We are in the home stretch of our series of Spring Football previews here at MTB for the week as tomorrow brings the first of the 3 weekends of games across the Big Ten.  Starting things off today are the Northwestern Wildcats.

The 2011 season was one that a lot of Wildcat fans saw as a chance to contend for a Big Ten Championship and at the very least for the Legends Division title, but that didn't pan out thanks to a longer than expected absence from star QB Dan Persa.  As a result of his health issues Northwestern finished next to last in the Legends Division and a losing record overall.  

Realistically the teams issues had very little to do with the offense and more to do with a defense that couldn't stop anybody and couldn't get any pressure on the opposing teams.  The Wildcat defense gave up 20 or more points to their opponents 8 times last year in 12 games.

2012 brings about a young, but improving roster of players that could see Northwestern surprise people that aren't looking at them as a challenge with all the players that are gone.  Spring practice has been huge for the coaching staff of Pat Fitzgerald to see exactly where players are and where they need to point them to be come fall camp.

The albatross hanging over this programs neck is the number of bowl game wins: ZERO.  The players know that it's there and are using it as motivation, but know there are steps to take to get to that goal in the first place and it all begins this spring.  So, what storylines and players are to be watched on this team?

2011 Record: 6-7 (3-5) - 5th in Legends Division

Postseason: Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas - L27-33 vs. Texas A&M

Head Coach: Pat Fitzgerald (40-36, 6 years at Northwestern/Overall)

Returning Starters: 13 (5 offense, 6 defense, 2 special teams)

Spring Game Info: April 14th @ noon CT (BTN.com & BTN2Go)

Spring Outlook: One thing that will be different this year is that the Northwestern Spring game won't be a traditional Spring game, more of a controlled scrimmage according to Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald.

Last year it all started and ended with the health of Dan Persa.  With his rehab taking a bit longer than at first thought it allowed the Wildcats to try and find a quality quarterback for the future.  After a few games it became apparent that Kain Colter could be that guy and come this Spring he's now QB1 on the team, but it won't be handed to him either as he'll still compete with Zack Oliver and Trevor Siemian, both freshman (Siemian a redshirt).

Last night rumors broke out that redshirt Freshman Jarrod Uthoff would be transferring from Wisconsin, a rumor that we were able to confirm later that night.  Reaction to his decision was one of shock around the Badgers program and around those close to his basketball life.  

Perhaps one of the biggest indications of just how shocking the decision was is the transfer restrictions placed on Uthoff.  According to this article in the Cedar Rapids Gazette those restrictions include several specific schools in multiple conferences.  It also states he plans to appeal those restrictions.

One would assume that includes the schools within the Big Ten, especially since associate head coach Greg Gard was quoted recently as saying to Uthoff's AAU coach he thought Uthoff "looked good and [he] was excited to get him on the court next year."  All of that comes from an article by Jim Polzin of the Wisconsin State Journal.

Not only should that list include the Big Ten schools because of that, but also because a transfer of a player who's been in a program within the conference requires him to sit out two full years when transferring inside the conference as well as go without a scholarship according to conference rules. 

So that means he would have sat out three seasons without playing a lick of high level basketball outside of practice and pick up games.  A situation that would virtually guarantee him zero playing time no matter where he went in the conference.  

Also believed to be on that list is Iowa State, a school that was after Uthoff hard in high shcool and was thought to be a close second behind the Badgers in his recruiting.  This one is a bit more indicative of the surprise and shock in my book since Ryan is usually pretty good at allowing a player to move on if they don't want to be here and weren't really part of the plans in the end.  

It's not as if the Cyclones and Badgers play each other every year or are in the same conference, so this is a bit puzzling to me.

A lot of speculation has centered around possibly transferring to Creighton, which we reported could be a destination last night, and possibly fellow Missouri Valley Conference foe Northern Iowa.  Both schools would fit his game well and could also not be on the transfer restricted lists, but we've been unable to confirm a full list at this point.  

