The countdown has begun. The kids are so excited that they can hardly sleep. Their parents are pretty pumped, too. Everybody is tossing and turning with visions of..
Sugar plums? A man in the red suit?
Not yet.
How about slam dunks and a coach (Bo Ryan) in a red sport coat?
The people in this story are college basketball fans, specifically those whose personal moods fluctuate with the success of the programs at Marquette and Wisconsin. Their teams will meet for the 113th time a week from today on the Al McGuire Court at the Bradley Center. With the Golden Eagles ranked No. 8 in the country and the Badgers at No. 12, this probably qualifies as the most-anticipated matchup in the history of the rivalry.
It's also one of the hotter tickets in recent memory. With seven "shopping days" left, prime tickets are listed at roughly $400 apiece. Now that we've had our first significant snowfall of the season (Did you enjoy that Live! Local! Latebreaking! saturation coverage of salt trucks?), you can expect the hydraulic hype machine to shift into overdrive in the coming days.
This is one of those events that transcends the sports world and captures the interest of non-fanatics.
Here are five storylines certain to surface:
The Badgers lead the all-time series, 61-51. In the last five years, the teams have alternated winning and losing with the Badgers celebrating in odd years (2001, '03 and '05) and Marquette taking the evens (2002, '04).
Marquette sophomore Wesley Matthews, Jr., grew up in Madison. His father, Wes Matthews, played basketball for the Badgers from 1978-'80 and is the third-highest scorer in history of the program. His mother, Pam Moore, was two-sport standout and track star who was inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame this fall.
Several Wisconsin players grew up in the Milwaukee area, including Marcus Landry (Milwaukee Vincent), Jason Chappell (New Berlin West), Morris Cain (Nicolet) and Tanner Bronson (Nicolet), a former team manager whose mother, Jody, is the women's tennis coach at Marquette and whose sister, Corey, played basketball for the Golden Eagles form 1996-2000. Bronson's father, grandfather and aunt all attended UW.
Marquette sophomore point guard Dominic James, who hit a game-winning jump shot against Valparaiso on Monday night in his home state of Indiana, is likely to head to the NBA after this season.
The game will be presented as a matchup of Wisconsin's size -- Brian Butch and Greg Stiemsa -- against Marquette's perimeter standouts like James, Jerel McNeal and Matthews.
While they share deep respect and admiration for each other's accomplishments, Golden Eagles coach Tom Crean and Ryan aren't likely to be seen sharing a meal anytime soon. That's OK, though, because the fans of their respective schools would probably hate it if the two were close friends.
And now for a dirty little secret: Although emotions run hot on both sides of this I-94 battle, the game means more to Marquette fans that it does to those who cheer for Wisconsin. We're not suggesting that Badgers fans aren't excited about basketball or supportive of their team. It's just that Wisconsin has a top-ranked football team and a defending national champion hockey team to draw away some of the cardinal and white fervor. For Wisconsin fans, the game against Marquette is a big day on the sports calendar. For Golden Eagles fans, it is the BIGGEST day. Many Marquette fans celebrated it when Wisconsin lost to Missouri State at the tournament last weekend on South Padre Island. Some even chuckled when Badgers football player Jack Ikegwuonu was arrested / suspended for his role in a burglary in Illinois.Conversely, Badgers fans burn up the message boards when a Marquette player transfers to another school.
Passions run so deep in this rivalry that it appears that the only way this matchup could be more exciting is if it came in the Sweet Sixteen or the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. You wonder what people would pay for tickets to that one.
Sugar plums? A man in the red suit?
Not yet.
How about slam dunks and a coach (Bo Ryan) in a red sport coat?
The people in this story are college basketball fans, specifically those whose personal moods fluctuate with the success of the programs at Marquette and Wisconsin. Their teams will meet for the 113th time a week from today on the Al McGuire Court at the Bradley Center. With the Golden Eagles ranked No. 8 in the country and the Badgers at No. 12, this probably qualifies as the most-anticipated matchup in the history of the rivalry.
It's also one of the hotter tickets in recent memory. With seven "shopping days" left, prime tickets are listed at roughly $400 apiece. Now that we've had our first significant snowfall of the season (Did you enjoy that Live! Local! Latebreaking! saturation coverage of salt trucks?), you can expect the hydraulic hype machine to shift into overdrive in the coming days.
This is one of those events that transcends the sports world and captures the interest of non-fanatics.
Here are five storylines certain to surface:
The Badgers lead the all-time series, 61-51. In the last five years, the teams have alternated winning and losing with the Badgers celebrating in odd years (2001, '03 and '05) and Marquette taking the evens (2002, '04).
Marquette sophomore Wesley Matthews, Jr., grew up in Madison. His father, Wes Matthews, played basketball for the Badgers from 1978-'80 and is the third-highest scorer in history of the program. His mother, Pam Moore, was two-sport standout and track star who was inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame this fall.
Several Wisconsin players grew up in the Milwaukee area, including Marcus Landry (Milwaukee Vincent), Jason Chappell (New Berlin West), Morris Cain (Nicolet) and Tanner Bronson (Nicolet), a former team manager whose mother, Jody, is the women's tennis coach at Marquette and whose sister, Corey, played basketball for the Golden Eagles form 1996-2000. Bronson's father, grandfather and aunt all attended UW.
Marquette sophomore point guard Dominic James, who hit a game-winning jump shot against Valparaiso on Monday night in his home state of Indiana, is likely to head to the NBA after this season.
The game will be presented as a matchup of Wisconsin's size -- Brian Butch and Greg Stiemsa -- against Marquette's perimeter standouts like James, Jerel McNeal and Matthews.
While they share deep respect and admiration for each other's accomplishments, Golden Eagles coach Tom Crean and Ryan aren't likely to be seen sharing a meal anytime soon. That's OK, though, because the fans of their respective schools would probably hate it if the two were close friends.
And now for a dirty little secret: Although emotions run hot on both sides of this I-94 battle, the game means more to Marquette fans that it does to those who cheer for Wisconsin. We're not suggesting that Badgers fans aren't excited about basketball or supportive of their team. It's just that Wisconsin has a top-ranked football team and a defending national champion hockey team to draw away some of the cardinal and white fervor. For Wisconsin fans, the game against Marquette is a big day on the sports calendar. For Golden Eagles fans, it is the BIGGEST day. Many Marquette fans celebrated it when Wisconsin lost to Missouri State at the tournament last weekend on South Padre Island. Some even chuckled when Badgers football player Jack Ikegwuonu was arrested / suspended for his role in a burglary in Illinois.Conversely, Badgers fans burn up the message boards when a Marquette player transfers to another school.
Passions run so deep in this rivalry that it appears that the only way this matchup could be more exciting is if it came in the Sweet Sixteen or the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. You wonder what people would pay for tickets to that one.
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
