Well, this is interesting. Here I am, sitting down to write my final post on the Fifth Quarter, and I don't really have anything. I had it all planned out - I swear - but now that I'm actually sitting down to write it the words just aren't flowing like I thought they would. But then again, I've never claimed to be the most elegant of writers.

As most of you know, I'm leaving Bucky's 5th Quarter after nearly two years of contributing. It all started during the summer after my freshman year at Wisconsin. I'd been reading Adam's work for a while after finding the site through one of SB Nation's other fantastic blogs, and I ran across a want ad of sorts. The site was growing quickly, and extra help was needed to write a daily links post.

I almost dismissed the want ad. At the time I was just a soon-to-be sophomore, listing my way through academia, and pretending as though I had a clue as to what I was doing. I wrote for the paper and all that in high school growing up in Lakeville, Minn., but I thought that was just a hobby. It never crossed my mind that I could turn an internet writing gig into something people would want to read, let alone something that would give me endless opportunities down the road.

I wish I could say that a beam of light hit me; with some movie narrator's voice telling me that applying to write Badger Bits was the right thing to do, but that would be a lie. I recall my thought process being more like "Ehh, why the hell not?"

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MADISON, Wis. - Heading into Sunday's game with Illinois, the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers were determined to send their two-man senior class out with style. They've made a tradition out of it recently. Bo Ryan had never lost on senior day in his ten previous years coaching the Badgers, and that streak stretched to 11 games as Wisconsin (23-8, 12-6 Big Ten) downed Illinois (17-14, 6-12) 70-56 in the Kohl Center.

Senior point guard Jordan Taylor and sophomore guard Josh Gasser led the way for the Badgers with 16 points apiece, while senior guard Rob Wilson had eight points on 2-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. On an emotionally charged day like Sunday it would have been easy for the Badgers to lose their focus, especially since the Badgers are locked in to the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

"It was definitely kind of a surreal experience," Taylor said after the game. "It was fun to be out there in front of the Grateful Red one last time."

Both Taylor and Wilson admitted to not being overly emotional before the game, but it was clear in the post-game press conferences that the two seniors were happy to close out their Kohl Center careers with one last win.

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Big Ten Men's Basketball Illinois vs. No. 14/15 Wisconsin
	vs,
17-13 (6-11 Big Ten)		22-8 (10-6 Big Ten)
March 4, 2012 12:00 PM CT Kohl Center (17,230), Madison, Wis.
TV: BTN (Eric Collins & Shon Morris) Radio: 1070 FM / 1310 AM (Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas)
All-time Series: Illinois leads 110-77 Last Meeting: Wisconsin won 67-63 (1/22/12)

Good morning, and welcome to senior day at the Kohl Center. Jordan Taylor and Rob Wilson will try to close out their final game at the Kohl Center the right way with a win over Illinois, which would give the Badgers a three-game winning streak heading in to the Big Ten Tournament at the end of this week.

The Illini, on the other hand, are fighting to stay in the conversation for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament after skidding to a 1-7 finish in the Big Ten after beating Michigan State in late January. The Badgers have already locked up the four-seed and a first round bye for the tournament, while the Illinis are looking at a 9-seed or worse.

It should be a good one from the Kohl Center today, so be sure to leave your questions, comments, and predictions in the thread below. If you're on Twitter, you can follow my live game updates: @JohnVeldhuis.

MADISON, Wis. - It's the middle of the afternoon, and a crowd of reporters stood waiting in the bowels of the Kohl Center. The Badger players have long since finished their interviews, and are warming up on the Kohl Center court before practice. On a normal day, most reporters would have already left to find their cars in the building snowstorm.

But Friday wasn't a normal day, just like how Sunday won't be a normal day for Jordan Taylor and Rob Wilson, the lone seniors on the Badgers' roster.

The reporters are waiting for Greg Gard, Bo Ryan's longtime lieutenant and the program's associate head coach. Gard emerged from the locker room, coming to face a larger-than-usual media detail, and became emotional when asked about Taylor and Wilson playing their last games in the Kohl Center.