One option that may have to happen for him if he doesn't win his appeal of the transfer restrictions is playing one year of Junior College basketball and then heading to a Division 1 school from there, allowing him to have three years of eligibility.  

We wish him well in whatever choice he makes as it's clear he doesn't hold any ill will to the Wisconsin program or the school.

But, where does this leave the Badgers?  Uthoff was expected to tandem with incoming star recruit (top 25 nationally) Sam Dekker to be the frontcourt for the Badgers in the future according to some.  That stream of thought was a bit curious to me because the two players games were so similar I'm not sure they would've been complementary players ala Bruesewitz and Berggren this year.   

We do know that the Badgers have an offer out to 6'6" forward Sheldon Jeter out of Beaver Falls, PA.  However Wisconsin is competing with Penn State, Florida State, and South Carolina for his services.  A decision from Jeter should be coming soon since the signing period is now back open.

Also out there, according to sources, are a few players in Illinois that are going under the radar.  If the don't land Jeter an offer could be put out to one of those kids or Wisconsin may end up choosing to hold on to the scholarship for what is thought to be a deeper and more talented group of recruits in the 2013 class, so be on the lookout for some movement in the recruiting world, something we'll keep you updated on as we get more information.

One thing that won't be totally hurt by this transfer regardless of what they do with the scholarship is depth up front.  Wisconsin will have transfer Zach Bohannon (Jason's brother) available starting this upcoming season as well as the incoming Sam Dekker to go along with Frank Kaminsky to form a good group of players to complement the likes of Ryan Evans, Mike Bruesewitz, and Jared Berggren.  The player that may benefit the most is Evan Anderson.  The 6'10" redshirt sophomore (2012) hardly saw the court last season, but he'll be a bigger option off the bench next year surely because of the fact that Uthoff was a taller player in front of him, but don't expect him to be logging significant minutes either.

In the end the Badgers should be fine without Uthoff, but his loss does make it all the more important to hit on a talented forward that's able to contribute right away in the 2013 class as both Bruesewitz and Berggren are Seniors next year.

In some very surprising news that broke out tonight Badger fans learned that Redshirt Freshman Jarod Uthoff has requested his release from the program. This news was confirmed by Uthoff's former AAU coach, Jamie Johnson who said that Uthoff called him Thursday night with the news of his request.

"This news is totally surprising, to say the least" Johnson said.

Uthoff, the Cedar Rapids native, entered the Wisconsin program last year after being named Mr. Basketball in Iowa. He was rated the 199th overall player and a three star by Scout.com coming in to Wisconisn.

This was very unexpected news for Wisconsin fans. Bo Ryan had big plans for Uthoff as power forward of the future for the program. Uthoff was expected to get some decent minutes next season backing up Berggren and Evans. There was no reports of Uthoff being unhappy in Madison. With so much practically being given to him, it really is a mystery why he would want to leave. 

Rumors now are pointing to Uthoff joining Creighton. Under NCAA rules Uthoff must sit out one year of his eligibility if he chooses to transfer to a Division I school. Due to his redshirt this year he will have three years of eligibility left at the school he decides to attend.

Saying the 2011 season in Bloomington, IN was not good might be the understatement of the year so far.  The Hoosiers had one of the worst Big Ten seasons in recent memory as they took up the bottom of the league in Kevin Wilson's first season at the helm.  So, there's nowhere to go but up right?  

But the question is could that be the bottom and the building of something special for the Indiana program?  Watching what happens this Spring should give us a great clue as to if it's a building block or if there's still that much more work to be done for this dormant program.  

What we do know is that 2011 saw a lot of freshman gain valuable playing time with 16 true/redshirt freshman earn starts in throughout the year.  

One of the more interesting things was that Wilson wasn't content to just sit back with his players and his staff as well.  He brought in 6 Juco players and a new offensive coordinator in Seth Littrell who comes from Arizona where the offense was ranked third nationally in passing and has ties to Oklahoma, where Wilson came from, as he was the captain of the 2000 National Championship team.

