Daktronics Screen Comes To Camp Randall And Kohl Center

Fans at Camp Randall will enjoy one of the best video-displays in the country next season. Construction began Monday to replace the decade-old existing system with a state-of-the-art Daktronics unit, considered the standard of stadium entertainment. At five-million dollars, the system is also one of the most expensive of any in the NCAA. The Kohl Center is also receiving the same set-up.
The steep price-tag includes the latest in technological design. Four times the size of the previous board, the main-screen of the new unit measures five-stories high and 170-feet across. Another pair of complementary advertisement panels coming in 50-feet across and 25-feet tall will straddle the larger screen. To further ease viewing of the screens, Daktronics has created a slightly bowl-shaped panel. Revolutionizing the industry, the inward facing perimeters avoid the usually flat surface that is hard to view at angles. Other displays in Camp Randall are also undergoing renovations, including larger secondary displays which feature the score, time, and occasional advertisements.

Why History Doesn't Favor J.J. Watt | NFL Injuries Can Slow Down The Best Of Pass Rushers

The Badgers have put a quite a few players in the NFL over the last number of years, and out of all of them, J.J. Watt is the one that stands out. Watt has quickly become possibly the league's best defensive player in short order topped off by winning the 2012 NFL defensive player of the year award. Watt is a monster of a football player, standing 6'5”, and 295 pounds, so it easy to see how he could become what he has become. However, before you expect even bigger things from Watt in 2013, I may some bad news for you. History does not favor Watt at the moment.

If you look throughout recent NFL history, plenty of players have had a big breakout season, 2-4 seasons or so into their NFL careers. This gets everyone all excited about their limitless potential, possibly even expecting bigger things from that player the following season, which even places somewhat of unrealistic expectations on that player. History shows us that very few players ever replicate success the following season after their big “breakout” year, especially defensive players. In fact, we need to look no further than our own Green Bay Packers as an example of this.

Injuries Slow Down The Pass Rusher Every Time

In 2010 Clay Matthews, Tramon Williams, and B.J. Raji all had huge breakout seasons. Matthews was a force off the edge all season that year, recording 13.5 sacks and being named to his second Pro Bowl. Tramon Williams had raised the depth chart to become the Packers cover corner opposite the now departed Charles Woodson. Williams started all 16 games, recorded six interceptions, and was named to his first Pro Bowl. Raji had a breakout year, not in terms of numbers, but in terms of performance, and was named to the Pro Bowl as well. Oh yeah, these three, along with Woodson, anchored the Packers defense on their way to their Super Bowl victory that season. As a result of these performances, all three had very high expectations placed on them for the following season, and none of them replicated their 2010 performances. Matthews recorded just six sacks in 2011, Raji played too many snaps, and Williams began to deal with injury problems.

What does this tell us about J.J. Watt? Well, it's very simple; before you expect even bigger things, remember that history does not favor J.J. Watt in terms of duplicating his 2012 success next season. 

Badgers Head to Minneapolis In November 2013 | Will The Axe Stay With Bucky?

Will the Badgers crush the Gophers the next time that they fight for the Axe?  If you go back in time to October of 2012, you will recall that Wisconsin took care of business in a big way.  They finished that day with a 25 point margin of victory over the hapless Golden Gophers.  James White destroyed the Minnesota defense, rushing for three touchdowns that day.  Montee Ball also had a field day, racking up over 160 yards on the ground.

That victory put the Badgers at 3-1 in the Big Ten.  Will it happen again this season?  We won't find out until November 23.  That's when Badgers fans will be scrambling for Minneapolis tickets in a big way.  Their beloved Badgers will have to repeat their success on the road in 2013.  That game is part of a three game, season ending stretch, where they face three Big Ten teams in a row.  First they will play Indiana at Camp Randall, then play the Gophers on the road.  The final game of the season is on 11/30, when they host Penn State. 

Badgers Find A Way To Win | Will They Make It To The Tournament?

As the Badgers entered Big Ten Conference play in January, there were serious doubts as to whether this team would play in any sort of postseason tournament, much less the NCAA tournament, They had a pedestrian 9-4 record, with no notable wins. What made it worse was that the only four teams that were any good that the Badgers had played at that point- Florida, Creighton, Virginia, and Marquette, they lost, three of them by double digits.

Badgers Dig Themselves Out

All of a sudden though, and seemingly out of nowhere, the Badgers sprung to life. They opened up conference play with a couple of so-so wins against Penn State and Nebraska. It was on January 12^th that they stunned America when they jack-hammered then 12^th ranked Illinois by 23 at home. They followed that up with five point win against Indiana that basically righted all of their wrongs the first two months of the season. Since then the Badgers have put together a nice resume, one that is deserving of an NCAA tournament bid. While others might point to defense, or even specifically in this case, rebounding, as the Badgers rebounding has improved the last couple of months, it was at this point though that something else began to happen that might better explain the success of these Badgers this season. They began to get lucky. Very, very lucky.

Yes they beat Indiana by five. However, The Hoosiers shot just 37% that night. The shots were there, they just didn't fall. Two weeks later they escaped the Gophers by one point, and needed Minnesota to miss shots, much like Indiana had done 11 days before. Wisconsin then beat Iowa by four in double overtime, and then beat Michigan by three in overtime just three days later. Yes they did beat Ohio State by 22 after that, but that doesn't discount the close wins. Honestly, I don't know what the answer is right now. Is this team actually good, such as the games against Illinois and Ohio State would suggest, or are they just plain lucky?