Tag: big ten standings

Iowa lands commitment from former Big Ten West starting quarterback

Big news for Wisconsin’s 2024 schedule:

The Iowa Hawkeyes landed a commitment from former Northwestern starting quarterback Brendan Sullivan on Wednesday.

Sullivan surprisingly entered the transfer portal in late April after three years with the Wildcats. He was the team’s starter for a chunk of last season, completing 63.6% of his passes for 714 yards, 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He was projected to be the full-time starter entering 2024.

Related: Post-spring Big Ten football 2024 power rankings, starting quarterback rankings

Iowa lands Sullivan as it prepares for an important 2024 campaign. Five-year veteran Cade McNamara is back for a final season after missing much of 2023 with a leg injury. He projects to be the starter, though Sullivan could push him for that job.

The Hawkeyes recently saw backup Deacon Hill enter the portal during the spring window, so there was likely some writing on the wall that another quarterback could be entering the room.

Iowa needs to re-shape the position group after several putrid years of offensive production. The program hired Tim Lester to be its offensive coordinator this offseason and expect him to improve the unit from where it was under Brian Ferentz.

Sullivan has two years of eligibility remaining. If he doesn’t win the job this offseason, he’d almost-definitely be the Hawkeyes’ starter in 2025.

Wisconsin visits Iowa on November 2. This news now confirms the team will have better quarterback play than when the two teams met in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The Hawkeyes have won the last two in the series and three of the last four.

For more on Wisconsin’s transfer portal activity this spring as Luke Fickell works to improve the roster, check out our 2024 spring transfer portal window tracker.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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Wisconsin basketball slips in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology

Wisconsin is in the midst of its worst stretch of the season

Wisconsin basketball is in the midst of its worst stretch of the season.

Since the start of February, the Badgers have blown a 19-point lead on the road at Nebraska, lost a tight one to No. 2 Purdue and then lost on the road to Michigan — the worst team in the conference.

The team has dropped to 16-7 overall and 8-4 in the Big Ten, now a full two games behind first-place Purdue.

Related: Wisconsin social media reacts to crushing loss to last-place Michigan

The Badgers will still make the NCAA Tournament, barring an unforeseen collapse over the last eight games. But the team was edging on the 1-seed line just a week ago. It now has dropped to a 3-seed and the No. 10 overall team in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology.

The Badgers are back tomorrow in a tough road matchup at Rutgers. The program needs a win badly to halt the losing streak and maintain pace with Purdue and Illinois.

Michigan’s Juwan Howard suffered a historic loss to Rutgers on Saturday

Things have gone from bad to worse for Juwan Howard at Michigan

Michigan basketball is in a very bad place at the moment.

This year’s Wolverines are 7-15 overall, 2-9 in Big Ten play and 1-10 in their  last 11 games. The program is nearly certain to miss the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. It went 23-5 and made the Elite Eight in 2020-21. Then it went 19-15 in 2021-22, 18-16 in 2022-23 and now this season’s disaster.

For reference, Feb. 20, 2022 was the date Juwan Howard slapped Joe Krabbenhoft and ignited a brawl after the Badgers’ win. Wisconsin’s record since that date is 40-23. Michigan’s is 30-35

The problems reached a crescendo for Howard’s program on Saturday. The Wolverines led Rutgers by 17 points at halftime and led 47-32 with 16:54 left in the second half. The Scarlet Knights then scored 37 of the next 49 points — a 37-12 run — to win 69-59.

Howard can recruit, and he’s clearly still an important figure in Michigan basketball history. But I’m not sure how the Michigan athletic department watches this collapse from 2020-21 and doesn’t take action.

Michigan is by far the worst team in the Big Ten this season.

Northwestern’s coach had an all-time ejection last night as Purdue was handed a victory

Northwestern’s coach had an all-time ejection last night as Purdue was handed a victory

Wisconsin basketball was almost given a gift last night…almost. Instead, it appears to be Purdue on the receiving end.