So, with the changes and experience gained, what is Spring football all about in Bloomington in 2012?

2011 Record: 1-11 (0-8 6th in Leaders Division)

Postseason: None

Head Coach: Kevin Wilson, 1-11 at Indiana and Overall

Returning Starters: 16 (7 offense, 8 defense, 1 special teams)

Spring Game Info: April 14th - noon (BTN & BTN.com)

Spring Outlook: With a new offensive coordinator that molded a pretty good QB in Nick Foles at Arizona it will be interesting to see how Littrell will work with the super athletic and talented Tre Roberson.  But one of the most interesting things actually happens on the other side of the ball and that's who replaces the heart and sole of this program in Jeff Thomas.  

Thomas led the team in tackles (80) and was the clear vocal and spiritual leader of a very young group of guys last year.  Replacing that leadership is going to be huge for this Hoosiers team.  To that end Kevin Wilson brought in 5 Juco defensive players to help give them a shot of experience and talent while they build up the younger players.  

2011 ended with the Wolverines in a BCS bowl game, something it hadn't done in years and it was accomplished in new Head Coach Brady Hoke's very first season at the helm of the Maize 'N Blue.  So naturally the expectations are raised to a level that hasn't been seen in many a year in Ann Arbor.  But, what does the Spring hold for the Wolverines as they prepare to deal with a season where they will be a target as a top contender in the Big Ten Conference?

Well, one thing is for sure and that's that the team is focused one goal.  Safety Jordan Kovacs said it best in a teleconference earlier this week.  "The Big Ten Championship is all that matters to us." 

Year two of the Hoke era at Michigan will be dramatically different than year one because of the players lost on each side of ball, which makes spring football that much more key to their ability to live up to expectations.

We all know about the rivalry with "that team" (Ohio State) and this year will be huge as both teams have a high profile, higher than it has been in quite some time on both sides, so with that what does Michigan look like and what should we be watching for this Spring?

2011 Record: 11-2 (6-2) - 2nd in Legends Division

Postseason: Sugar Bowl - W 23-30(OT) vs. #17/11 Virginia Tech

Head Coach: Brady Hoke - 11-2 (1 year at Michigan) 58-52, 9 years overall

Returning Players: 16 players (6 offense, 7 defense, 3 special team) *2 punters return that split time

Spring Game Info: April 14th, 11am Central (BTN for coverage)

Spring Outlook: Going into last season the question was could Denard Robinson mesh with the new more pro-style offense under OC Al Borges and as it turned out it was more a case of Borges being able to fit and adjust his offense to fit the talents of Robinson.  

Perhaps the most electrifying player in the  Big Ten is back for one more go around at Michigan after a year where he completed 55% of his passes for 2,173 yards and 20TD's to 15INT's.  He clearly struggled with the passing game at times and in fact became famous for his inopportune "arm punts" as the season went on.  His accuracy and throwing game have been a huge focus of the spring practices so far and getting him above the 60% accuracy rate was also mentioned.  

It will be equally important for him to get some reps with what is essentially a brand new crop of wide receivers as two of his top targets, Junior Hemingway and Kevin Koger, are both gone, along with Martavious Odoms.  He'll have to rely on Jeremy Gallon to increase his production a bit from the 31 catches he had (2nd on the team) last year.  Also look for Roy Roundtree to be a bigger piece of the offense and seeing the relationship those three players develop together will be huge.

Robinson returns and that means the leading rusher also is back as he went for 1,176 yards rushing and added 16 touchdowns for a total of 36 combined TD's on offense.  He averaged a healthy 5.3 yards a carry and was much more durable last year.  The question is will he be able to continue that rushing streak or will he become more of a passing threat in year two of this offense?

