Hello Sports Friends,

I'm a college football fan among all the sports I like and recently I  checked out the schedule for Wisconsin and Texas my two favorite college football programs. In this blog I'll specifically talk about Wisconsin's schedule.

I wish the Badgers would play a better nonconference schedule. Traditionally they have played a lot of weaker teams and it has come back to haunt them a lot of times like last year when they had only one loss all season 27-13 to Michigan,  they didn't play Ohio State and because they didn't play anybody of note in the regular season they were left out when it came to the BCS because only two teams can get in to those bowl games from each conference. Ironically Wisconsin finished in a better position at the end of the bowl season than Michigan who lost their last two games to Ohio State and the Rose Bowl to USC and previously unbeaten  Ohio State who beat Michigan but got clobbered by Florida in the BCS national championship game 41-14.  Wisconsin finished 12-1 after beating Arkansas in the Orlando Bowl on New Years Day.

Anyway as I said Wisconsin never plays anybody in the Top 25 traditionally for some reason in their non conference schedule and sometimes it's come back to hurt them either when they haven't had quality wins or a few times they've even been upset in recent years by teams like Fresno State or Cincinatti in recent years. I would enjoy the challenge of seeing them play somebody tougher and it might help them in the mind of the voters especially if they win.This year they play Washington State, UNLV, The Citadel and Northern Illinois. Since they are consistently a Top 25 program now shouldn't they play a better schedule?

Another thing I've wondered for a long time is why they don't play nearby Midwest and national rival Notre Dame. I looked it up recently and Notre Dame and Wisconsin haven't played each other in football since 1936! I would think since Wisconsin has been better since the Barry Alvarez era started in 1990 that they would have played each other especially since he came to the Badgers as a coach after being an assistant previously under then Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz staff. The two teams had a chance to meet in the 1996 Copper Bowl I remember in Arizona but Notre Dame wouldn't play in a small bowl game like that because of their status so Wisconsin ended up playing and beating Utah.

I don't understand why Notre Dame traditionally plays Big Ten teams Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue and has occasionaly played Ohio State, Penn State and even Illinois and Northwestern a couple times I think in recent years. But they can't seem to play other Big Ten schools like Indiana from their own state, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota among the rest of the Big Ten schools.I say fine Notre Dame don't join a conference and have a big tv contract with NBC but at least play some of the other Big Ten teams near their area especially one like Wisconsin which has been a Top 25 team in recent years. If anyone out there knows why Notre Dame hasn't played a team like Wisconsin I'd like to know because I've waited a long time to see that game and hopefully will see it in the near future.

One other thing about Wisconsin's schedule that's tough this year is that they have to play in November at Ohio State and then the next week at home vs Michigan the two weeks before Michigan plays Ohio State. Do you think those two teams will be fired up or looking past Wisconsin? I don't think so but we'll see what happens and If Wisconsin can get through that undefeated maybe they'll have a shot to play for the national championship one of these years. Hey at least Texas had the guts to schedule back to back games in consecuctive seasons  with powerful Ohio State and it helped to lead them on to the national championship which they won after beating USC in the Rose Bowl in the 2005 season.

So we'll see what happens and hope for the best this season. Best of luck to your teams this year and thanks for reading. Best wishes and have great and productive days friends.

Hello Sports Friends,

Well this Thursday starts one of the great traditions in sports every year for two or three weeks we have March Madness and the NCAA Mens Division 1 Basketball Tournament. Now there are other tournaments this month from the NCAA Womens tournaments, the NIT, small college tournaments and locally in each state the high school basketball tournament

But this is the BIG ONE with all due respects to the other tournaments nationally at least so enjoy the tournament starting Thursday and Friday with the all day first round games and I'll let you know how I think it will turn out although I usually do it just for fun. You may be involved in office pools so pick em your own way at your own discretion. I've tried as we all have to make the picks and it's really hard even if you somewhat think you know what your doing. That's the unpredictability especially with the NCAA Tournament.

Anyway starting with the round of sixteen, we'll try to get past the first weekend and see where I am. I have defending champion Florida beating Old Dominion and Wisconsin beating Oregon in the Midwest Regional in St Louis. From there I have Wisconsin my favorite team beating Florida but I could be wrong that was my toughest pick and we'll see what happens there.

In the East Regional in New Jersey I have North Carolina beating Texas and Georgetown beating #### Roberts. In the regional final I have Georgetown beating North Carolina  to get to the Final Four.

In the West Regional in San Jose I have Kansas beating Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh beating their former coach Ben Howland and the UCLA Bruins who reached the national title game last year losing to Florida. In the regional final I have Pittsburgh beating Kansas and moving on to the Final Four.