"Yep, this one will be (different)," Gard said about the Badgers' approaching Senior Day. "(They're) two special kids. I'm just happy for both of them because they've both come in and done every thing we've asked."

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MADISON, Wis. - An ugly win is still a win. It was far from pretty, but the No. 14 Badgers were able to eke out a 52-45 win Tuesday night over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The No. 14 Badgers (22-8, 11-6 Big Ten) shot just 19 percent from the floor in the first half, but trailed the Gophers (17-13, 5-12) by just seven points after Minnesota shot just under 27 percent from the floor going into the intermission. With the win, the Badgers locked up a first round bye in the Big Ten Tournament next weekend, while the Gophers saw their losing streak stretch to six games.

Just saying it was an ugly game doesn't quite do it justice. In addition to combining for just 23 percent shooting from the floor in the first half, the Badgers and Gophers combined for 43 personal fouls in the game, and both Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan and Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith were charged with a technical foul on the night.

With a first-round bye at stake, the Badgers knew they needed to get their act together quickly in the second half if they wanted to avert the upset from the rival Gophers, who took the Badgers to overtime in their last game in Minneapolis.

"At this point in the season you have to come out ready to play, and we didn't do a good job of throwing the first blow," senior point guard Jordan Taylor said. "But we did a good job in the second half of finding a way to turn it around."

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Big Ten Men's Basketball Minnesota vs. No. 14/15 Wisconsin
	vs,
17-12 (5-11 Big Ten)		21-8 (10-6 Big Ten)
Feb. 28, 2012 7:00 PM CT Kohl Center (17,230), Madison, Wis.
TV: BTN (Gus Johnson & Jim Jackson) Radio: 1070 FM / 1310 AM (Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas)
All-time Series: Minnesota leads 100-90 Last Meeting: Wisconsin won 68-61 (OT) (2/9/12)

It's Tuesday night and B5Q is live from the Kohl Center, where the Badgers will take on the Minnesota Gophers for the second time this season. The Gophers didn't make it easy for the Badgers earlier this month, when they forced overtime at the Barn in Minneapolis. The Badgers would go on to win on the strength of their free-throw shooting, but the game had lasting effects for both teams. The Badgers are 2-2 since then, and have a chance to lock up the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament with a win tonight.

The Gophers haven't been as fortunate. The loss to Wisconsin started a five-game losing streak for the Gophers, including an embarrassing 69-50 loss to No. 24 Indiana at home last Sunday. But in a sense this could make the Gophers more dangerous, as they are running out of chances to improve their resume for an NCAA Tournament bid.

It should be a good one from the Kohl Center tonight, with both teams on a mission just two days after a tough game. As usual, feel free to leave your comments, questions, and predictions in the thread below. If you're on Twitter, feel free to follow my updates throughout the game: @JohnVeldhuis.

MADISON, Wis. -- We're in the home stretch for Wisconsin Badger Basketball. Coming off a big road win at Ohio State, the Badgers have two games left at the Kohl Center to finish out the regular season. And while they still have those two games against Minnesota and Illinois left to go, the Badgers might already think they're caught in March Madness.

Following the win in Columbus the Badgers have just one day to prepare for the Gophers, which sophomore guard Josh Gasser addressed before practice on Monday.

"It's kind of like a tournament atmosphere with the one day turnaround," Gasser said. "It's always nice to have quick turnarounds like this before the tournament actually starts. This is our season from here on in, one game after another, not many breaks, so it's nice."

Luckily for the Badgers, they've seen the Gophers relatively recently, and Minnesota will enter the Kohl Center on a five-game skid. The Badgers will need to keep their guard up and not underestimate the Gophers in the Kohl Center, where they've been surprisingly vulnerable this season.

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MADISON, Wis. - It was a long ride home for the No. 15 Wisconsin Badgers on Thursday night, stretching into the early hours of Friday morning as they trekked back to Madison after a 67-66 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes. They arrived home at 3 a.m., but the Badgers were right back at practice Friday afternoon. The Badgers can ill afford luxuries like time, as they travel to Columbus Saturday for a Sunday afternoon game with the No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes.

"Yeah I'm looking forward to getting some sleep tonight," sophomore guard Ben Brust joked after practice Friday. "(But) it's good for us to come out here and get moving."