Behind him are two very good running backs in Fitzgerald Toussaint (1,041 yards, 9TD's) and Vincent Smith (298 yards, 6.0avg, 2TD's).  The knock on Smith was that he may be too small to be a featured back, so seeing him add a bit of weight and what he can do with that should make him someone to really keep an eye on in the Spring game on Saturday.

The biggest issue facing the Wolverines heading into 2012 are on the offensive and defensive lines and to this point in Spring it's clear things aren't going as planned.  "We're a long way from where we want to be in August," said Head Coach Brady Hoke on Tuesday's teleconference.  "Either side isn't very good right now."  

He did say it wasn't for a lack of effort as they are working hard and also said that the defensive line is not near where they need to be compared to the offensive line.  

That should be expected as they face the prospects of replacing three starters (Will Heininger, Mike Martin, and Ryan Van Bergen) that really were the catalysts for the turnaround this program experienced last season.  Watching the defensive line position group should be the number one thing you look for in the Spring game because if they can't get it figured out before the season starts that could be a major issue with the offenses this team will face in MSU, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Northwestern.

In the back of the defense things are bit more settled as all the starting linebackers return and three of the four members of the secondary are back, lead by big time safety Jordan Kovacs who's clearly a leader on this team. 

One thing that will really help the guys this Spring is that this will be the first time in about 5 years they'll have the same defense from one year to the next and it's something that Kovacs mentioned on Tuesday as a big help in getting the players to perform in year two.

Overall look for this to be an entertaining Spring game and a very competitive one as there are enough spots up for grabs to make players go all out the whole way.

According to a recent release from College Hockey, Inc., 300 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey alumni played in at least one game in the NHL in the 2011-12 regular season. 22 of those were former Badgers, who played in 17 different teams, more than half of the league. 

While only Michigan had more players represented in the regular season (23), Wisconsin will be the most represented school in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which start today.

A total of 10 former Badgers from seven different teams are in the race for the coveted cup this year. A pair of UW alumni are on three teams (Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks) while four other teams are represented by one Badger each. 

All in all, at least one former Badger will be in five of the eight conference quarterfinals series, all of which are best-of-seven games. The teams will play at each other's arena for two games each then, if necessary, rotate for the last three possible games of each series. TV listings can be found here. There will also be recaps of how the players did after each game as long as UW is still represented in the playoffs.

Here is a complete rundown of the first-round matches: 

Eastern Conference

#1 NY Rangers vs. #8 Ottawa
Derek Stepan (2008-10), Ryan McDonagh (2007-10), and the top-seeded New York Rangers open their first-round series against Kyle Turris (2007-08) and the Ottawa Senators at home on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT. Stepan finished fourth overall on the team with 51 points (17G-34A), while McDonagh was second among all Ranger defensemen with 32 points (7G-25A). Turris, a mid-season trade from Phoenix, finished with 29 points (12G-17A) in 49 games played with the Senators. 

#3 Florida vs. #6 New Jersey
Verona native Jack Skille (2005-07) and the Florida Panthers take on the New Jersey Devils in a #3 vs. #6 series at home starting on Friday at 6 p.m. CT. The Panthers clinched the third seed in the Eastern Conference because they won the Southeast Division title, their first divisional title in franchise history. 

Western Conference

#1 Vancouver vs. #8 Los Angeles
Hudson, Wis. native Davis Drewiske (2004-08) and the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Kings start their first-round series at the home of the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks starting on Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m. CT. The Kings had led the Pacific Division for a chunk of the regular season, while the Canucks won the Northwest Division and the President's Trophy (for the most points) this year. 

#2 St. Louis vs. #7 San Jose
Brian Elliott (2004-08) and the Central Division champions St. Louis Blues open their series at home against Joe Pavelski (2004-06), Madison native Brad Winchester (2000-03), and the San Jose Sharks. Elliott finished the regular season with a league-best 1.56 GAA and a .940 save percentage while adding a new shutout record of 241:33. Pavelski, a native of Plover, Wis., finished fourth overall and led all right-wing Sharks with 61 points (31G-30A). His 31 goals tied for highest on the team. 

