"He restored the UW football program to national prominence."

That's the common phrase used to describe what Pat Richter did for the University of Wisconsin and it's not really accurate.

Other than a few scattered successful seasons, the UW football program had never been anywhere near the national radar as far as prominent football programs were concerned. What Richter really did was take Wisconsin athletics to that level for the first time. Today, every aspect of the UW Athletic Department can be traced back to Pat Richter.

Richter was arguably the most versatile athlete Wisconsin has ever seen. He won a total of nine letters in football, basketball and baseball and was a two-time All-American tight end. He helped lead Wisconsin to the 1963 Rose Bowl.

Richter moved on to the NFL where he played eight seasons for the Washington Redskins after they drafted him in the first round of the 1963 draft.

He returned to Wisconsin in 1989 and started transforming the UW Athletic Department into what it is today. Obviously his single most important decision was the hiring of Barry Alvarez, but Richter always had a plan and when the football team started to succeed, he knew what to do with the money. When he took over, the UW Athletic Department had a $2.1 million deficit. When he retired in 2004, it had a $6.4 million reserve.

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More photos » Joe Koshollek - AP

Bo Ryan joins Barry Alvarez and Ron Dayne on the SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame ballot. (AP Photo/Joe Koshollek)

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This is the third of 10 posts revealing the Wisconsin Badgers' 10 nominees for possible induction into SBN Wisconsin's Hall of Fame. The nominees are revealed in order of most votes from the B5Q readership.

Hall-of-Fame inductions rarely happen for players and coaches who are still active, but with Bo Ryan's 217-82 record at Wisconsin in nine seasons, it's not surprising the UW men's basketball head coach received the third most votes and will see his name on SBN Wisconsin's Hall of Fame ballot.

Ryan has led the Badgers to the NCAA Tournament in all nine of his seasons at UW and won three Big Ten titles. But as impressive as his numbers are at Wisconsin, Ryan is just as deserving for his work at UW-Platteville where he won four Division III National Titles and won 82 percent of his games.

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This is the second of 10 posts revealing the Wisconsin Badgers' 10 nominees for possible induction into SBN Wisconsin's Hall of Fame. The nominees are revealed in order of most votes from the B5Q readership.

With Barry Alvarez already announced as the first nominee, we now move on to no-brainer nominee No.2: Ron Dayne.

Dayne is most notably known for owning the NCAA's Division I-A career rushing record with 6,397 yards over his four years at Wisconsin. He was one of the most dominating college football players ever and was awarded the Heisman Trophy in 1999.

Those who were lucky enough to witness Ron Dayne know how good he was as a running back. His combination of size and speed was unmatched by any other running back in college football and there really has not been a player like him ever since.

On top of all the records he owns, Dayne was one of the most reliable players to ever put on the Cardinal and White. He saved his best for the biggest of games, including three bowl games in which he rushed for over 200 yards. In UW's two Rose Bowl victories in 1999 and 2000, Dayne rushed for 246 and 200 yards, respectively.

Dayne joins Alvarez and eight other Badgers on the SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame ballot which will also include 10 nominees each from the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette Golden Eagles. Once again, all voting will be done by SBNation readers.

More photos » BEBETO MATTHEWS - AP

Barry Alvarez is the first nominee from UW on the SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame ballot. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

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This is the first of 10 posts revealing the Wisconsin Badgers' 10 nominees for possible induction into SBN Wisconsin's Hall of Fame. The nominees are revealed in order of most votes from the B5Q readership.

It should be of no surprise that Barry Alvarez received the most votes and is SBN Wisconsin's first nominee from UW. Wisconsin football is what it is today because of Alvarez and there is no denying that fact.

The Badgers had won just one bowl game before Barry Alvarez came to Wisconsin in 1990. They won eight in the 16 years he coached the team, including three Rose Bowls. For a program that began in 1889, that's an incredible turnaround that can't be matched by any other coach in any other sport. Alvarez is still the only Big Ten coach to ever win back-to-back Rose Bowls.

After playing linebacker for Nebraska in the 1960s, Alvarez coached at both Iowa and Notre Dame as an assistant coach before take on the daunting task of turning around the Wisconsin football program. He is a member of both the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame and Wisconsin Hall of Fame. He was also unanimously voted into the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the 2010 class in May.

