Packers work out Geronimo Allison and Danny Davis
The Green Bay Packers gave workouts to two wide receivers that previously spent time with the team. Geronimo Allison and Danny Davis both worked out with the Packers yesterday according to the NFL’s daily transaction report.
Allison spent four seasons in Green Bay beginning in 2016. In 46 games, he amassed 89 receptions, 1045 yards, and six touchdowns. Allison’s contract with the Packers expired after the 2019 season; he then signed with the Detroit Lions as a free agent before opting out of the 2020 season due to concerns regarding COVID-19. He later returned to Detroit for part of the 2021 season and was on the Atlanta Falcons roster for 2022 training camp before being waived.
Davis joined the Packers this season as an undrafted rookie and was released at the end of training camp. Fans will likely remember him more for the five years he spent with the Wisconsin Badgers. With Wisconsin, Davis played in 43 games and recorded 131 receptions, 1642 receiving yards, and 16 touchdowns (14 receiving, two rushing).
Wisconsin basketball plays in Battle 4 Atlantis against Dayton today
The Wisconsin Badgers (3-0) will play today in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis against the Dayton Flyers (3-1). Each team in the tournament will play three games in three days. You can watch today’s game at 1:30PM CST on ESPN2.
Dayton is the projected favorite to win the Atlantic 10 conference. Dayton is currently rated 37th overall at KenPom (Wisconsin is 41st). Dayton received votes in the most recent version of the AP Top 25 poll. The Flyers were ranked 21st last week, but fell out of the top 25 after losing to UNLV. Wisconsin and Dayton have played one time dating back to 1949 according to Sports Reference. Wisconsin won that matchup 105-93.
Malachi Smith is the player to watch for the Flyers. Smith finished on the Atlantic 10 All-Freshman team last season. He played in 33 games, starting 29, averaging 9.3 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.1 rebounds. Smith suffered a season-ending leg injury last March which was kept him out of part of the beginning of this season, but Dayton expects him to return for the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The Badgers will play either Kansas or NC State tomorrow depending on today’s results.
Bucks hosting Bulls tonight in divisional matchup
The Milwaukee Bucks (12-4) are the healthiest they have been all season leading into tonight’s matchup. Milwaukee plays the Chicago Bulls (7-10) tonight. You can watch tonight’s game at 7:00PM CST on Bally Sports Wisconsin.
The Bucks will still be without Khris Middleton and Joe Ingles, who have yet to play this season, but with the return of Pat Connaughton to the lineup, Milwaukee is closer to full strength than it has been all year. The Bulls have listed backup point guard Goran Dragic as probable tonight. Starting point guard, Lonzo Ball, remains out with a knee injury that he suffered in January. Ball has not played since suffering the injury ten months ago.
The main difference between Milwaukee and Chicago on offense is their approach to the three-point shot. Chicago attempts the least threes and makes the third-least threes in the NBA per game; Milwaukee is top eight in the league in both marks. Shooting the three well could be Milwaukee’s key to victory. Chicago allows the third-highest three-point shooting percentage in the NBA. Although Milwaukee has not shot the ball particularly well this year, the sheer difference in volume of three-point shots the Bucks take compared to the Bulls may make the difference against Chicago’s poor three-point defense.
Brewers trade RF Hunter Renfroe to the Angels for three pitchers
The Milwaukee Brewers made traded right fielder Hunter Renfroe last night for three pitchers from the Los Angeles Angels: Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero, and Adam Seminaris.
Milwaukee struggled to generate consistent hitting last year as they finished in the bottom-ten in batting average in Major League Baseball. Renfroe led the Brewers in batting average last season (.255). He was also the team leader in slugging (.492) and OPS/OPS+ (.807/126).
Junk and Peguero have a combined 23 appearances for the Angels over the last two seasons. Seminaris was drafted by the Angels in the 2020 Amateur Draft. He started nine games in AAA this season with a 5.24 ERA and .309 batting average allowed.
Wisconsin football’s appeal of Nick Herbig’s ejection denied
Wisconsin’s star linebacker Nick Herbig was ejected in the second half of last week’s game against Nebraska for targeting. Although the Badgers won the game, the bigger concern was losing Herbig for the first half of this weekend’s game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. This week, Wisconsin appealed the ruling that led to Herbig’s ejection, but that appeal has been denied.
On the play, Herbig said he saw Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson “break the pocket and I didn’t think he was going to slide. I thought he was going to try to make a statement. He went down at the last second and I did everything in my power to avoid him. I really did.”
Herbig remains ineligible to play in the first half against Minnesota this Saturday. Herbig currently leads all of FBS in sacks per game and the Big Ten in tackles for loss per game (eighth in FBS).
Topping-off the six pack and Axe Week Extra: the long road to 2017
As I have mentioned before, Wisconsin-Minnesota is the most-played rivalry in college football. The teams first played on November 15th, 1890 with Minnesota winning 63-0 - a shellacking that to this day remains the largest margin of victory in the history of the rivalry. Since then, Wisconsin and Minnesota have played every single year except for 1906 (the COVID-19 pandemic nearly ruined that streak as well). It is the longest uninterrupted rivalry in college football; this Saturday will mark its 116th consecutive year being played.
Despite, the long, storied history of the rivalry, Minnesota has led the all-time series for nearly its entire existence. After 127 meetings, however, that all changed in 2017.
Minnesota started the all-time series with four consecutive wins. The Badgers and Gophers exchanged wins for a few years after that, but in 1902 Minnesota beat Wisconsin to take a 7-6 lead in the all-time series and did not look back. Minnesota went on a dominant run in the rivalry series leading by as many as 20 games.
Barry Alvarez’ astounding turnaround of Wisconsin football paved the way for the Badgers’ to claim the series lead. The Badgers won six straight games, which tied Wisconsin’s largest winning streak in the series at the time, against the Gophers from 1995 to 2000. Then, after exchanging wins for a few years, Wisconsin began the longest streak of wins in the rivalry in 2004. From 2004 to 2016, Wisconsin won 13 consecutive games against Minnesota to tie the all-time series for the first time in 114 years.
Wisconsin and Minnesota each entered the 2017 matchup with something to play for other than Paul Bunyan’s Axe. Wisconsin was on the cusp of completing an undefeated regular season for the first time since 1912 and was ranked #5 nationally. Minnesota was 5-6 and needed a win to become bowl-eligible. The Badgers overwhelmed the Gophers throughout the day, outgaining their rival on offense 456 yards to 133. Wisconsin’s shutout victory, 31-0, completed the Badgers’ first undefeated regular season in 105 years and gave Wisconsin its first-ever lead in the series with its rival at 60-59-8.
On, Wisconsin.