The Badgers are no strangers to a quick turnaround between games. Coming off a tough loss to Michigan State last Thursday, the Badgers had just two days to prepare for Penn State, who they defeated 65-55 the following Sunday. Going into the game with the Nittany Lions, the Badgers stressed how the game helped them move on from their disappointment.

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MADISON, Wis. - When it comes to basketball, New Years' Eve 2011 was a day to forget for the Badgers. The Badgers were No. 11 and coming off a resounding win over Big Ten newcomer Nebraska, and welcomed the middling Iowa Hawkeyes to the Kohl Center. The Badgers then proceeded to shoot 3-of-28 from behind the arc, and fell to the upstart Hawkeyes 72-65 in Madison for the first time in years.

But even though they suffered a tough loss to the Hawkeyes earlier in the year, the Badgers were careful not to use the word ‘revenge' when talking about their Thursday night rematch with Iowa.

"I've been around too long," head coach Bo Ryan said after practice Tuesday. "I know that (revenge) doesn't make you play better. Because if you're worried about that part of it you're not worrying about what you need to take care of.

"You've got 30 some games. Can you imagine in the NBA if every time someone had beaten you, you talk about a revenge game?"

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MADISON, Wis. -- Coming off a win against Penn State, the Badgers face a big two-game stretch this week, with plenty of opportunities for payback. They'll need to keep up a consistent shooting pace if they want to build momentum over the next two and a half weeks, and it would certainly help if they can get multiple players involved in the scoring. That worked out well against the Nittany Lions, where four of the Badgers' five starters ended up with double-digit points.

The Week Ahead

The Badgers have two games scheduled for this week, with both of them coming on the road. First, the Badgers travel to Iowa City on Wednesday for a Thursday night rematch with the Iowa Hawkeyes, who stunned the Badgers with a 72-65 upset win in Madison on New Year's Eve. It's a quick turnaround after that, as the Badgers have just one day to rest before heading to Columbus for another shot at the Ohio State Buckeyes, who defeated the Badgers 58-52 in Madison two weeks ago.

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MADISON, Wis. - After a rough few opening minutes, it started to rain in the Kohl Center. Not with water, but with three-point baskets. The No. 15 Wisconsin Badgers (20-7, 9-5 Big Ten) shot 11-of-22 from downtown in a 65-55 win over Penn State (12-16, 4-11), giving them a big enough edge to sink the Nittany Lions despite a big run in the second half. Sophomore guard Josh Gasser led the way for the Badgers with 15 points on 3-of-5 shooting from behind the arc, and junior forward Ryan Evans barely missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.

The opening minutes of Wisconsin's game against Penn State Sunday weren't pretty to watch, and could easily have made fans recall the Badgers' 36-33 loss to the Nittany Lions in the 2011 Big Ten Tournament. The two teams went the first two and a half minutes without scoring before Wisconsin point guard Jordan Taylor hit a three-point shot, giving the Badgers a lead they would hold for the rest of the game.

Kicked off by Taylor, three-point shooting ended up ruling the day for the Badgers. Leading just 12-9, the Badgers sank five three-point shots in a row, including back-to-back-to-back threes from Gasser, extending their lead to 14 points.

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Big Ten Men's Basketball Penn State vs. No. 15/17 Wisconsin
	vs
12-15 (4-10 Big Ten)		19-7 (8-5 Big Ten)
Feb. 19, 2012 3:00 PM CT Kohl Center (14,759), Madison, Wis.
TV: Big Ten Network / CBS Radio: 1070 FM / 1310 AM (Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas)
All-time Series: Wisconsin leads 27-10 Last Meeting: Wisc. won 52-46 in University Park, Pa.

After a disappointing loss to Michigan State in East Lansing on Thursday night, the Badgers return to the Kohl Center to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions, and try to stay on track in the Big Ten season. The Badgers would do well not to overlook the Lions, who have given the Badgers tough games in the past despite their middling records. The Lions led the Badgers at the half when the two teams last played in January, thanks in large part to a poor shooting performance from the Badgers. We'll soon see if they can avoid long shooting droughts this time around, and keep working their way towards tournament season.

