Wisconsin coaching tree in full bloom for Ryan

[Scuba]

Dick Bennett may have breathed life into the moribund Badger basketball program, but it's Bo Ryan who has turned it into a consistent contender. Four Division III National Championships to his credit already; I'd love to see him win one at this level.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/wisconsin-coaching-tree-in-full-bloom-for-ryan/2014/03/18/d2364d08-ae77-11e3-b8b3-44b1d1cd4c1f_story.html

MADISON, Wis. — Somewhere in a Wisconsin basketball media guide or highlight DVD is a photo that made coach Bo Ryan especially proud this past week. Ryan remembers it well. He’s there with then-assistants Rob Jeter, Tony Bennett and Saul Phillips celebrating a big Badgers victory. Now they’re all in the NCAA tournament together as head coaches. “Everybody that’s in that huddle is in the NCAA tournament,” Ryan said. “It’s always nice to be dancing.”

Second-seeded Wisconsin opens the tournament Thursday against 15th-seeded American in Milwaukee. Ho-hum, just a 16th straight year in the NCAAs for the Badgers. Bennett, a Wisconsin assistant for Ryan’s Badgers debut season in 2001, has Virginia one better as the top seed in the East region after winning the ACC. The Cavaliers face Coastal Carolina on Friday in Raleigh, N.C.

Phillips, an assistant under Ryan at Wisconsin-Milwaukee before following Ryan to the Badgers for a few years, is now head coach of Summit League champion North Dakota State. His team plays Oklahoma on Thursday in Spokane, Wash.

Jeter, the current coach at Milwaukee, had the toughest road after leading a team picked last in the Horizon League preseason poll to the conference tournament title and an automatic NCAA bid. Milwaukee is a No. 15 seed in the East and plays Villanova on Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y.

[a kennedy]

1. That's pretty cool.....and Bo just had his 700 win too.

11:40am(CT) at the Bradley Center, be there.......GO BADGERS GO.

[Scuba]

2. I'd really, really like to be there. Maybe I will be.

[a kennedy]

3. hey, that's great..... hope you make it there, and give the Badgers a hello from me too ok?

Here we Badgers here we go!!

[a kennedy]

4. Did you make the game yesterday??

Was terribly nervous in the first half, but then the Badgers came through.... Here we go Badgers here we go. Did you see this? Bucky ranked top NCAA Tournament mascot.....

Fox Sports has taken a different look at the NCAA Tournament.

It has ranked the mascots of the 68 starting teams from worst to first. The good, the bad, the ugly, the wacky, the tacky and the teams without mascots are all ranked, according to the website.

According to the Fox Sports rankings, Bucky Badger is the top mascot in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Just behind Bucky are Sparty from Michigan State, the Duke Blue Devil, Otto the orange from Syracuse and, rounding out the top five, Billy the Bluejay from Creighton.

http://www.news8000.com/news/bucky-ranked-top-ncaa-tournament-mascot/25071366

[Scuba]

5. No, I didn't go, but I'm not surprised Bucky is #1. That's happened before. It's a cool mascot.