#4 Nashville vs. #5 Detroit
Ryan Suter (2003-04), Craig Smith (2009-11) and the Nashville Predators secured home ice for the first time in franchise history and open their series against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT. Suter, a Verona native, finished the regular season with a career-high 46 points (7G-39A, also a career-high) and finished third among all NHL defensemen with 25 points on the league-leading Predators power play (3G-22A). Smith, a Madison native, finished eighth among all NHL rookies and teammates with 36 points (14G-22A).

It's day two of our look around the Big Ten and in the hot seat today are the Iowa Hawkeyes.  Kirk Ferentz is the dean of coaches in the conference with the firing and eventual passing of Joe Paterno at Penn State.  That title usually means stability in a program, but 2012 presents an anything but stable situation in Iowa City.  

Wholesale changes occurred under Ferentz after one of the most up and down seasons for the Hawkeyes in years that ended in their 2nd straight appearance in the Insight Bowl.  That means the 2012 Spring football camp and game have a lot more importance than in years past.  Gone are both the long time offensive and defensive coordinators and Ferentz went outside the program for the OC hire of Greg Davis.  Davis should be familiar to most college football fans as the man that guided the Texas offenses that featured Colt McCoy and Vince Young, so he'll bring in much more of a multiple set offense to the Hawkeyes while still keeping most of the pro-style principles already in place.  Defensively they promoted Phil Parker to the coordinators role from his position of defensive backs coach.

It's been a bad last few off-seasons at Iowa and the trend continued a bit this off-season with transfers and injuries so a good spring game could help the rabid fanbase turn their attention to the positive things coming out of the Hawkeye program.

2011 Record: 7-6 (4-4, 4th Legends Division)

Postseason: Insight Bowl - L 14-31 vs. #19 Oklahoma

Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz (96-66, 13 years at Iowa, 108-87 overall)

Returning Starters: 12 (6 offense, 5 defense, 1 special teams)

Spring Game Info: April 14th, noon Central

Spring Outlook: As stated before it's a year of change for Iowa, especially on the offensive side of things, but it won't all be change as starting QB James Vandenberg is back for another year as the starter.  He might have been the 2nd best passing QB in the Big Ten last year, his debut year as a stater, as he completed 58.7% of his passes for 3,022 yards.  He also was very good with his decisions as he threw for 25TD's and just 7INT's. There's no doubt that he will be counted on to provide a lot of leadership as there isn't much experience at the skill positions around him.

I say that because top running back Marcus Coker isn't back and the guy that most thought would step in to his shoes with a good Spring, Jordan Canzeri, won't be playing at all because he tore his ACL just this past week.  That leaves an already depleted spot completely bare of any experience whatsoever.  It also means that there will be a huge opportunity for the incoming true freshman that will be around this fall.  So, for the Spring it will be interesting to see what they do with the running game, or if they just start to concentrate more on the passing game and getting that all set.

Luckily Vandenberg will have a few talented wide receivers to throw the ball to and he mentioned that directly in his teleconference with the media from around the Big Ten today.  Keenan Davis comes back after a 50 reception, 713 yards, and 4TD's performance last year.  Also back is the guy that Vandenberg and Ferentz both have raved about in Kevonte Martin-Manley.  Martin-Manley was the 3rd wide receiver last year and still caught 30 balls for 323 yards and 3TD's, not bad numbers in a pro-style offense.  It will be important to bring those guys a long in the new offensive scheme under Greg Davis.

Speaking of that, Ferentz clearly is happy with his choice of Davis saying earlier today "I'm very impressed, he's been a great fit."  He also revealed, along with Vandenberg, that the Tight Ends may be a source of production that will surprise some people.  

Vandenberg mentioned Zach Derby and C.J. Fiedorowicz by name as guys to watch for to have break out seasons at Tight End, so keeping an eye on their performance in the Spring practice game will be important as well.  