As always feel free to leave your questions, comments, and predictions in the gamethread below. If you do the Twitter thing, you can follow my live updates too: @JohnVeldhuis. Every game is important at this point in the season, and it should be another good one today from the Kohl Center.

MADISON, Wis. - Thursday night was rough for the Wisconsin Badgers, to say the least. Playing on the road against Michigan State, the Badgers just couldn't get anything going in a 69-55 loss to the Spartans. The Badgers looked sluggish for most of the night, and had dug too deep of a hole for them to fully escape in the second half.

But while there weren't many moral victories in the loss, there was a silver lining for the Badgers to grab a hold of: they didn't have time to dwell on the loss. Sophomore guard Josh Gasser spoke after practice Friday about the short layoff between games, and how it will help the Badgers move on.

"Obviously we're disappointed," Gasser said. "Not just with the result, but (with) the way we played. But at this point in time we're all about moving on to the next one.

"You've got to move on fast when you've got a quick turn around like this. It's good, instead of having a couple days to sit around and think about the loss."

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MADISON, Wis. - Time is supposed to heal all wounds. But even if that old adage is true, it hasn't been long enough for the Badgers to get over their last game against Michigan State. Not yet, at least.

Ryan Evans' last second three-pointer was waved off by the referees, and the Badgers fell to Michigan State 63-60 at the Kohl Center. The loss dropped them to a disappointing 1-3 start in conference play, and left them with rare back-to-back home losses. At the time, it seemed as though the Badgers were on the verge of a tailspin, with poor shooting keeping them from pulling out of the nosedive.

But since that home loss, the Badgers are 7-2 in Big Ten play, and are just one game out of first place. They scraped out good wins at Purdue and at Illinois, and kept themselves alive game by game. Luckily enough for the Badgers, they get another shot at the Spartans; and can keep themselves within striking distance of a conference championship with a win on Thursday night at the Breslin Center.

"It's going to be really fun again," sophomore guard Josh Gasser said after practice Tuesday. "It's going to be jumping. Hopefully we can play well this time. We've just got to play our game, limit them in transition. The fewer easy buckets they get, the better off we'll be."

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MADISON, Wis. - Stop me if you've heard this one before. A notable ACC quarterback is planning on transferring after earning his degree, and is apparently interested in Wisconsin. But this time, it's not Russell Wilson.

Maryland quarterback Danny O'Brien is planning on transferring after the Terps released him from his scholarship, according to the Baltimore Sun. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound O'Brien took a step back in his sophomore season, after breaking out as a freshman and winning the ACC's Rookie of the Year award.

Reports flew that O'Brien did not mesh well with new Maryland coach Randy Edsall, who led the Terps to a 2-10 season in his first year in College Park. O'Brien threw for 1648 yards in 2011, posting a paltry 7-10 touchdown to interception ratio. That's a far cry from his first year as a starter, where he threw for 2438 yards and 22 touchdowns.

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MADISON, Wis. -- The Big Ten season is in the home stretch. The Badgers have just six games left in the regular season, before they take off for the Big Ten Tournament and (probably) the NCAA Tournament. And with just under a month left to go, the Badgers find themselves within striking distance of first place.

After losing three of four games to open the conference slate, the Badgers are just a game out of first place, with game remaining against Michigan State and Ohio State. However, both of those games are on the road, and will be tough gets after losing to both teams at the Kohl Center. But Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan isn't worried about where his team is in the standings; they only thing the Badgers can do is try and win the next game on their schedule.

"The only thing that's important is the next one, (the one) we have control over," Ryan said in his weekly press conference. "(There's) three things we have control over. How you think, how you feel, and how you behave. So what we've got to do in our practices is think about the things that we can do and do them well, and hopefully feel good about them in the end. But that's all we can do right now."

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I think it's pretty fair to say that Russell Wilson had a good run as Wisconsin's starting quarterback. His stat line says it all: a 72.8 completion percentage, 10.28 yards per attempt, 33 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Wilson gave the Badgers everything they needed out of the quarterback position, plus a little more. But as much as the Badgers might wish Wilson could return for an encore, he's exhausted his eligibility and is on to potentially greener pastures in the NFL.

