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Good morning fellow Badgers. Hope everyone in the Madison area is still on the ground after all that wind yesterday. Let's dive into Wednesday's links, shall we?
Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema told Tom Mulhern of Madison.com that the Badgers' bye week is coming at the right time, all things considered. After winning two emotional games against ranked opponents in back to back weeks, the Badgers will spend this Saturday resting both their bodies and their minds for the final stretch of the Big Ten season:
"These guys have earned a bye week," UW coach Bret Bielema said following the 31-30 victory over Iowa on Saturday. "They’re going to have a head coach that’s very rewarding. They’ll get a lot of time off to themselves, to get themselves healed, for us to move into the month of November and get ready for the next four opponents."
The bye week is also going to come in handy for getting several banged-up players ready for action against Purdue on November 6th. Bielema also said that all x-rays on injured players have come back negative but several players, including freshman running back James White, would not have played if Wisconsin were to have a game this Saturday.
More Badger Bits after the jump!
Football
Mike Fiammetta of the Badger Herald lists his keys for Wisconsin to run the table in the Big Ten after their bye week. Consistency seems to be a key theme for him.
Matt Lepay's blog "The Voice" on UWBadgers.com goes over the moments from the Iowa game that made it an "Instant classic" in his mind.
BigTenNetwork.com has an excellent piece up about J.J. Watt's journey from high school non-prospect to leader of the Badgers defense.
Be sure to check out the Badgers Roundtable from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel if you haven't seen it already on the front page. As always, B5Q's Adam Hoge is one of the participant.
Jeff Potrykus of the MJS thinks that all the pieces came together for the Badgers over that last two weeks.
Hockey
Madison.com continued their series "Five Good Minutes" with Wisconsin freshman defenseman Frankie Simonelli.
Sixty Minutes. No Alibis. No Regrets. has a recruiting update with Zach Stepan, cousin of former Badger and current New York Ranger Derek Stepan.
A Final Note
The Big Ten still hasn't decided on division names for when the conference expands next year; though we might hear from them soon according to the Chicago Tribune. I swear, even though I know it's unlikely; if they end up going with the "Bo" and "Woody" divisions I might throw something.
10 days until the next chapter in Badger football.