Alvarez will join nine other Badgers on the SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame ballot which will also include 10 nominees each from the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette Golden Eagles. Once again, all voting will be done by SBNation readers.

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The wait is over. You can buy your copy of Badger Kickoff 2010 Tuesday at newsstands across Wisconsin.

Badger Kickoff 2010 is an incredibly in-depth publication from Maple Street Press full of scouting reports, stats, analysis, and feature stories about the 2010 Wisconsin Badgers that you can't find anywhere else. Throughout the offseason I have been editing and writing the magazine and could not be happier with what was produced in what will surely become an annual publication.

You can find the magazine at any chain with a magazine rack (i.e. Walmart, Roundy's, Copps, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Target, e.t.c.). Look for a cardboard display at Roundy's and Copps.

For Badger fans who live outside the state of Wisconsin, you can order your copy online right here!

This is the first magazine of its kind about Badger football. Unlike all the national preview magazines out there that only have two pages about Wisconsin, Badger Kickoff 2010 gives you 128 pages of ad-free, full color content on ONLY the Wisconsin Badgers and their opponents. It's an essential companion for the upcoming season. I've already found myself using it on a daily basis for information to compliment on my posts on Bucky's 5th Quarter.

For more information about what to expect in the magazine click here!

Earlier this week our good friend Kyle Lobner from Brew Crew Ball announced the debut of a new joint project among the SBN Wisconsin sites: The SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame. For the first time ever, the five Wisconsin SBN sites are coming together to allow you to vote on the greatest sports figures in the history of the state of Wisconsin.

Over the next few days we'll nominate ten people to represent the Wisconsin Badgers on this year's ballot. Those ten will then be placed on a final ballot that will include ten figures selected by each of these communities:

• Acme Packing Company (Packers)
• Anonymous Eagle (Marquette)
• Brew Crew Ball (Brewers)
• Brew Hoop (Bucks)

Now, we need your help to figure out who should represent the Wisconsin Badgers on this year's ballot. Below you will find 58 candidates that include players, coaches and broadcasters from UW. You are allowed to vote for up to ten candidates (note: you can vote for less than ten) and you can write-in your own nominees.

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It looks like - for now, anyway - all this conference expansion talk has settled down and we can finally come up for air. The Pac-10 failed in its attempt to become a mega-conference, when Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State decided to try and stick it out in a Big 12 Conference that's losing Nebraska and Colorado. The Big Ten appears comfortable only adding the Cornhuskers, but surely the ears of conference officials will perk up if Notre Dame demonstrates even the slightest bit of interest.

With Texas out of the picture and Missouri and Kansas at least ostensibly committed to preserving the Big 12, the Big Ten should stop right where it is. The conference acquired a wonderful new member in Nebraska, a great fit athletically and academically. Nebraska has a strong football tradition, with several national titles to its name, an improving basketball program set to build a big new arena in the coming years, a rabid fan base that travels well, the name recognition to get the NCAA's attention, and an overall commitment to athletic success. UNL is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), no small selling point for a conference that prides itself on the research generated by its member schools. While Nebraska ranks just 96th in the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings of American colleges - the lowest existing conference members rank 71st - the theory is Nebraska is poised to make a leap up that chart once it gets its hands on some of the Big Ten Network money and surrounds itself with the influence of the conference's premier institutions. Finally, the move lets the Big Ten retain its geographic cohesion, which still matters to some of us. Nebraska shares a border with Iowa, which means the conference will at least be nine contiguous states.

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Former football head coach and current Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez's induction into the College Football Hall of Fame was considered inevitable by most observers.

The man won three Big Ten titles and three Rose Bowls in a distinguished, 16-year career at Wisconsin and is the winningest coach of all time at the school. His .727 winning percentage in bowl games is the best of anyone who's coached in at least 11 postseason affairs. Alvarez knew how to win the big games in the regular season, too, as he's still the only coach to beat Ohio State boss Jim Tressel in consecutive contests.

Still, there is a small but vocal contingent of detractors who have made their disdain for Alvarez and outrage over his Hall induction very clear on Internet message boards. Because of the anonymous nature of these forums, we will never know if the naysayers are former players who couldn't get back on their feet after failing to make it in the NFL, disgruntled ex-employees of the UW Athletic Department, or legitimate followers of college football expressing real, unbiased beliefs. Heck, all the negative comments could be coming from the same bored but angry individual, for all we know! Such is the nature of the Internet.

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