So what do the Badgers do for 2012? They caught lightning in a bottle with Wilson, but they now have impossibly big shoes to fill. Today we'll take an entirely-too-early look at the candidates to replace Wilson for next season. The quarterback situation is sure to change over the next few months, as we find out who's hurt and for how long, but for right now we'll look at the potential candidates and where they stand.

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MADISON, Wis. - Bret Bielema's wedding just got a little more interesting. After three Wisconsin assistants left for new jobs at Pittsburgh with now-Panthers head coach Paul Chryst, it was Bielema's turn to lure an assistant away. This time it's former Wisconsin running back Eddie Faulkner, who rounds out the Wisconsin coaching staff as the Badgers' new tight ends coach.

Faulkner, 34, was briefly hired in January as Pitt's new running backs coach after spending a year with Dave Doeren and Matt Canada at Northern Illinois. Faulkner also was the special teams coordinator for the Huskies during his brief tenure at NIU. So when Bielema and his former employees get together for his upcoming nuptials, there's sure to be some interesting conversations.

"I'm excited to be able to bring Eddie back to Madison," Bielema said in a statement. "It's always special to be able to hire a former letterwinner. In addition to coaching our tight ends, Eddie brings great experience coaching special teams and has tremendous talents as a recruiter. He's obviously worked with Matt and he is highly-respected among the coaches on our staff."

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MADISON, Wis. - Coming off a 58-52 loss to No. 3 Ohio State, the No. 21 Badgers (18-6, 7-4 Big Ten) will go across the border to pick up where they left off with Big Ten rival Minnesota (17-7, 5-6). The two teams have a storied football rivalry, which sees them compete annually for Paul Bunyan's Axe, but according to Badgers head coach Bo Ryan, the rivalries in the two sports don't really compare.

"We play 18 games in the Big Ten, and we have a Big Ten tournament," Ryan said. "So in no way is there any one game in the basketball season that's comparable to a conference football game. It just can't happen that way.

"You've got to get ready to play 18 plus (games), so no it's a little different. Sometimes you might be playing in Minnesota and you have three games in seven days. So how could that be comparable to a sport that plays once a week on the weekend?"

So while the sheer number of games played in the basketball season might diminish the rivalry's effect, getting another Big Ten road win would definitely help the Badgers in the long run.

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MADISON, Wis. - When you live by the three, you'd better be prepared to die by the three. The No. 19 Badgers found that out first hand against No. 3 Ohio State Saturday afternoon, when 5-of-27 shooting from distance put extra nails in their coffin in a 58-52 loss to the Buckeyes. The Badgers fell to 18-6 (7-4 Big Ten) with the loss, while the Buckeyes 20-3 (8-2) solidified their hold on first place in the conference.

But despite their poor shooting performance, Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said he was happy with the shots his players took. But unfortunately for the Badgers, they almost never got a shot to fall when they needed one.

"You can take an overlay of the shots," Ryan said after the game. "Space between the defenders, things like that, I thought we did a great job of touching the post by our dribble - a post feed and knockout. Our shoulders squared and feet looking at the basket, it had to be at least 90 percent of those. I can think of one, possibly two, that weren't those type of 3's. When we're hitting them, we can look pretty good on the offensive end."

"Everybody was getting open looks, and we've got to knock them down," Wisconsin forward Mike Bruesewitz said. "We did a good job moving the ball ... we've just got to knock shots down when we're open."

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If you're not excited for this game, then I don't know what to tell you. It's a battle for first place in the Big Ten. Another chapter in one of Wisconsin's heated rivalries. The first major game between the two schools since the "Deal With It" incident, the Hail Mary redux, and Bret Bielema's spat with Urban Meyer. The Badgers will need to play their best game to knock off the Buckeyes for a second consecutive year, and can't afford to go cold for very long.

It should be a great one at the Kohl Center today, and I'll be there live to take it all in. Let's play nice, and follow site rules. If you want to follow me on Twitter, feel free to do so: (@JohnVeldhuis). And as always, if you have any comments, questions, or predictions, feel free to leave them below!