Chris Collins and the surprising Northwestern Wildcats played on the road at Purdue yesterday. The Boilermakers scratched out a 105-96 overtime victory thanks to 30 points and 15 rebounds from Zach Edey, 26 points on 5/7 shooting from three from Lance Jones and, most importantly, a free throw disparity of 46 to eight. Yes, Purdue went 29/46 from the free throw line while Northwestern went only 6/8.

The Boilermakers could have five Zach Edeys on the floor and get hacked every time down the court, but that still wouldn’t explain one team shooting nearly 40 more free throws than the other. Last night was just a terribly officiated basketball game.

Related: Looking ahead to Wisconsin’s 2024 football schedule

For Wisconsin purposes, a Northwestern victory in the contest would’ve given the Badgers a full-game lead atop the Big Ten standings with a tough two-game stretch upcoming — at Nebraska tonight and home against Purdue on Sunday. Instead, Wisconsin and Purdue are technically tied entering the Badgers’ contest tonight at Nebraska.

Regardless of the Big Ten ramifications and Wisconsin fans’ rooting interests, the officiating did give us an all-time ejection from Wildcats head coach Chris Collins:

And a terrific postgame monologue. I’d call it a rant, but it was too calm and well-directed.

I think Collins is in the right here, even if it meant losing his mind at the end of the game. Now Wisconsin will hope it doesn’t experience the same fate when Edey and the Boilermakers visit Madison on Sunday afternoon.

Apparently it’s now acceptable to storm the court against the No. 11 team in the country

Apparently it’s now acceptable to storm the court against the No. 11 team in the country

Sporting norms change as the years go by.

Tonight, Wisconsin lost to Penn State 87-83 to fall to 13-4 on the season and 5-1 in Big Ten play. The Badgers’ incredible start to the season still exists, but the team now has a blemish in conference play with Purdue sitting a game back at 4-2.

There are several stories from the game. The officiating was suspect, the game tipped off at 9 p.m. eastern for some reason and the Badgers lost to one of the worst teams in the conference. It’s a game you as a team try to move past quickly.

One other story from the game that must be pointed out is that the Penn State faithful rushed the court after the win. Now I don’t know what’s acceptable and what isn’t, but the team beat the No. 11 team in the nation (who was at No. 15 just two days ago). It wasn’t a titanic upset against the No. 1-ranked team in the land.

Yes, the Badgers were 5.5-point favorites. So the concept of rushing the court when the team was favored isn’t in play here.

But I’ll throw a flag on this one. There should be an arbitrary cutoff at the nation’s top 10, or maybe even top 5. We can’t have courts being stormed against a team ranked No. 11 in the nation.

Big Ten Power Rankings after Week 11: A dark day for Wisconsin

Big Ten Power Rankings after Week 11: A dark day for Wisconsin

Wisconsin fans may not be huge fans of these power rankings.

Things looked fine a few weeks ago, Wisconsin had just orchestrated an amazing comeback victory vs Illinois and had a great shot to win the Big Ten West.

But since then, things have collapsed. The team fell to top-ranked Ohio State, inexplicably lost at Indiana and now were lifeless in a 24-10 home loss to Northwestern.

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It’s been the worst stretch of Wisconsin football I can ever remember.

So, where does the rest of the Big Ten stand? There were big upsets and weird results all weekend in-conference. Here are our Power Rankings coming out of Week 11:

Wisconsin rises in the KenPom Ratings after 105-76 win over Arkansas State

Wisconsin rises in the KenPom Ratings after 105-76 win over Arkansas State

With a new season of college basketball comes a daily opportunity to see how the analytics community views the Badgers.

Greg Gard’s promising 2023-24 team entered the season ranked No. 20 in the metric, good for the No. 4 slot in the Big Ten behind Purdue, Michigan State and Illinois.

The 105-76 season-opening win over Arkansas State turned some heads, while a few high-profile teams including Michigan State dropped their season openers.

