Talkin’ Badgers: A Wisconsin Badgers Football and Basketball Podcast

With the Wisconsin basketball preseason finally in the rearview mirror, the Wisconsin Badgers play a meaningful game tonight inside the Kohl Center. Before UW takes on the Campbell Fighting Camels, get caught up on what we know about the season to come with Talkin’ Badgers.

With the expectation of being a team to finish in the top half of a loaded Big Ten, Badgers head coach Greg Gard will be challenged to find a way to connect more new faces than ever before. If he manages to do so, UW’s talented starting five and frisky bench rotation could make a deep run in March.

Listen before tonight’s season-opening tip to learn the questions facing Wisconsin’s defense, the inexperienced frontcourt, and preseason All-Big Ten honoree John Blackwell in a Badgers basketball season unlike any before it.

It will be a long four months until March, but if you blink, you might just miss something amazing inside the Kohl Center this Winter.

*Wisconsin basketball roundtable preview

*Every Badgers basketball player previewed in quotes

*Watch on YouTube

*Join Bucky's Burrow!

*Follow Dillon Graff

*Follow Brandon Cooper

*Follow Ryan Eilers

*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter

*Follow the podcast on Twitter/X

We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage.

With the Wisconsin basketball preseason finally in the rearview mirror, the Wisconsin Badgers play a meaningful game tonight inside the Kohl Center. Before UW takes on the Campbell Fighting Camels, get caught up on what we know about the season to come with Talkin’ Badgers.

With the expectation of being a team to finish in the top half of a loaded Big Ten, Badgers head coach Greg Gard will be challenged to find a way to connect more new faces than ever before. If he manages to do so, UW’s talented starting five and frisky bench rotation could make a deep run in March.

Listen before tonight’s season-opening tip to learn the questions facing Wisconsin’s defense, the inexperienced frontcourt, and preseason All-Big Ten honoree John Blackwell in a Badgers basketball season unlike any before it.

It will be a long four months until March, but if you blink, you might just miss something amazing inside the Kohl Center this Winter.

*Wisconsin basketball roundtable preview

*Every Badgers basketball player previewed in quotes

*Watch on YouTube

*Join Bucky's Burrow!

*Follow Dillon Graff

*Follow Brandon Cooper

*Follow Ryan Eilers

*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter

*Follow the podcast on Twitter/X

We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage.

Fans of all kinds of Wisconsin sports saw their other favorite teams outscore the Wisconsin football team in October. In four games, including two in which the Wisconsin Badgers failed to score any points, the UW offense managed to put a meager 17 points on the board. Wisconsin scored a touchdown in the first quarter of its first game in October and did not find the end zone again until the final quarter of its final game of the month.

A couple of young defensive standouts limited the damage in the final scoring margin, but questions surrounding Luke Fickell’s tenure remain. Clock management miscues against the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oregon Ducks provided further data points for a larger trend: Fickell’s ultra-conservative approach yields disappointing results week after week.

The Talkin’ Badgers After Dark crew reconvenes to break down the scoring output of various football, baseball, volleyball, and hockey teams. Plus, a brief recap of the Wisconsin basketball preseason.

*Watch on YouTube

*Join Bucky's Burrow!

*Follow Dillon Graff

*Follow Brandon Cooper

*Follow Ryan Eilers

*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter

*Follow the podcast on Twitter/X

We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage.

NCAA rule changes have brought the college basketball preseason out from behind the closed doors of so-called “secret scrimmages.” On Friday, Wisconsin basketball gets its season unofficially underway in its first-ever public preseason exhibition against a high-major opponent.

Greg Gard and the new-look Wisconsin Badgers are headed to Milwaukee to take on the Oklahoma Sooners. Both Gard and OU head coach Porter Moser have brand-new rosters loaded with transfer portal talent, ready to take the court inside Fiserv Forum.

After UW’s annual Red-White scrimmage, what, if anything, was revealed about Wisconsin’s overhauled team? Can the Badgers continue their three-point shooting prowess? Will the defense hold up with all the new moving pieces?

Plus, what Oklahoma Sooners players should Wisconsin Badgers fans know heading into the matchup? Moser has re-tooled his roster with a slew of high-major contributors from around the country, including the original NIL wunderkind, former Miami Hurricanes guard Nigel Pack.

*Watch on YouTube

*Join Bucky's Burrow!

*Follow Dillon Graff

*Follow Brandon Cooper

*Follow Ryan Eilers

*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter

*Follow the podcast on Twitter/X

We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage.

Kedrick Stumbris is joined by hythloday1 of Addicted to Quack to break down the upcoming matchup between the Wisconsin Badgers and Oregon Ducks. Last season, Wisconsin football led Oregon by a touchdown through three quarters, but ultimately fell a field goal short of knocking off the then-undefeated and top-ranked Ducks. Now, the path to a potential upset appears much more daunting as UW sits at the bottom of the conference standings, winless in Big Ten play through four games, and 2-5 overall.

Hythloday1, Managing Editor of the Oregon Ducks-focused site Addicted to Quack, helps make sense of the Oregon side of the primetime matchup. Hythloday provides insight into what makes the Ducks’ offense, led by quarterback Dante Moore, tick, the Xs and Os of head coach Dan Lanning’s defense, and the sometimes head-scratching strategic decisions made by the UO staff.

You can also find Hythloday1 and special guest Kedrick on “It Never Rains on this Podcast” for a breakdown of where Wisconsin’s roster stands amidst a slew of injuries.

