Fear not, your Badger Bits for Monday, October 11th are here! Links for everyone!
ESPN has announced that their program "College GameDay" will be coming to Madison next Saturday where the Wisconsin Badgers (5-1, 1-1) will host the newly minted #1 team in the nation: the Ohio State Buckeyes (6-0, 2-0). The three hour preview show will be hosted by Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Lee Corso.
Herbstreit will also broadcast the game along with Erin Andrews and Brent Musburger. This will be the first time since 2004 that College GameDay will be broadcast from Madison. We'll find out more details about where the show will be filmed as we get closer to game day. Wisconsin
Speaking of the polls, your Badgers are now ranked #18 in the AP Poll, as well as #16 in the USA Today coaches poll.
More Badger Bits after the jump!
Tom Oates of Madison.com grades the Badgers after their 41-23 victory over arch-rival Minnesota.
ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg gave helmet stickers to both running backs John Clay and James White following the Badger victory on Saturday.
Tom Oates also writes that Bielema's controversial call for a two point conversion has added some spice to a rivalry game that has been dominated by the Badgers recently. Wisconsin's win on Saturday kept Paul Bunyan's Axe in Madison for a record seventh straight year, and the Badgers have won 14 of the last 16 games.
Wisconsin also beat Minnesota on another level on Saturday: offensive lineman Tyler Marz of Springfield, Minnesota committed to Wisconsin on Saturday.
Moving on from the Battle for the Axe, Mike Lucas of UWBadgers.com says that focus will be key for the Badgers against Ohio State.
Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says that Wisconsin's real test is fast approaching.
Moving on to some hockey news, the Wisconsin men's team left St. Louis with a 1-1 record to start the season. The Badgers beat Holy Cross on Sunday after dropping their season opener to Boston University.
The #5 ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team also swept Bemidji State over the weekend.
And finally, Ex-Badger Derek Stepan made his NHL debut with the New York Rangers on Saturday night, and is one of only four players in NHL history to score a hat trick in their professional debut.
In case you needed a reminder: Derek Stepan is very good at this game called hockey:
5 days until Wisconsin vs. Ohio State!