clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

MnB B1G Preview: Know Your Foe - Wisconsin Edition

The Badgers enjoy being the thorn in Michigan's -- and the rest of the Big Ten's -- side. Both basketball and football are perennial powers these days, and the exit of Bret Bielema didn't slow them down much. There's more to Wisconsin than botched clock management and a party song from the 90s. It's Know Your Foe - Jump Around Edition:

By Kevin Bunkley
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

WHERE DID THAT JUMPING TRADITION COME FROM, ANYWAY? The Badger fanbase was bored to tears during a homecoming game against Purdue in 1998. The sound man, sensing the need for some excitement -- and knowing full well that playing Purdue would never get any more exciting on its own -- took matters into his own hands. House of Pain's "Jump Around" got queued up into the system, and Badger students have been jumping around between the third and fourth quarter since that day.

WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA ONCE PLAYED FOR A BACON TROPHY: According to University archives, prior to 1940, the Badgers and Gophers played for the Slab of Bacon Trophy. Why anyone would discontinue a trophy with the word bacon in it seems silly, especially when it gets replaced with a giant axe trophy. At least retire the bacon trophy by cutting it up with the newer axe trophy and making a delicious breakfast. (Note: trophy was not made of real bacon and should not be eaten.)

THEIR BAND IS ALSO VERY GOOD AT MARCHING: The Badger Marching Band was actually formed before the football program's inception, as a "regimental band" 20 years after the Civil War, in 1885. One of their more well-known traditions is that band members turn their hats around when leaving the stadium after a victory to always look back at said victory. In Bret Bielema's case, it was done to look back at the clock with a sense of bewilderment.

More Bucky

Wisconsin Badgers

More Bucky

Wisconsin Badgers blog Bucky's 5th Quarter

SOME SMART PEOPLE GRADUATED FROM MADISON: While digging around the notable alumni who've walked the corridors of the UW Madison campus, a lot of familiar names appeared. Famed novelist Eudora Welty (may be more familiar to readers as the subject of a joke in an episode of The Simpsons), historian Stephen Ambrose, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, and astronaut Jim Lovell. Also of note: Dick Cheney was in a PhD program at Wisconsin, but he dropped out.

YES MADISON IS GORGEOUS AND HERE'S A LIST ABOUT WHY: The Madison campus is situated on a lake, which Ann Arbor does not have. Madison is also the capital of Wisconsin, and that's just one of the reasons Wisconsin is pretty great. Ann Arbor does, however, have a legitimate case for best college town in America, no matter what Scott Van Pelt says. Madison has a State Street just like Ann Arbor, and it gets equally-crazy during big games or even holidays like Halloween.

BEER, CHEESE, AND FRIED FOOD. THAT IS ALL. Wisconsin students have no shortage of incredible food and drink around their campus. Whether it's pizza from Ian's:

Or beer from Kollege Klub or The Union. The locals rave about Spotted Cow Beer and Fireball shots.