of North Dakota and both teams have combined for 6 WCHA regular season titles as well as a 1-1 record in NCAA Hockey Regional Finals.  This past season went the way of the Fighting Sioux as they split the two regular season matchups but took out the Pioneers 4-0 in the WCHA Final Five Championship game.  

With the changing landscape of college hockey coming with the Big Ten coming next season it's going to be great to see this kind of rivalry have a chance to shine in a way it hasn't in the past and in my book that can only be a good thing for college hockey in general.