Wisconsin
Around the Big Ten: Washington State gets revenge, Wisconsin walloped by Alabama
Even with powerhouses Ohio State and Penn State sitting idle, the Big Ten had a solid week on the gridiron.
Indiana continued its high-scoring ways in a drubbing of UCLA, Nebraska dominated Northern Iowa, and the Oregon Ducks blew out the rival Beavers.
The lows included Wisconsin’s lop-sided loss to Alabama, Purdue’s 66-7 defeat at the hands of Notre Dame, and a narrow loss for the Washington Huskies in the Apple Cup.
Twice a week throughout the season, The Oregonian/OregonLive will check in with the Big Ten and highlight some of the stories we’re reading and watching from around the conference.
UCLA can’t compete with the Hoosiers
It was an inauspicious start to Big Ten play for UCLA, with Oregon coming to the Rose Bowl on Sept. 28 for the Ducks’ Big Ten opener. The Bruins lost, 42-13, to Indiana in their conference opener Saturday.
Indiana — fresh off dropping 77 points against Western Illinois — picked up 430 total yards against UCLA. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke was 25 of 33 for 307 yards and four touchdowns, while the Bruins’ only touchdown of the day came in the second quarter. It could be a long conference slate for DeShaun Foster’s team.
Before facing Oregon, the Bruins go on the road to LSU on Sept. 21 to wrap their non-conference schedule. No easy out.
Cougs run all over former Pac-12 pals
The Apple Cup ran concurrent with the Oregon-Oregon State game on Saturday, so some Ducks and Beavers fans might have missed a fun one. Washington State beat Washington, 24-19, led by the elusive abilities of quarterback John Mateer and a late defensie stop.
While Mateer completed just 50% of his passes and threw a pick, he was responsible for three total touchdowns including two on the ground. One of his rushing scores was for the highlight reel: a 30-yard scamper on 3rd and 20 to give the Cougars a lead at half.
Reeling after a rivalry loss, Washington opens Big Ten play on Saturday at home against Northwestern.
It ain’t easy being cheesy
The Wisconsin Badgers kept things close in the first quarter with Alabama, trailing just 7-3. But the Crimson Tide ground them into dust as the game progressed, ultimately winning 42-10.
Quarterback Jalen Milroe accounted for five total touchdowns for Alabama. Wisconsin’s varied and typically reliable rushing attack couldn’t break through, with Chez Mellusi leading the way with 66 yards on 11 carries and nobody else managing more than 39 yards.
The Badgers’ schedule doesn’t get any easier: after joining Oregon with a bye this week, Wisconsin heads to Los Angeles on Sept. 28 for a date with USC.
Keep on Huskin’
The Nebraska Cornhuskers’ winning ways continued on Saturday with a 34-3 win over Northern Iowa. Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola remained efficient beyond his years, going 17 of 23 for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
While the young signal-caller did throw a pick, it didn’t hurt Nebraska in the end. The Cornhuskers’ defense held UNI to 6 of 16 on third down and just three points despite the road team winning the time of possession battle by nearly 17 minutes.
That sort of strong defensive effort should carry over well in Big Ten play, which Nebraska opens up Friday against a fellow ranked, 3-0 team in Illinois.
–Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
MILWAUKEE – Friday’s severe storms have passed. And with that, the threat of any severe weather has also passed for the immediate future as no storms or rain are expected for several days.
However, plenty of damage remains across southeastern Wisconsin as of Saturday morning, in addition to the ongoing flooding threat.
Several area rivers are at flood stage, and there are multiple river flood warnings in effect.
FOX6 Weekend WakeUp on Saturday begins at 6 a.m.
On the scene in the morning
What we know:
Farmstead damage in Franklin
FOX6’s Hayley Spitler is in Franklin on Saturday morning, April 18, getting a daylight look at the damage from last night’s storms.
Storm damage in Caledonia
Friday’s storms left quite the mark across southern and southeastern Wisconsin, including at L and L Farms and Greenhouse in Caledonia.
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
The Source: Information in this post was compiled by the FOX6 Weather Experts.
How Aleksas Bieliauskas has grown in first season with Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has high praise for Aleksas Bieliauskas about a month into the Lithuania native’s freshman season.
MADISON – One of Wisconsin men’s basketball’s departing transfers is headed to an SEC program with some connections to the Badgers.
Ex-UW forward Aleksas Bieliauskas has committed to South Carolina, he announced on April 17.
Bieliauskas left the Badgers after appearing in all 35 games as a freshman and making 28 starts. He averaged 4.9 points and 4.4 points in 20.2 minutes, and highlights of his freshman year included his five 3-pointers in UW’s upset over eventual national champion Michigan.
He’ll join a program with plenty of Wisconsin ties. South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris was an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 2010-17 on Bo Ryan and Greg Gard’s staffs. South Carolina assistant coach Tanner Bronson and director of video services Roman DiPasquale also are UW alumni.
Bieliauskas is the second of UW’s four departing transfers to commit to a new school. Reserve forward Jack Robison committed to North Dakota State on April 15. Starting guard John Blackwell and reserve forward Riccardo Greppi have not announced their next schools yet.
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