The win for Wisconsin moved the team up to No. 17 in the ranking, with the No. 20 offense and No. 14 defense. The Badgers are now the second-highest-ranked Big Ten team behind only Purdue at No. 1.

Gard’s team is back in action Friday night against No. 9-ranked Tennessee, and KenPom’s No. 8 team. It’s a massive game to kick off the season.

Minnesota HC P.J. Fleck: 2023 Michigan ‘is the best football team I’ve seen in my 11 years as being HC’

Minnesota HC P.J. Fleck: Michigan ‘is the best football team I’ve seen in my 11 years as being HC’

The Minnesota Golden Gophers got obliterated by the Michigan Wolverines 52-10 on Saturday. Minnesota dropped to 3-3 and 1-2 in Big Ten play, while Michigan held its place at No. 2 in the AP Poll and are now 6-0 on the season.

Several things can be true from the contest, and the start of the year as a whole. I’d argue that this Minnesota team is not a true threat in the Big Ten, and that Michigan is a legitimate national title contender.

Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck took it a step further after the game on Saturday, saying in his press conference that 2023 Michigan ‘is the best football team I’ve seen in my 11 years as being head coach.’

Here is the full quote and exchange:

“I’ve never seen a football team like that, that deep,” Fleck continued. “I’m not sure if this is true…I think they traveled 75 people and maybe played like 74 of them. I don’t know. They’re one of the deepest teams, one of the best teams, one of the biggest teams, fastest teams, strongest teams. And they do not make mistakes. They are truly like a boa constrictor. They do not beat themselves. They’re very good at each position. They’re very aligned with everything that they do. They know who they are and they go and execute that game plan.”

Wow, tremendous praise from an 11-year coaching veteran, seven of which in the Big Ten.

For context, Fleck has coached the following teams in his time as head coach, with each final AP Poll ranking:

  • 2013 Michigan State (No. 3)
  • 2018 Ohio State (No. 3)
  • 2015 Ohio State (No. 4)
  • 2015 Michigan State (No. 6)
  • 2021 Ohio State (No. 6)
  • 2017 Wisconsin (No. 7)
  • 2022 Penn State (No. 7)

And I’d throw in Wisconsin’s 2019 team, which finished ranked No. 11 yet had three of its four losses come against an all-time great Justin Fields Ohio State team and also a Justin Herbert Oregon team.

It may just have been a feeling in the moment after getting crushed 52-10. But this year’s Michigan team is putting fear into the eyes of its opponents.

Thankfully, Wisconsin avoids Michigan on the schedule this year. That, until a potential Big Ten Championship if both win their divisions.

Big Ten announces football and basketball championship game venues through 2024

A look at the host sites for the Big Ten basketball and football championships through 2024

On Wednesday, the Big Ten released the schedule for upcoming championship games in both football and basketball.

The venues are staying mostly the same, although there is a new city in the mix. Minnesota is now one of the sites for Big Ten basketball, as the Target Center will become a host arena.

Lucas Oil Stadium has been the home of the football championship game, and will remain the home through 2024. After that date, the state of Wisconsin could host the Big Ten championship game.

The Packers submitted Lambeau Field as a possible host site for 2025 and the 2027-2030 seasons.

Here is a look at where the basketball and football championship games will be through 2024:

Where ESPN sees Wisconsin finishing in the 2021-22 Big Ten basketball standings

The Badgers are expected to be near the middle of the pack according to ESPN

Less than a week away from the formal start of the college basketball season, ESPN put together a roundtable of college basketball writers to discuss the 2021-22 Big Ten campaign.

Wisconsin’s 2021-22 squad is a young, fresh set of Badgers who represent a complete one-eighty from the narrative surrounding last year’s group. While the Badgers aren’t expected to contend for a Big Ten regular season title, they are expected to be in the mix for an NCAA Tournament berth.

The ESPN panel had Wisconsin ranked at three different positions in their respective Big Ten standings, with consensus seeing the Badgers around the lower-middle tier of the conference.

Here is a look at where each writer projected the Badgers to finish: