Happy Wednesday everybody! Let's get rolling with today's Badger Bits!
The 2011 NFL Draft is still a few months away, but former Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien is practicing with the hopes of improving his draft stock. According to UWBadgers.com, Tolzien's good week of practice before the Shrine Game has helped change some opinions about him, despite his unimpressive play in the Shrine Game itself.
For the most part, criticism of Tolzien revolves around his height and arm strength. However, some scouts came away with improved perceptions of Tolzien, including ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay.
"Despite those limitations [height and arm strength], he exceeded expectations. It seemed as though he had been running this offense for years. He had good command, got to the line, knew what he was doing and handled the offense with authority. He threw with good timing and anticipated wide receivers coming out of their break, which is not easy to do on Day 1, and threw accurately."
Currently, it looks as though Tolzien is on the bubble between being a late-round draft selection or becoming a rookie free agent. ESPN has Tolzien listed as the 14th best quarterback in the draft and Draft TEK has him at No. 13, just ahead of former Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi. In their latest mock draft, Draft TEK has Tolzien going in the sixth round as the 189th overall pick to the Chicago Bears.
Andy Baggot of Madison.com writes that Wisconsin has taken their football brand to the national stage.
Wisconsin goaltender Scott Gudmandson was named the WCHA's Defensive Player of the Week. That seems like a pretty deserving selection to me- Gudmandson had 71 saves over the weekend.
Wisconsin quarterback Curt Phillips received some good news recently: Dr. William Clancy is returning to Madison to head up the sports medicine division of the UW athletics department, which he founded in 1974. Clancy also was the doctor who operated on Phillips' second ACL tear.
Dennis Punzel of Madison.com caught up with some future Wisconsin women's basketball players.
Chuck Schwartz of Sixty Minutes. No Alibis. No Regrets. has his updated NCAA hockey tournament bracketology posted for this week.
Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has his weekly Badgers report posted on the MJS website.
Finally, it's student night this Saturday at the Kohl Center for Wisconsin women's hockey. The Badgers will take on the arch-rival Gophers, and look to stay focused as they try to maintain their No. 1 national ranking, according to Kelly Erickson of the Badger Herald.