*Follow Hythloday1 on Twitter/X or Bluesky

*Watch on YouTube

*Join Bucky's Burrow!

*Follow Dillon Graff

*Follow Brandon Cooper

*Follow Ryan Eilers

*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter

*Follow the podcast on Twitter/X

We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage.

Dillon Graff and Kedrick Stumbris return from Big Ten basketball media days flush with quotes, handshakes, and interviews from college basketball players and coaches across the conference. Most importantly, they return with the biggest storylines for Wisconsin basketball entering the season.

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard led an offensive revolution in Madison last season, but the Badgers seem to think they are just getting started. Players and coaches are eager to say UW will push the tempo even faster, shoot more threes, and score more points this year. Despite how high-flying the Wisconsin Badgers were offensively last year, there is a compelling case to be made that Wisconsin will again be led by its offense rather than its defense.

Gard has been excellent on the recruiting trail lately. Between standout portal additions such as John Tonje, Nick Boyd, and Austin Rapp, the two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year has established himself as a player-acquisition aficionado. Braeden Carrington might be a sleeper addition for the Badgers this year, the 2025 freshman class could be Gard’s best yet, and the UW head coach is “really focused a lot” on a 2027 class that features four top-100 players from the state of Wisconsin.

*Watch on YouTube

*Join Bucky's Burrow!

*Follow Dillon Graff

*Follow Brandon Cooper

*Follow Ryan Eilers

*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter

*Follow the podcast on Twitter/X

We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage.

Despite losing by two touchdowns to the Michigan Wolverines, Wisconsin football undoubtedly put together its most complete on-field performance of the season. A mostly average offensive performance and an above-average defensive performance inspired some confidence in the Wisconsin Badgers.

Head coach Luke Fickell, however, continues to make puzzling in-game decisions. Talkin’ Badgers breaks down the year-over-year trends for the third year UW head coach, who appears to be getting even more conservative in game management. Middleton Middle School head coach Ryan Eilers offers his expert analysis after compiling a 1-4-2 record with the Cardinals.

In Wisconsin’s upcoming matchup with the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Badgers look outmatched in the first three phases. Perhaps, they have an advantage in the fourth phase after using the 42 points surrendered last year to Iowa as a rallying cry all year long.

In a classic Big Ten West matchup, do the Wisconsin Badgers need to build a roof over Camp Randall Stadium to get a victory?

*Watch on YouTube

*Join Bucky's Burrow!

*Follow Dillon Graff

*Follow Brandon Cooper

*Follow Ryan Eilers

*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter

*Follow the podcast on Twitter/X

We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage.

The NCAA cannot help but continue to tweak transfer portal rules that it has already proven unenforceable. After former Wisconsin football defensive back Xavier Lucas transferred to the Miami Hurricanes, despite the Wisconsin Badgers never submitting Lucas’ portal paperwork, do these rule changes even matter?

A late-night edition of Talkin’ Badgers explores the good and bad of a switch to one transfer portal window, how it would have affected Wisconsin this spring, and how much rule-breaking fans should expect (spoiler: a lot).

Additionally, some preliminary thoughts on the NCAA's recent decision to allow athletes to wager on professional sports. It will almost certainly lead to the most predictably stupid college football scandals imaginable.

*Watch on YouTube

*Join Bucky's Burrow!

*Follow Dillon Graff

*Follow Brandon Cooper

*Follow Ryan Eilers

*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter

*Follow the podcast on Twitter/X

We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage.

Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell is headed to Ann Arbor in hopes of getting his first-ever win over a ranked opponent with Wisconsin football. Michigan is stout on both its offensive and defensive lines. Join the Talkin’ Badgers crew as they attempt to concoct the recipe for a Badgers upset of the Wolverines.

Following Fickell in the never-ending battle against expectations is Greg Gard. In his eleventh season at the helm of Wisconsin basketball, Gard underwent a late offseason staff shakeup, replacing Kirk Penney, the “offensive coordinator,” with Brad Davison as Special Assistant to the Head Coach.

Plus, some insider perspective on the coaching change after conversations with Gard and Davison at Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball practice.

*Watch on YouTube

*Join Bucky's Burrow!

*Follow Dillon Graff

*Follow Brandon Cooper

*Follow Ryan Eilers

*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter

*Follow the podcast on Twitter/X

We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage.

Their young quarterbacks’ hips will tie the Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers for the next few years. Carter Smith joined Wisconsin football after seeing the writing on the wall in Ann Arbor that read, “Bryce Underwood is coming.” The five-star freshman QB has excelled for Michigan thus far and hopes to lead his team to a victory over Wisconsin on Saturday.

Smith will likely not be on the field for Wisconsin, but the question of who will start at quarterback for the Badgers remains up in the air. What is not in question, however, is the effectiveness of the Wolverines’ ground game.

Wisconsin has one of the stoutest rush defenses in the country, but Michigan has one of the most effective rushing offenses in the country. The Wolverines have disrupted opposing passing attacks with 14 sacks through four games, and Wisconsin has struggled in pass protection.

Kellen Voss of Maize n Brew joins Talkin’ Badgers to preview the ins and outs of the Michigan Wolverines, what the Wisconsin Badgers must do to give themselves a chance at the upset, and to give his assessment from afar on the state of the Badgers under head coach Luke Fickell.

*Watch on YouTube

*Follow Kellen Voss!

*Read Kellen's articles for Maize n Brew

*Join Bucky's Burrow!

*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter

*Follow the podcast on Twitter/X

We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage.