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It's not completely signed, sealed, and delivered, but barring a last hour change of heart, the Brigham Young Cougars will face Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium in 2013. Both teams have an open date on September 14 next year, so that is the likely date for the meeting in Madison. The Badgers will also pay a return trip to Provo, Utah down the road; 2015 is probably the most likely year for that to take place.
BYU has not been afraid to take on teams from AQ conferences on the road in the past, and they've certainly held their own in many cases. Last season, they defeated Ole Miss 14-13 in Oxford, took down Oregon State 38-28 in Corvallis, and couldn't quite best Texas, losing 17-16 in Austin. BYU's schedule in 2013 is loaded with tough opponents: Boise State, Notre Dame, Texas, Georgia Tech, Houston, Utah, and now Wisconsin.
The Badgers' 2013 non-conference schedule looks like this right now: vs. Massachusetts, at Arizona State, vs. BYU. None of these three opponents present a must-see matchup, but Wisconsin is making a good faith effort to improve the non-conference schedule in years to come and the addition of the BYU series is another positive step in that direction.
Friday Clicks:
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the senseless tragedy that occurred in Colorado last night. If you didn't already see it, Chuck reported that UW hockey forward Gavin Hartzog's brother was supposed to be in the theatre where the shooting took place but accidentally went into a different one. Good grief.
Wisconsin defensive tackle Jordan Kohout has chosen to end his football career after he learned that he suffered two small strokes linked to the frequent migraine headaches he was facing. The good news is that Kohout will still be around the program, serving as a student assistant coach next season. Safe to say, he made the smart decision on this one.
Brian Bennett of the ESPN.com Big Ten blog rates OT Ricky Wagner and C Travis Frederick as the second and third best offensive linemen in the conference, respectively. The pair trail only Michigan's OT Taylor Lewan.
The NBA Summer League in Las Vegas wraps up this weekend. Here you can see a recap of how all four former Badgers participating, including Jordan Taylor, fared in their summer league games.
SBNation's Michigan blog Maize n Brew cranked out a impressively comprehensive preview of the 2012 edition of Wisconsin football. Not surprisingly, they note that the Wisconsin defense needs to get stronger in years ahead- Michigan fans know a bad defense when they see one, amirite?