The Wisconsin Sportscast

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates meet up over Zoom after  the Masters had one of their biggest tournaments in years. They averaged over 12 million viewers on CBS this year, the biggest since 2018, as Rory McIlroy took the victory. Does Oates watch a lot of golf? Not really, but he’ll watch the Masters every year. Golf can be a bit slow, but it can also have some of the best drama in sports. McIlroy was running away with it, then made some big mistakes, then was facing off against Bryson DeChambeau. Augusta National is a beautiful course, and a real workout too. You only have a little bit of space to hit your drives, with the crowd bunched right up against the fareway. Good thing Lucas and Oates don’t have to play there… 

McIlroy had a great success story, Oates thinks. He’s aggressive, but has learned over time not to take every risky shot that comes his way. He blew a big lead in the 2011 Masters because of that, and now has earned a grand slam of golf championships. According to Oates, he has got to be one of the world’s top players. 

Turning to Madison, the Badgers Football team will hold their spring showdown this Saturday at Camp Randall. They took some big hits in the past few days, losing two big players. Left Tackle Kevin Heywood is out for the season already with a torn ACL, and Tight End Tanner Koziol says he’s entering the transfer portal. The portal window will be open through Friday, and hopefully the Badgers can make a few moves to bring some new faces on board. But whoever they bring in, if you do go to the showdown this weekend, maybe bring a program. They already have 30 new players on the roster if you include the freshmen…

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Florida beat out Houston to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, but Houston didn’t have the biggest meltdown of the week. That would go to Duke, who’s offense seemed to entirely shut down in the second half of their loss against Houston in their Final Four matchup. How do you go more than 10 minutes only scoring one basket? Why would Duke let Houston set up their press? Whenever Houston scored, Duke took their time setting up the ball and giving Houston a chance to set up their press, which stopped any chance Duke had at making a play. Houston’s defense is good, reminding Oates of a Dick Bennett defense, and shut down Duke so effectively they were able to head to the finals. 

But then it was Houston’s turn to have a meltdown when they were unable to close Florida. Houston had four straight possessions with turnovers to end the game, confusing even head coach Kelvin Sampson. But that wasn’t the real kicker of the game, Lucas thinks, it was the fouls. Whistles were few and far between in the first half, and the coaches decided to make up for it in the second half. It cheats the players, Lucas thinks, and it’s even worse when the refs decide that teams need to have an equal number of fouls to end the game. Just look at Wisconsin vs Duke for proof of that…

Meanwhile, the Badgers Men’s Basketball team hit the portal hard, picking up three potentially big players. Point Guard Nick Boyd will be coming in from San Diego, who Oates thinks will bring some real toughness and experience to the team. Boyd was convinced to come to Madison thanks to John Tonje, who spoke with him and convinced him that the locker room was worth it. Then there’s the Aussie Austin Rapp, who last played in Portland. He will add some good size to the Badgers, as long as he can get over his fear of getting to the paint… Then there’s Andrew Rohde, a Wisconsin native from Brookfield who will be coming home from a stint in Virginia. All three players look good on paper, and Lucas and Oates are excited to see what they’ll bring next year. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the boys are back in the studio as they take a look at the Brewers performance so far. They hadn’t yet won a game as of recording and are in rough shape. Most of their pitching staff is hurt, with tons of players on the IL. Where was the offseason improvement? They lost Devin Williams and Willy Adames during the offseason, and it doesn’t look so far like they’ve made any real improvement since last year. Some say that Mark Attanasio is just looking to sell the team at this point, but the Brewers have been good in recent years! Whatever Attansio wants to do with the team, there’s still an entire season ahead of the Brewers and they still have plenty of time to turn things around. 

Meanwhile in college basketball, the transfer portal is open and over 1,300 players are looking for a move. That includes freshman guard for the Badgers Daniel Freitag, who we just haven’t had a real chance to see this season. Is there a chance that he doesn’t have talent? Sure. But it’s more likely his spot was taken by Kamari McGee. Freitag had a lot going athletically and had size and speed, but he wasn’t a great shooter, which is a must in modern basketball. Maybe it was just that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Players aren’t the only ones moving around either, as coaches are beginning to fall like dominoes. One notable move is Buzz Williams heading to Maryland, which Lucas and Oates think is a good move. Buzz is someone who can make teams competitive enough to get into the NCAA Tournament, and he likes to throw some money around for recruits. That’s all fine and good, until an athletic director decides to turn off the money…

Finally in the NCAA Tournament, it’s down to the Final Four: Duke, Florida, Houston, and Auburn. Four number one seeds, which Oates thinks might be the beginning of the end of college basketball, all thanks to NIL. These power conference teams can just buy up any good player from mid-sized schools, leaving everyone else in the dust. There were no real Cinderella teams this year, and if things keep going this way Oates doesn’t think there will be in the future. Just think about what all this transferring year after year is doing to these players' academic transcripts! 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates are again remote as the Badgers Men’s Basketball team falls to BYU in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. John Tonje gave an incredible effort, setting a new school record for points scored in a NCAA Tournament game with 37, but it wasn’t enough. The second round of the tournament is always going to be against a good team, and nothing can be taken for granted. With a disappointing defense, Tonje’s efforts were almost enough to save the Badgers but not quite. BYU has a great offense, and without good defense to counter that it was a tough game.
It would have been great to have more than just one year with Tonje, Lucas says, but he was still a great pickup for the team. He’s what people like to call a “multi-leveled scorer,” and can shoot from just about anywhere. He was not at the top of anybody’s list last year, but Greg Gard saw the potential in him and brought it out. Will he make it in the NBA? Maybe! He’s not the tallest player in the world, but he’s athletic and he can score, a must in modern basketball. That is to say, it makes sense why Gard gave him the ball in the final play of the year.

Speaking of Gard, there are still plenty of people who have never liked him and never will, and a loss in the second round of the tournament is likely to fuel some of that discourse. But Oates is still behind him, saying that coaches around the league still have big respect for him. He navigated tough waters this year, with NIL and the transfer portal, but at the end of the day, Oates thinks he’s still a pretty good coach. 

Finally, and speaking of great coaches, Lucas and Oates turned to Women’s Hockey as Mark Johnson took home his eighth national title, and his fourth in six years. One day, there might be a statue of Mark Johnson, or at least something to honor what he’s done. He builds a great program, not just recruiting but coaching players. He’s all about Wisconsin, and he’s even humble. What more could someone do to deserve a statue in Wisconsin?

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates are back in the studio to talk about, what else, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Badger’s drew a 3 seed (as they should), playing Montana on Thursday in Denver (which they shouldn’t). Not only are they playing just days after their loss to Michigan on Sunday, but Denver has some real altitude to it. Montana has played at a higher altitude, but the Badgers will need to adjust a little bit. More importantly, though, they should be playing in Milwaukee! Lucas and Oates are just about ready to launch a federal investigation into the matter…

But seriously, the Badger’s have a tight turnaround playing Thursday afternoon, as do all the Big 10 teams. It’s too tight a turnaround, Oates says, to have to potentially play a Big 10 Championship game on Sunday then turn around and play again on Thursday. He still thinks it’s best for teams to win one, maybe two games in the Big 10 tournament, then lose to a good team and rest up before the NCAA Tournament half a week later. Teams aren’t judged by their performance in the Big 10 Tournament, they are judged by their March Madness performance. Should it be that way?  Maybe, maybe not. But that’s the way it is, and that isn’t going to change. The Big 10 should make some sort of deal with the tournament committee to give the players some kind of a break, even if it’s just a day.

But in the meanwhile, the Badgers will take on Montana on Thursday afternoon in a game that should be nothing to worry about. After that, it’s either BYU or VCU. Sure, BYU are good shooters, but Wisconsin is likely the most balanced team in the country right now and can score from just about anywhere. If the Badgers want to say they had a decent season, they’re going to have to make it to the second weekend. Of course, you want to see them do even better than the second weekend, but if they want to be taken seriously it’s a must. They’re good enough for it too, Oates says, but it’s still the NCAA Tournament, so anything can happen. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Oates is out on assignment, so Lucas is joined by the Dean of Wisconsin Sportscasting: Jay Wilson! Jay was in Duluth over the weekend for Badgers Women's Hockey as they continued another dominant season. They are ranked number one in the NCAA, having lost only one game this season so far. Only one team has gone undefeated throughout an entire season in NCAA Women’s Hockey, and the fact that the Badger’s are right behind that is historic. The strategy? Have a team filled with great talent and one of the best coaches in Wisconsin history in Mark Johnson. 

