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Josh Gasser is entering his fifth year at Wisconsin. Frank Kaminsky will be a legitimate candidate for the Naismith Award. There are a handful of reasons why the Badgers will take the cake of the Big Ten championship in 2014-15, and SB Nation's BT Powerhouse has Bo Ryan's squad at the top of its Memorial Day conference power rankings.
With 94 days remaining until the Wisconsin-LSU matchup at Reliant Stadium, there is natural excitement and hype leading up to the game. 247 Sports' JC Shurburtt has the contest No. 2 among SEC non-conference openers. More or less, the outcome of that game will affect which bowl Gary Andersen's club reaches in 2015. ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy has the Badgers slotted in the Outback Bowl against Ole Miss while Mark Schlabach has UW facing off against Stanford (hello 2013 Rose Bowl rematch) in the Fiesta Bowl.
There are many critical players that will dictate whether or not the football program enjoys a successful season, and Fox Sports Wisconsin's Jesse Temple outlines two of them. The 20th most-important player is linebacker Marcus Trotter, while kicker Jack Russell is tabbed as the 19th most-important player.
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Badgers recruiting update: Mike has another recruiting notebook, and outlines the sustained interest the program has had in St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida) as well as Andersen keeping tabs on a Georgia running back. UW has also offered Virginia-based cornerback Chuck Davis. He currently holds scholarship offers from Charlotte, East Carolina, Indiana, Marshall and North Carolina. Cornerback Meiko Dotson's interest in Wisconsin has piqued as of late ($). He told Badger247:
"I've been looking over everything and I'm excited just to get to know about Wisconsin football. My parents are okay with me leaving. They want me around good people that take care of me. I don't really mind going out of state. I just want to go to a program where everything is family oriented."
The following Wisconsin NFL'ers were found in ESPN.com's Matthew Berry Top-200 fantasy players: Montee Ball at No. 13 and Russell Wilson at No. 105.
Quick Hitters
Please, Mr. Bielema. Just stop. Stop for yourself, your wife and college football fans around the country. We cool?
The judge overlooking the sexual assault case involving former Badgers recruit Dominic Cizauskas will allow evidence outlining Cizauskas' and the victim's past relationship.
15.5 percent of Division I signees since 2007 have come from the Midwest.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater completed the first ever national championship sweep of football, basketball and baseball. The baseball squad clinched the feat with a 7-0 victory over Emory.
In the 2013-14 season for the first time in history the UW-Whitewater Football, Basketball and Baseball teams won the National Championship!
— UWW Baseball (@UWWBaseball) May 27, 2014