MADISON, Wis. - In case you hadn't heard, the Badgers have a pretty big game coming up. No. 20 Wisconsin will host No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday in the Kohl Center, with the winning team claiming first place in the Big Ten, at least for the time being. It will also be another chapter in the growing rivalry between the two schools, which just got a little more intense on the football side of things with a spat between Bret Bielema and Urban Meyer.

But if you asked head coach Bo Ryan, the Badgers aren't looking at Saturday's game any differently. They have a history with the Buckeyes, but that doesn't mean the Badgers will get worked up about having another chance to take down another highly ranked Ohio State squad.

"I don't see our guys getting too high or two low. You keep an even keel, you work," Ryan said Friday. "If you try to make a big deal out of one (game), what do you do the next time?"

Having the game in the Kohl Center definitely works in the Badgers' favor. Under Bo Ryan, the Badgers are 5-1 against AP Top 5 teams at home, and are currently on a five game winning streak. You don't have to look that far back to find their last Top 5 win: Feb. 12, 2011, when the Badgers beat the Buckeyes 71-67 on the strength of Jordan Taylor's 27 points. That kind of success doesn't just happen, according to Ryan.

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MADISON, Wis. -- It's something that Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema has said before: coaches lose more friendships in recruiting than they do on the field.

So it's probably fair to say that Bielema's relationship with new Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer is frosty at best.

During his signing day press conference, Bielema was asked about how Meyer will affect recruiting in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes pulled in one of the top signing classes this season, ranking first in the Big Ten and sixth overall by ESPN. Bielema mentioned that he had a discussion with Meyer about some of his recruiting tactics sometime after he joined the conference in November.

"I hope (recruiting) doesn't change, I think the potential to change has been there," Bielema said Wednesday. "There was a few things that happened early on, that I made people aware of that I didn't want to see in this league, that I had seen take place in other leagues. Other recruiting tactics, other recruiting practices that are illegal.

"I was very up front and was very pointed to the fact, actually reached out to coach Meyer and shared my thoughts and concerns with him. The situation got rectified."

And now Matt Hayes at The Sporting News is reporting that Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez will speak with Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany about Meyer's recruiting style.

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MADISON, Wis. - There's a buzz in the air about this weekend's matchup between No. 3 Ohio State and No. 20 Wisconsin, but Wisconsin forward Mike Bruesewtiz says he wasn't aware of it until recently.

"Yeah we went through a day of practice with scout (teams), so somebody was ‘Sullinger' so I just kind of assumed that they were (next)," Bruesewitz said after practice Thursday.

That might be just a figure of speech, but it's clear that the Badgers aren't looking at playing the Buckeyes any differently. Right now they're just another team on the schedule, even though Saturday's game is effectively a battle for first place in the Big Ten.

"It's just another game, another 40 minutes," sophomore guard Josh Gasser said. "It's a little bit of a bigger game just because of the conference race, but we don't really pay attention to that. We've got make sure we keep this place protected, and take care of business."

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MADISON, Wis. -- Change is uncomfortable. That's what the Wisconsin Badgers found out first hand when six assistant coaches left for different jobs after winning their second consecutive Big Ten Championship, and it's what new wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni stressed after the Badgers introduced their 2012 signing class.

"Change is uncomfortable for people," Azzanni said. "Change involves risk. I think players, coaches, everybody, you have a tendency when you have success to lose your edge. Not that anyone has ... but they're certainly not going to now."

Certainly not. If change keeps people sharp, then bringing in a completely revamped coaching staff should work wonders for the Badgers. As of now, the Badgers have hired four new assistants: Azzanni, offensive coordinator Matt Canada, linebackers coach Andy Buh, and offensive line coach Mike Markuson. Ben Strickland was promoted to safeties coach after serving as a graduate assistant, and the Badgers are still in the market for a new tight ends coach.

It'll be quite a different look for the Badgers, but that doesn't mean they'll get away from what made them successful.

"I think it's a rebirth of Wisconsin football," Bielema said. "It may have a few tweaks, a few alterations. But what we've known and had success with here isn't going to change."