Maybe it’s a debate about whether or not Johnson is one of the greatest coaches in Wisconsin collegiate history, but Lucas and Jay don’t think so. He already has seven national championships under his belt, and might secure another this year. He’s still the top goal scorer in Men’s Hockey in Wisconsin. And he does great work to uplift the sport of women’s hockey. Johnson can make a move that has everyone else scratching their heads, and it just works. He understands the real philosophy of hockey and his players. There’s been chatter that he might retire if he wins another championship, but Jay says that he still has the knowledge and energy to keep going. Like a lot of college sports, it might come down to how much he wants to deal with continuing to work around NIL.The Badger Women’s next game is Saturday, and they have a real chance of going all the way again this year. At the very least, they are probably the best team in the league.

Meanwhile, the Men’s Basketball team had a tough loss to Penn State in Madison over the weekend. The last time Penn State won in the Kohl Center was in 1995, and the loss sets a bad momentum heading into the Big 10 tournament. But that might not be the end of the world, as a quick loss in the Big 10 tournament would give them a little rest before the NCAA tournament starts up shortly after. But Lucas says they need at least one win to build up some momentum ahead of their chance to play in Milwaukee to start off the NCAA tournament. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates join the show from the field once again as the Badger’s Men’s Basketball team sits slated, as of Tuesday night, as a number 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. There’s even a chance that they could play in Milwaukee, though that would require you to read into some of the predictions being thrown around. They’ll need to hold onto that number 3 seed for a little while longer if they want that to happen. We know the NCAA wants to put the Badgers in Milwaukee, if only because it’ll be sure to put some butts in the seats. There’s been plenty of great NCAA tournament Badger games in Milwaukee, and going back would be great for ticket sales.

But first they have to win some games. They took a loss to Michigan State on Sunday, even after leading at halftime. While their shooting faced some real trouble, there was one good number coming out of that game. Nolan Winter had 17 rebounds against the Spartans. It’s been a while since the Badgers have seen that, since the Orlando Tucker days. Winter might not be the strongest physically on the court, but he’s certainly active, and when there’s a body on him he can move. The Badgers take on Minnesota on Wednesday before ending the regular season on Saturday in the Kohl Center with Senior Night. They’ll be losing a handful of great players after this season, with McGee, Tonje, Crowl, Klesmit and others graduating this year. They’ve signed a few incoming freshmen already, including a good handful from Wisconsin high schools. As they should, Oates thinks, as more and more good players come out of the Badger state in recent years.

Meanwhile, the Packers have some work to do on their roster, and one name is sticking out: Davante Adams. He’s a free agent, and certainly would be of interest to Green Bay. It’ll come at his price, though, even if he wanted to be a star player on a Super Bowl contender team. Yes, the Packers need a top receiver, but they have a few other needs too, and that might take salary cap priority. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates join the show from the field to discuss the reunion of the 2000 Wisconsin Badgers Men’s Basketball Team. Making it to the Final Four before losing to Michigan State, Dick Bennett joined the team on the court ahead of last Saturday’s loss to Oregon. Bennett got a great reaction, as he should as a great Wisconsin basketball coach. The 2000 Badgers Basketball Team wasn’t filled with superstars, but the sum was greater by the sum of its parts. That’s not to say that the players themselves weren’t good, smart players. But together, under the tutelage of Dick Bennett, they became a really great team. 

Bennett’s teams were defensive teams, and his defense is still being played in high schools across the state. You add in players getting hot and they could go far. Well, not far enough to beat Michigan State, but it’s hard to knock them for that in 2000. The team even had one of the greatest players to come out of Madison with Roy Boone. He was versatile, and worked with Bennett in a way that made the whole team shine. Boone’s now coaching here in Madison, with other players from the 2000 team also coaching across Wisconsin.

Turning to the modern day Badgers, they had a tough overtime loss to Oregon over the weekend after dominating for three-quarters of the game. Oregon didn’t so much win as much as the Badgers lost. The game revealed some weaknesses in the Badgers that could be exploited by other teams down the line. Mostly, if you put real pressure on the Badgers, they won’t recover. Or at least they didn’t. Oates thinks that this has a chance to turn into a positive for the Badgers, teaching them some humility, and as long as it doesn’t fracture the team (which it likely won’t), it could put some fire under the Badgers ahead of tournament play. 