Up front Iowa must work on replacing three starters, but like our Badgers the Hawkeyes are more than capable of plugging in talented players along the line at any point.  The issue may be getting in sync with inexperience running backs and that's something to look for in the Spring game and going forward into fall camp.

Defensively it was a case of promoting from within as Phil Parker, who spent the past 13 seasons as DB's coach, became the defensive coordinator.  They will still be playing a 4-3 defense but they will be without three of the four starters along the defensive line.  It won't be easy to replace names like Broderick Binns, Mike Daniels, and Tom Nardo to say the least.  So making sure they find a rotation that works for them along the line is going to be a key, especially since their defense let them down so many times last year. 

The good news is returning a lot of talent behind that defensive line in James Morris and Christian Kirksey at two of the linebacker spots.  So that may help the defensive line get in order because they are good enough to cover up some early mistakes through Spring and can help see what needs to be worked on.  

Darrell Wilson comes in to take over for Parker as the defensive backs coach and he'll need to replace one starter from a year ago, but will have two very good DB's in Micah Hyde and Tanner Miller who topped the team in INT's last year with three a piece. Hyde should be a lock at corner again this year after a terrible time experimenting with him at Safety.  His opposite will be B.J. Lowery who became a solid player last year.  There will be an open spot at Strong Safety and with a new position coach in place the battle is bound to be a little more wide open.  Look for Nico Law, Collin Sleeper, and converted LB Tommy Donatell to battle for that spot through both Spring and Fall camp.

The only other spot to really look for is the positions behind Hyde and Lowery at corner.  There are a lot of guys battling for those spots and a lot of incoming talent there as well, so watching who emerges in the Spring could tip you as to where things are heading in the fall.

Overall this will be a more interesting and eventful Spring game than last year because there are a lot more moving parts to this team than last year which featured really only a new QB and the ever present running back issues as big time storylines.

If you're out there on the twitter-verse (if not get on there and follow us @MTBadgers) by know you've probably seen the investigative report from the Sporting News in regards to the Urban Meyer era at Florida as well as his brief tenure at Ohio State to this point.  It paints his days at Florida as less than the rose colored vision that he'd have you believe went on in Gainesville, FL.  Generally speaking most of the stuff isn't exactly "breathtaking" or things we didn't already know thanks to police reports, but in general it has brought to light some issues that are disturbing in many ways.  The things brought up in this article have me wondering if Ohio State could be suffering from a case of "buyers remorse" when his time is all said and done in Columbus?

Most important to Badger fans is the article also mentions the little "dust up" on National Signing day between Bret Bielema and Meyer.  Michigan State's Mark D'Antonio also got in on the fray and words were exchanged through press conferences, which we all know about by now.  

Ohio State fans, bloggers, and journalists loved to try and pile on saying that it was just two coaches crying over "flipped" players and brushed the incident aside.  Well, the truth came out in the article above and as it turns out the comments by the two coaches had zero to do with "flipping" players, a common practice in the recruiting world that Bielema and D'Antonio have both done to get recruits to their schools in the past.  

Instead it had to do with something else, something actually illegal under the NCAA rules. As the article states:

"According to sources, Wisconsin accused Meyer and his staff of using former Ohio State NFL players to call high school recruits. Wisconsin also accused Meyer and his staff of bumping into offensive lineman Kyle Dodson, who was committed to the Badgers but eventually flipped and signed with the Buckeyes. The practice of “bumping” occurs when coaches accidentally “bump” into players during recruiting dead periods."

It also went on to confirm with Bielema that the issues he was speaking about had nothing to do with a "gentleman's agreement" like most were speculating.  

Further on it also highlighted Meyer's wonderful attitude towards the practice of "flipping" players, saying to a coaches clinic in Ohio, "You’re pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what? We got nine (coaches) who better go do it again. Do it a little harder next time.”