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MADISON, Wis. -- Like it or not, recruiting is a major part of college football. Programs need talented players if they want to compete for conference or national championships, and teams need to recruit well if they want to bring talented kids into the fold. The Badgers might never haul in the No. 1-ranked recruiting class, but they still need to find the right players for their system if they want to keep up their winning ways.

So on National Signing Day, the Badgers officially introduced their 2012 recruiting class. Head coach Bret Bielema sat down for a press conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss his latest band of signees and walk-ons, all of which will be on campus for fall camp in August.

Vince Biegel - LB - Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

Biegel, a 6-foot-3, 225 lb. linebacker from Lincoln High School, is a four-star recruit according to ESPN, Rivals, and Scout. He's ranked as the top Wisconsin product for this year's class, and was named the Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year.

"What you’re going to see is great instincts, he’s got the ability to flow to the ball, has a little bit of aggression when he gets there," Bielema said. "(A) big, rangy kid that can probably play inside (or) outside. Just moves really well. High motor. Great kid. A guy that we’re very impressed with."

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MADISON, Wis. -- There are some new faces in the Wisconsin football program. In addition to adding five new assistant coaches to his staff, Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema introduced his three newest players on signing day. Dan Voltz, Vonte Jackson, and Hugs Etienne all met with the media for the first time on Wednesday, having already enrolled in spring classes and signed their national letters of intent.

"We are excited ... to have the three freshmen join us (for) this semester," Bielema said during his signing day press conference. "They did a great job, Hugs, Dan, and Vonte. You don't just decide your senior year that you're going to graduate. They planned this thing out in advance, did a lot of extra academic work to get to where they are, and now they really get a bonus semester of college football."

"Those three guys will all have a distinct advantage."

By enrolling in school a semester early, the three newest Badgers can participate in winter conditioning and spring football, giving them an extra semester to get adjusted to the next level of competition. In addition, they can use the semester to get acclimated to the college workload, so they aren't overwhelmed when fall camp rolls around in August.

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MADISON, Wis. -- It's Wednesday, February 1st, and that means it's National Signing Day. High school prospects are able to sign their national letters of intent today, making them officially part of their respective teams. The Badgers have about 12 verbal commitments this year, with three players already enrolled in classes. This page will be updated as news breaks, so be sure to keep checking throughout the day.

Head coach Bret Bielema will hold a press conference today at 3:00 p.m., and I'll be there to get his thoughts on the newest Badgers, as well as to speak with the new assistant coaches and the early enrollees.

2:55 PM: Bart Houston's signing was officially announced by the athletic department this afternoon, rounding out the Badgers' 2012 signing class for the moment. I'm at Camp Randall for Bret Bielema's press conference, so there will be much more on signing day later this evening.

12:33 PM: Tacoma, Wash., offensive lineman Walker Williams has signed his letter of intent, and is officially listed by the Athletic Department on their list of signees. Still waiting on Bart Houston's signing to become official.

In addition, the Badgers lost out on Cleveland Heights offensive lineman Kyle Dodson, who signed with Ohio State. Dodson had been verbally committed to Wisconsin, but reopened his recruitment after Urban Meyer took over for his home state Buckeyes.

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MADISON, Wis. -- Don't look now, but Penn State has beaten the Badgers in two of their last three contests, including a 36-33 win over Wisconsin in last year's Big Ten tournament. So the Badgers know better than most that the Nittany Lions can catch teams off their guard. With big games looming against Ohio State and Michigan State, it would be easy for Bo Ryan's team to overlook their trip to State College on Tuesday. But Ryan told the media during his weekly press conference that they're not taking Penn State lightly.

"Penn State is really playing hard," Ryan said. "They're pretty quick, they cover a lot of ground in their zone and their man ... at home they've been playing extremely well. But he's got them doing things in a system, and I think that's going to pay off for them even more so down the road."

Penn State is 2-7 in the Big Ten this year, with their two wins coming at home against then-No. 22 Illinois and Purdue. The Badgers will need to be on the top of their game if they want to avoid falling into the same trap, but it helps that they've had success thus far on the road. The Badgers are 6-2 away from the Kohl Center this season, including four wins in "true" road environments. Ryan said it all starts with the little things if a team wants to win on the road in the Big Ten.

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