Finally, the Packers are in Indy for the NFL Combine and making some moves. The Packers were, as it turns out, the first team to call for the ban of the Tush Push. It should be banned! At least Oates thinks so. If it’s illegal to pull a runner forward, why should you be able to push a runner forward? At the end of the day, most teams will probably be glad to see the play banned.  Except the Eagles, that is. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates take to the ice as Team USA’s hockey team took on Team Canada. The game set a record, with Matthew Tkachuk throwing the first punch in the first two seconds, and three fights breaking out in nine seconds. If any game was going to sell the game of hockey, it’ll be that one! There were some, let's say, political overtones to the fighting, which died down once 10 seconds had passed. Team USA got booed right out of the gate, and a few guys took umbrage with that. 

Lucas thinks the game was fun because of the fights! It was boys being real boys, almost as a throwback to the “old days” of hockey. There isn’t as much fighting in hockey anymore, as evidenced by the fact that teams don’t have a designated fighter on the roster anymore. But it’s part of the game, at the end of the day. In Madison, there have been plenty of fights on the ice. The most famous probably being the “Water Bottle Game” against North Dakota in 1982, which grew so big it spilled into the beer gardens. Lucas loves hockey fights, saying that there is a real art to it. Yes, there have been some attempts to cut down on fighting in recent years, but at the end of the day it was just good clean fun. 

Speaking of the Badgers, the Men’s Basketball Team currently sit at #3 within the Big 10, in part because of their big win over Purdue over the weekend. The game certainly opened some people’s eyes, as it’s not just any team that’s able to put up 94 points against Purdue at home. The Badgers just shot really well and showed up Purdue with a super connected offense. The Badgers are turning into a team where everyone needs to be blocked at the 3-point line and several guys can run to the basket reliably. Just look at Klesmet, who’s really grown this season and is showing to be deceptive in what he’s able to do. As a team, they’re improving every week, and they have 100% earned their spot.

 Finally, sticking with the Badgers, Oates has some thoughts on Kamari McGee’s flagrant foul against Purdue. It didn’t look on purpose, thinks Oates, and he didn’t hit very hard. But within the Big 10, any contact to the groin is going to be called a flagrant. Oates doesn’t love it, plenty of former Badgers didn’t love it, but it still ended up helping the Badgers as they became fired up looking for revenge. 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the Eagles beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl as the NFL season comes to an end. That means it’s time to look ahead to next season, and hopefully the Packers were able to learn a few things while watching the game on Sunday. One of the big deciders in the Super Bowl was the pass rush the Eagles were able to put on against Mahomes. The NFL’s star quarterback was sacked six times, with never more than four men rushing him. That shows something that’s been lacking in the Packers defense this year: consistent pass rush can win big games. The NFL may look a bit different, but the games are still won in the trenches, and the Eagles were able to rattle Mahomes and keep him on high alert all game. You get hit a few times and pretty quick you’re going to be looking for that next hit instead of looking for an open passer. 

Oates says that what the Packers need to be on the lookout for this offseason is a great speed rusher, someone who can fly off the edge and get in the quarterback’s face. Even if he doesn’t make the tackle, he’ll still be able to force the quarterback to move around instead of looking for their target. They need a speed rusher even more than they need a number 1 wide receiver, Oates thinks. Sure, they need a great receiver, but so does everyone. At this time, the team needs to prioritize their needs and get someone who can put some heat on the offense. Or so Oates thinks. Meanwhile, Lucas has to ask: where is Aaron Rodgers going to end up next year? Or maybe the better question is: who can put up with him? 

Meanwhile in Milwaukee, the Bucks have traded away Khris Middleton, one of their integral players who helped win them their championship ring. It’s a sad development, but maybe the right move. Sure, when he wasn’t hurt he was great. Maybe he wasn’t a superstar like Giannis, but he was underrated and will likely have his number retired one day. But ever since he hurt his knee in 2022, he just hasn’t been the same. He’s been with the Bucks for 12 years, and it’ll be sad to see him go. But in his place, the Bucks get Kyle Kuzma, who is bigger and younger than Middleton and brings some athleticism to the Bucks, which at the end of last season was one of the biggest things they needed. Like it or not, he’ll be able to help the Bucks in ways that Middleton couldn’t anymore.