Category: Big Ten

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Game 220: South Florida @ #19 Wisconsin

Fans flooded Madison like a monsoon for another football Saturday. Red lit up the streets, and the skies only rained sunshine and warmth upon the UW campus. Badger game days make an already vibrant town burst at the seams with a fervent electricity. Cram your car into a makeshift parking lot amongst the surroundings of Camp Randall’s residential neighborhood. Grab a beer and a brat at union south. Snap a quick double selfie with Bucky (it was his birthday today after all). Take in the sounds of the UW marching band. It’s game day.

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Game 218: Indiana @ Bowling Green

One of the hot topics of the 2014 football season has been the collapse of the Big Ten conference. No team was able to win the marquee games of the nonconference season, and worse yet, they have been losing games that should have been walks in the park. Last week for instance, two Mid-American Conference foes upset Big Ten teams when Northern Illinois toppled Northwestern and Central Michigan clobbered Purdue.

Surely, this week would be better, right?

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Game 217: Northern Illinois @ Northwestern

The College Football Tour tailgate was surrounded by hues of Husky red and Wildcat purple…and swarms of bees.  If NU was playing Georgia Tech, we could chalk it up to irony.  Instead, it was plain annoying.  However, it didn’t sting our enthusiasm on this gorgeous day in Evanston for the battle of “Who’s the best in Illinois?”  With the Fighting Illini struggling for relevancy and the Wildcats scrambling to crawl out of the losing-streak quicksand they put themselves into last year, Northern Illinois has surfaced at the top with an opportunity today to make it official.

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Game 213: Indiana @ #19 Wisconsin

We arrived on campus. Barely in time. It was worth the mad dash from our parking spot on University Avenue to the pregame band concert at Union South. Few attempted to dodge the drizzle as the masses gathered to soak in the weather and the sounds of the UW band. I brought friends of mine – supporters of The Hoosiers and I’m glad they were part of the action – literally. Famed band director Mike Leckrone asked if any Indiana fans were in the crowd – naturally, I shouted and pointed out my friends who suddenly had thousands of Badger eyes glaring in their direction. Leckrone shared that he was from Indiana and our friends made the “IU” symbol with their arms, to which Leckrone replied, “None of that now!” It’s kind of a welcome by fire.

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Game 212: BYU @ #19 Wisconsin

What do you call a BYU fan in a bar?

Lost.

Okay, overused joke, I know. But, since BYU became independent, they have visited many foreign campuses where a joke like this is fresh. Welcome to Madison, Cougars. Wisconsin fans are primarily quick-witted and knee-slappingly funny, but this bit of humor was only worthy of a smirk and an eye-roll. Nevertheless, it is fun introducing fans who appreciate a top notch college atmosphere to one of the Big Ten’s best.

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Game 211: Minnesota @ Northwestern

For a Chicagoan, a Northwestern game is just an el train ride away.  I’ve been telling so many people that about the convenience of getting to Ryan Field on a football Saturday, yet I have never used that method to get there myself.  Today happened to be the perfect day.  Along with this first, this game would also be the very first game that I would attend by myself.   Oh, the freedom!  My friends enjoy traveling to games with me, but at the speed I like to go, I’ve always felt a bit held up.  Today’s game in Evanston would be college football at top speed.

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Game 210: #19 Northwestern @ Wisconsin


My love affair with Camp Randall began 25 years ago. It wasn’t love at first sight – I was dragged to games as a kid. But, as I attended more games, I grew up with a Wisconsin program that experienced its own growth spurt. We attended many games in the 90s as Wisconsin developed into a championship caliber team. Becoming a student at UW-Madison further deepened the well of memories that this stadium generated for me, and it has carried on into my adulthood.

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