On the Stove Top: 10/9

The summer doldrums are behind us Badger fans. As the air turns crisp and the football team's fortunes sour, basketball has finally emerged again as a viable topic. And not just recruiting news either.

- One writer who has been fighting the good fight all summer long is Jeff Goodman, who touched on Wisconsin's returning experience (and lack thereof) in his column yesterday. I like reading Goodman over at Fox Sports because he offers college basketball content every day from all over the country. He did not get bogged down with hyping up high schoolers, but checked in even on low-major programs and presented their outlook on the coming season.

In Goodman's piece on the Badgers, he restates a fact that fans have known for so long we might have forgotten: Bo Ryan's squad has 11 sophomores or freshmen this year. In my eyes, this will make for an exciting year, because there is the stability of proven players but also the opportunity to see which one of the youngsters will surprise us all and contribute right away.

- BadgerBeat.com, the new web offering from Capital Newspapers, is so cluttered and poorly laid-out that I usually avoid it. However, I did catch a piece this week about associate head coach Greg Gard.

Hearing about Gard's desire to head up his own program got me thinking about UW-Green Bay. As the Phoenix have seemingly gone in the wrong direction in the Horizon League over the past three season, grumblings about current head coach Tod Kowalczyk grow. If the slide continued and Kowalczyk got the axe, would Gard consider the position? My gut says that Gard will aim a higher than Green Bay, but you have to acknowledge how clearly at home Gard feels in the state of Wisconsin. Of course, this is all hypothetical at this point, but imagine the three Division 1 system schools in the state all running the swing offense.

- Night of the Grateful Red: Don't forget if you are in the Madison area, you can take a first look at the 2008-09 Badgers for free on Friday, October 17 at 7 p.m.