Wisconsin

Wisconsin kept Alabama out of the College Football Playoff

Published

1 year ago

December 8, 2024

Wisconsin kept Alabama out of the College Football Playoff

The Wisconsin Badgers are to thank for the Alabama Crimson Tide missing the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Imagine reading that sentence back in August before the season began. The likely reason for that reality, if projecting forward, would have been Wisconsin notching a signature win over Alabama when the Crimson Tide visited Madison.

Major takeaways from Wisconsin hiring Kansas’ Jeff Grimes as its new offensive coordinator

Nope, that did not happen. Alabama dominated Wisconsin 42-10 in the Week 3 meeting. The Badgers lost starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke on the opening drive to a season-ending injury. The team showed some fight, holding the score within 11 points in the minutes approaching halftime. But the Crimson Tide struck quickly for an end-of-half score to broaden its lead to 21-3, then added another seven points to start the third quarter to break the game open.

At the time, it was a strong win for the Crimson Tide. A road nonconference win against a strong Big Ten program usually would be a resume-booster.

But in this case, Wisconsin’s end-of-season five-game losing streak and final 5-7 record took the shine away from Alabama’s win. It made the win mostly unimpressive, which proved to be a significant factor when the CFP committee held the Crimson Tide out of the 12-team field in favor of an 11-2 SMU team.

Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State claimed the top four seeds while SMU edged out Alabama for the final at-large spot in the debut 12-team College Football Playoff.
🔗: https://t.co/6sVANVfrpx#CFBPlayoffs | #CFB25 | #CFB | #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/PQRDARq1VW
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) December 8, 2024

The Crimson Tide and Mustangs were the final two teams in contention for the last at-large bid. SMU is 11-2 with a ACC title game loss to Clemson, while Alabama is 9-3 with losses to Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Many believe that the committee’s precedent of adding Alabama over an undefeated ACC champion Florida State in 2023 would lead to them favoring the Crimson Tide again this season.

Whether they should have or not, Alabama’s resume was deemed less impressive than SMU’s. Connecting the dots, that win over Wisconsin could have been the difference, had the Badgers gone on to finish 8-4 or 9-3. Instead, the Badgers missed a bowl game, and held Alabama out of the playoff.

Wisconsin and Alabama will meet in Tuscaloosa in 2025.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

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Wisconsin

US animal rights activists clash with police over Wisconsin dog breeder

Published

9 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

US animal rights activists clash with police over Wisconsin dog breeder

About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.

It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.

Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.

“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.

The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.

Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

Animal rights activists attempt to break into Ridglan Farms beagle breeding and research facility in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, on Saturday. Photo: AP

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Wisconsin basketball signs Miami transfer Eian Elmer, who gives ‘scoring punch’

Published

21 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Wisconsin basketball signs Miami transfer Eian Elmer, who gives ‘scoring punch’

The Wisconsin men’s basketball team has signed Miami (OH) transfer Eian Elmer.
Elmer, a 6-foot-7 wing, averaged 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds last season while shooting efficiently from 3-point range.
He is the third transfer portal addition for the Badgers this offseason.

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.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin storms aftermath: Widespread damage, river flood warnings in effect

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Wisconsin storms aftermath: Widespread damage, river flood warnings in effect

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.

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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.