Wisconsin Athletic Director Chris McIntosh swings big: hires Luke Fickell to lead Wisconsin football
Despite all of the reporting indicating Jim Leonhard would be promoted to the position of head coach at Wisconsin, Athletic Director Chris McIntosh is going a different direction. It became clear throughout the morning today that Wisconsin is hiring Luke Fickell to be its next head football coach.
Fickell is coming from the University of Cincinnati where he has been the head football coach since 2017 amassing a record of 57-18. Fickell comes with plenty of Big Ten coaching experience. Before his time at Cincinnati, he coached for fifteen seasons at Ohio State as a special teams coach, linebackers, defensive coordinator, and spent the 2011 season as its interim head coach. Cincinnati won the two most resent American Athletic Conference championships in seasons that Fickell led teams to undefeated regular seasons. Cincinnati made the College Football Playoff last season.
The UW Board of Regents has a meeting scheduled for 4:00PM CST today, presumably to approve a negotiated employment contract for Fickell. Fickell held a team meeting at Cincinnati earlier today to tell his players that he is leaving to take the Wisconsin job.
Next, Wisconsin will have to solidify its coaching staff and player roster. With many players expressing staunch support for Jim Leonhard to receive the head coach position, some players will certainly transfer out from the program. Fickell will likely bring some members of his coaching staff from Cincinnati to Wisconsin. Players can enter the transfer portal beginning December 5th through January 18th. The early signing day for high school recruits is on December 21st.
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Wisconsin Badgers fall apart at the goal line and lose Paul Bunyan’s Axe for second straight season
The Wisconsin Badgers (6-6, 4-5 Big Ten) had the ball with first-and goal at the Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-5, 5-4 Big Ten) with 21 seconds remaining and needing a touchdown to force overtime; then it all fell apart. Four consecutive Wisconsin penalties, including three consecutive fall starts without even snapping the ball, turned first and second and goal from the five yard line to second and goal from the 30 yard line. The Wisconsin offensive line and backup quarterback Chase Wolf, who entered the game during the final drive for an injured Graham Mertz, never got on the same page and Minnesota defeated Wisconsin in back-to-back years for the first time in 28 seasons. Final score: Gophers 23 - Badgers 16
Wisconsin’s defense succeeded in its main goal of stopping Minnesota’s star running back Mohamed Ibrahim. Ibrahim only averaged 2.6 yards per carry and rushed for 70 yards total on the day. It was through the air that Minnesota did the most damage on the day as freshman quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis threw for 319 yards in his fifth career start. Minnesota was not afraid to throw the ball downfield with its freshman QB completing passes of 45, 42, and 34 yards.
The Badgers offense was the foil to that of the Golden Gophers failing to sustain drives and execute when needed most. Before Wisconsin’s meltdown in its final drive, the Badgers took the lead 16-13 with 3:14 remaining in the third quarter. Wisconsin’s following drives were: three-and-out to punt, three-and-out to punt, three-and-out to punt, three plays ending on a Graham Mertz interception, and the final drive of the game. On the drive immediately preceding Wisconsin’s go-ahead touchdown, Mertz overthrew a wide open Jack Eschenbach for a touchdown; the Badgers instead had to settle for a field goal.
Wisconsin will now await the shakeup from its head coaching change and learn which bowl game it will be headed to after conference championship weekend.
Green Bay Packers play first-place Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football
The Green Bay Packers (4-7) have traveled to play the Philadelphia Eagles (9-1) tonight in primetime. You can watch tonight’s game at 7:20PM CST on NBC.
In the most recent roster moves, the Packers elevated Safety Innis Gaines and running back Patrick Taylor to the gameday roster for today. Patrick Taylor, who was elevated to the active roster before and then cut following Green Bay’s game against the Tennessee Titans, was signed back to the practice squad again this week. Tackle David Bakhtiari and cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles are listed as questionable to play according to the Packers’ pre-game injury report. Inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell is doubtful. Active or inactive decisions for injured players are announced 90 minutes before gametime. Wide receiver Romeo Doubs is out.
Green Bay has quite the challenge ahead if it hopes to defeat Philadelphia which has the best record in the NFC. Philadelphia ranks third in overall DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) and is third and fourth in offensive and defensive DVOA respectively. This Eagles team is a bona fide Super Bowl contender. Although it does not have a poor run defense, it does not have an elite run defense. Successfully running the ball is Green Bay’s best chance at keeping up in a game it is outmatched in.
Milwaukee Bucks host the Dallas Mavericks in final game of homestand
The Milwaukee Bucks (13-5) will host the Dallas Mavericks (9-9) tonight in an interconference matchup. You can watch the game at 7:00PM CST on Bally Sports Wisconsin or NBA TV.
With an illness going through the Bucks’ locker room, Serge Ibaka is out for tonight’s game. Pat Connaughton was listed as questionable yesterday, but he has been updated to available for tonight.
Milwaukee’s biggest advantage in this matchup is rebounding. Plain and simple: Milwaukee averages the most rebounds per game while Dallas averages the least. Dallas is led by their superstar point guard Luka Doncic. Doncic leads the Mavericks in points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
Wisconsin volleyball completes regular season with win over Ohio State; NCAA tournament selection show tonight
After wrapping up a fourth consecutive Big Ten title on Friday, the #3 Wisconsin Badgers (25-3, 19-1 Big Ten) wrapped-up the regular season with a 4-1 (25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 27-25) victory over #8 Ohio State (19-9, 15-5 Big Ten) on Saturday. With the regular season complete, Wisconsin now awaits its place in the NCAA tournament bracket. You can watch the tournament selection show tonight at 6:30PM CST on ESPNU.
Wisconsin’s victory, its 18th straight, came from an excellent defensive effort. The Badgers held the Buckeyes to just .136 hitting and forced Ohio State to commit 34 hitting errors to Wisconsin’s 13. Wisconsin also out-blocked Ohio State 15-5 including a match-high eight blocks by sophomore hitter Anna Smrek.
Wisconsin’s 19-1 finish in the Big Ten - a league with six teams in the top-25 - to win the conference title earned it an automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA tournament that will begin this upcoming weekend. Wisconsin is expected to have a top-16 seed nationally which means it will host first and second-round matches this weekend. Wisconsin will likely also host one of the regional semifinals and final matches December 8th and 10th. Wisconsin’s prospective path to its second consecutive national championship will be revealed during the selection show tonight.
Topping-off the six pack: Rumors swirling around Brewers shortstop Willy Adames
This is less a story and more of something I am trying to keep an eye on in the weeks and months leading up to this baseball season.
Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames, who set career highs with 31 home runs and 98 RBIs this season, had been in contract extension talks with the Brewers before their staff change at general manager according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Adames would become a free agent after the 2024 season if he does not receive an extension from the Brewers before then. When asked about his contract situation, Adames said “I let my agent handle that. I love it here, I feel good here, I feel comfortable here and I wish I could stay here the rest of my career.”
Meanwhile, according to MLB.com’s John Toribio, the Los Angeles Dodgers “have shown interest” in acquiring Adames through a trade. Trea Turner was the Dodgers’ shortstop this season, but he is now a free agent. The Los Angeles seeking other options if it does not bring Turner back is not surprising. After the Brewers traded Hunter Renfroe recently, a trade including Adames would send out a huge sum of the Brewers’ offensive production outside of Milwaukee. Add in continued trade rumors about second baseman Kolten Wong, and it seems Milwaukee might be trying to rebuild its offense from the ground-up after this most recent season.
On, Wisconsin.