Nice win

The Badger women's basketball team didn't just get a win on Monday night.

They got the signature win that the Badger faithful have been waiting for ever since Lisa Stone arrived on campus.

The nailbiting win over No. 6-ranked Baylor was eyebrow raising but the 62-54 pounding the Badgers gave to Minnesota, a perennial Big Ten contender, was awe-inspiring.

Wisconsin kept Emily Fox, one of the conference's most talented guards frustrated all night with a one-for-14 shooting effort from the floor, including zero-for-four from beyond the arc.

The Badgers really proved a lot to me tonight. They proved they can withstand a three-point flurry by Minnesota after the Gophers sprinted out to a 13-point lead with 12:56 left in the first half. They proved they can play with a lead, as evidenced by their impressive 11-for-14 shooting from the free throw line in the second half. And most importantly, they proved that they belong.

Often the doormats of the Big Ten, Wisconsin has never been more than a minor blip on the championship radar of teams with the pedigree of Purdue and even Minnesota.

But this game not only proved something to themselves but it also put the rest of the conference on notice. Other teams won't be able to circle Wisconsin as a 'W' anymore. They will have to account for the great inside presence of Mariah Dunham, who outblocked every Gopher 5-2. And they will have to locate Alyssa Karel, who was three-for-five from three-point land in 39 minutes.

Judging from its 19 turnovers, this team still hasn't hit its stride, but when it does, they're going to be awfully good.

Not so fast

After dawdling off the starting blocks with an 0-6-1 record to start the season, the men's hockey team has finally hit its stride.

The Badgers have won five straight after taking a pair from Alaska-Anchorage this past weekend and now get the luxury of having over two weeks off before they hit the ice after Christmas.

Even though they might've laid an egg to begin the year, they've gotten national attention once again by being ranked 16th this week.

But I say, easy with the "We're back to form" talk. Let's not forget the easiest way to measure success, especially in college hockey, which forces teams to have brutal travel schedules, is on the road. The Badgers didn't get their first road win of the season until a 5-2 decision over North Dakota.

It's still early in the WCHA and if they want to have a sniff of postseason play, they've got to earn their mettle by going to Anchorage and Minneapolis.

The Badgers are looking to play like the old Mike Eaves-led Badgers.

But, that won't win them any style points away from the Kohl Center.

Who's calling?

I remember when I was in college and living in the dorms, I would randomly pick up the phone and dial random four number combinations.

Anything from Dorsey Levens-Jerome Bettis (2536) to Magic Johnson-Michael Jordan (3423).

But I've never heard of threatening athletic director Barry Alvarez and his family.

But that's exactly what Leonard Taylor, a 32-year-old former defensive back for the Badgers from 1995-1999, did. He left unsettling voice messages for three athletic deparment members. However, the strange twists don't end with just threatening the athletic department.

He also said he would like to kill and marry tennis star and blonde bombshell Maria Sharapova.

Not sure what the connection between Alvarez and Sharapova is, but I don't think Alvarez ever thought a day would come when his name would be uttered with a tennis pro/fashion model.

In the dark

The Worldwide Leader is instilling its will once again. This time they're doing it to the entire state of Wisconsin.

For the much anticipated annual rivalry men's basketball game between Wisconsin and Marquette, fans will have to catch it on ESPNU. Go ahead, try and surf for it because you won't find it -- anywhere.

ESPNU debuted in 2005 and since then, it has been nothing more than wasted studio space with talking heads bobbing up and down about flatlining intercollegiate sports.

The main problem is, nobody really cares about field hockey, rowing, gymnastics or a myriad of minor sports on a national scale. People aren't going to plunk down extra coin just watch that Middle Tennessee State has one of the most solid men's tennis teams in the Sun Belt, when barely anyone in Murfreesboro cares.

And now, the Wisconsin-Marquette game which has a tip time of 8:30 won't be seen by anyone because it's being broadcast on a national cable access channel.

I know that college football has its conference title games on Saturday night but I guarantee you the action inside the Bradley Center will be inherently more entertaining than the South Florida-West Virginia game on ESPN2.

What bowl game will it be?

Just one day away from seeing what mediocre bowl game the football team will wind up in. It's pretty ironic that the USC-UCLA and Arizona State-Arizona games carry that kind of weight.

According to cbssportsline.com, the Badgers are slotted to take on Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl.

Now, I know a lot of you would sacrifice a month's pay to get oiled up in sunny Orlando, but how many people are really willing to go back to Florida for a third straight year?

Not only that, but after the forgettable season that was manned by Bret Bielema that proved he's in over his head, I think a miserable showing at a bowl game, from fans that are known to travel very well, would send a strong message to the athletic department.

I think the department got the message loud and clear when the Big Ten Network panned the Camp Randall Stadium for the final regular season debacle vs. Cal Poly in a game that resembled the Mequon Homestead-Hartland Arrowhead Division 1 high school state final the night before.

The Badgers do deserve a bowl, but that doesn't mean the fans have to approve of it.

Lucky number 7

Maybe it's the lousy 30-52 Big Ten record the women's basketball team has sufffered the last five years.

Or perhaps bringing in Kathi Bennett as an assistant in the offseason in what many people thought would eventually become Bennett's next head coaching gig.

Of course, the stern offseason chat with Barry Alvarez, who is not only king of the athletic department, but still remains highly perched on the entire isthmus, was probably a pretty good indication to kick it in gear for Lisa Stone's sixth season.

But whatever Stone's motivation is, she should bottle it up and sell it this season. The Badgers are off to an impressive 7-1 mark, but oddly and sadly enough the seven straight wins are just the sixth time that's happened in school history.

Think about that.

Last year the Badger women played 30 games and they weren't able to string together seven straight.

This year, they've managed the winning streak thanks in part to a pair of Baylor missed free throws with under a second left against the No. 6 Bears in the Virgin Islands.

Given the track record, I'm going to need more evidence to sell me on this team. And lucky for us, Exhibit A is a date with Minnesota on Dec. 29 at the Kohl Center. Win that game and the Badgers will be in the Big Ten title discussion.