Yes, it's that time of year already as we begin the fun that is Spring Football games this weekend.  In fact seven of the twelve Big Ten teams will play their games this Saturday.  For those of you with us from the beginnings over at WiscoBadgers.com you'll remember our Spring Football Previews from last year.  Things will look similar to that, but a few tweaks in the system will hopefully bring you some good looks at the other teams around the Big Ten.

We start things off in our division with a look at the Illinois Fighting Illini who had perhaps one of the most disappointing seasons in Illini history last year and that resulted in Ron Zook being relieved of his duties.  In his place stepped Tim Beckman who had led the resurgence of the Toledo program over the past three years.  This program has a ton of question marks obviously after their utter collapse from a 6-0 start and a top 25 ranking to a team playing in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, so let's take a look at what's on tap for the Illini this Spring. 

2011 Record: 7-6 (2-6)

Postseason: Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl - W 20-14 

Head Coach: Tim Beckman (1st year at Illinois, 21-16 career record)

Returning Starters: 17 ( 7 offense, 8 defense, 2 special teams)

Spring Game Info: April 14th @ 2pm Central

Spring Outlook: With a new regime in place there's always an aura of excitement around the program and that'll be the case on Saturday as the new look Illini take to the field for what promises to be a spirited Spring game.  Beckman has said that no starting position is a lock including at quarterback so there will be a lot to look forward to.  

One of the most interesting things that's happened this Spring is Beckman reaching out more to the players of the past as he's brought in former Illini o-lineman Dave Diehl to really help in grading out and assisting with the offensive lineman in camp and he was there just as recently as this past Friday.  

Not only that but players of the past will help coach the Spring game which will be a game picked by a draft tomorrow.  The coaches will also be split between the two sides (orange and blue).  The honorary coaches will be Jeff George, Mike Holmes, and Brit Miller for the Orange team while Doug Dieken, Dana Howard, and Tim McCarthy will coach the Blue team.  So at least he's trying to surround the team in the winning culture of the Illini past.  

Sports Covered: Softball, Tennis, Openweight Rowing, Lightweight Rowing, Track & Field, Hockey, Volleyball

Softball

The Wisconsin softball team went a perfect 6-0 this week. In addition to beating UIC on Tuesday and sweeping Loyola Chicago on Wednesday, the Badgers got their first Big Ten series sweep of the season over arch-rival Minnesota on Friday and Saturday.

Wisconsin (20-13, 6-3 Big Ten) shutout the Golden Gophers (21-13, 3-6) to start the series on a high note on Friday. After a scoreless first inning, the Badgers scored a run in each of the next three innings to eventually win, 3-0. Sophomores Stephanie Peace and Marissa Mersch and junior Kendall Grimm all scored for UW while sophomore Cassandra Darrah pitched her sixth shutout of the year.

The Badgers won the season series with Minnesota by taking the first game of Saturday's doubleheader by a score of 5-1. Wisconsin took advantage of key Gopher errors to go up 1-0 in the third inning before scoring three more runs from junior Shannel Blackshear (RBI single) and Peace (2 RBI double) to extend its lead to four. Minnesota scored a run in the fifth inning to prevent another shutout but that was all the Badgers would allow in game 1. Darrah improved her record to 13-6 on the year with the win.

It was a different story in the nightcap, as Minnesota scored 10 runs in just its first four innings of action, including four in the opening half-inning alone. The score was 10-2 going into the bottom of the fourth when Peace, who went a perfect 4-for-4 in game 2, recorded a double to start the Badgers' rallying efforts. They went on to score four runs in that half-inning as part of what is now the biggest comeback in school history. With the bases loaded, two outs and the score tied at 10 in the bottom of the seventh, Blackshear won the game for UW with another RBI single. Junior Meghan McIntosh got the win at the mound as a reliever.

Up next for Wisconsin is a doubleheader with Western Illinois at home on Tuesday before a 3-game conference series at Illinois. First pitch for Tuesday's game is scheduled for 3 p.m.