In the South Regional in San Antonio I have Ohio State beating Virginia and Texas A&M playing close to home in Texas beating Memphis. In the regional final I have Ohio State beating Texas A&M but watch out for those Aggies and their 12th man in San Antonio. They could upset with the home area crowd behind them but they'll have to stop Ohio State center Greg Oden & company first

So in the Final Four I like Pittsburgh to play Wisconsin I hope and Georgetown to play Ohio State in the other semifinal.. In the national championship game I'll pick Greg Oden who wants to win an NCAA championship before he possibly leaves for the NBA and his team the Ohio State Buckeyes to beat either my  favorite Wisconsin Badgers or the defending champion Florida Gators who Ohio State would kind of  revenge their football championship defeat to Florida this year although that can never really happen. Anyway Ohio State cut down the nets at the Final Four in Atlanta and then we'll listen to One Shining Moment the traditional closing song by the late singer Luther Vandross. and look forward to next year and new dreams. So who's your dream and picks in this years tournament. Let me know, good luck and enjoy March Madness friends. Best wishes and have great and productive days always.

Hello Sports Friends,

I thought I'd try a blog on here today where I talk about the state of my favorite teams. I saw another blogger on here do this. I think he was from the Boston area. Anyways in this past month we've had the State of the Union, the NFL has the State of the NFL with the commisioner at the Super Bowl this week so this is the state of my teams, we'll do it with the pro leagues in this post and see where it goes.

Anyways my number one favorite pro team in sports is the Pittsburgh Steelers who are defending champions for a few more days. They had a rough season being Super Bowl champs, Ben Roethisberger's on and off field injuries, Bill Cowher leaving as coach and now hiring only their third coach in the last 38 years Mike Tomlin. Still as tough a year as it was they rebounded from a 2-6 start to finish 8-8 and I'm proud of them for that.

Number two would be the Boston Red Sox. After winning the World Seies championship in 2004 they have had some injuries and roster changes and of course always have to deal with the Yankees in the AL East. Still they have David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek and Curt Schilling from that team along with a core of good or young players and if they can find a way to get a closer or Jonathon Papelbon, then I think they'll be ok and contend in the AL East again. Matsusaka is also an X factor that we have to find out about.

Number three is the San Antonio Spurs. I'm not the biggest basketball  fan anymore but I like this team and their rivalry with the Dallas Mavericks. With Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli and the rest of the team they have won three NBA championships and still have a good veteran core that can contend although it's a lot tougher in the West with teams like Dallas, Phoenix and the two LA teams the Lakers and Clippers to deal with. Still if they stay healthy and play well in the playoffs they have as good a chance as any so we'll see.

Number four I'll pick the Dallas Stars, my local area team and the team in my second favorite sport after football,  hockey. I got to go to a Stars game a few years ago, I like following them as the local team and they have had a good contending team, changing every year of course but still in the mix every year since winning the Stanley Cup in 1999. Mike Modano is still there and they have a good mix of veterans and youngsters when their healthy. The only problem has been their lack of recent playoff success, but if goalie Marty Turco could turn it around and the team could stay healthy and play well then they could go a long way. We'll see wehat happens down the stretch and in the playoffs.

To round out my top five of teams I'll pick a team I like unconditionally the Milwaukee Brewers. I realize it is tough for them being a small market team in baseball withough any kind of salary cap which the players refuse so I root for them whether they're good or bad because they're my original hometown team from childhood, they play hard and I have memories of the 1982 World Series which they could have won if  relief pitcher Rollie Fingers among othyer things   had not been injured and I just like going out to the ballpark in the summer soI'll include them..

Anyways that's my top five teams in pro sports. Shortly my second five include the Chicago Cubs, Toronto Maple Leafs, Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Vikings who all can never seem to win the big one in a long team. Other teams I like are NFC North rivals the Chicago Bears who I'm rooting for in the Super Bowl, the Green Bay Packers who are my original home state team and who I take a lot of good natured grief from family and friends who want them to be my favorite team, sorry , but I still like and respect their team especially when they win. Other teams I like are the Canadian hockey teams because that is where the core of hockey fans is and finally the Texas Trio of the Rangers, Astros and Mavericks who have a good chance to win an NBA championship this year. We'll see. Well I hope you have enjoyed looking at my sports teams this week. We'll watch the Super Bowl and see what happens and we'll talk soon. I'm also excited to see how Wisconsin men's basketball does as they push for a possible #1 ranking and the NCAA tournament in March.Anyways have a great and productive day friends and we'll talk soon. Best wishes always. Fenfan67