Wisconsin Badger Question

[Badger Alum]

I've been to almost every Wisconsin home game this year and they have looked awesome. They aren't just beating people at home, they are completely dominating them. They look like a Top 5 team at home - they really do. You got the feeling against Purdue and Ohio State that the Badgers were toying with them. They didn't even seem concerned. Even against a great Penn State team, you felt like they were in control of the match.

Then they go on the road and lose of UCSB, Ohio State and Minnesota. I saw the Minnesota game on TV and the Badgers looked terrible. They couldn't pass, play decent defense and had many unforced errors. That's not the other team taking something away from you - that's you not playing your game. That's hard to understand.

Why do you think we can look so strong at home and so poor on the road? Usually that's a leadership thing but they have a strong upper class. I'm preplexed.

P.S. This was a quote from Penn State head coach Russ Rose that ran in the Wisconsin State Journal: "The story is how well they played because they prevented us from doing anything, we got our butts kicked. Sometimes that happens."

[JHAM]

The Gophers will need to bring their "A+" game to beat the Badgers at home. It has always been a tough place for them to play and it looks like WI is firing on all cylinders in the Fieldhouse.

[Deleted]

This is true. But it's also not true that Wisconsin was the reason Wisconsin lost to Minnesota. Minnesota had a lot to do with it.

[bomber]

ruffda said:

This is true. But it's also not true that Wisconsin was the reason Wisconsin lost to Minnesota. Minnesota had a lot to do with it.

Absolutely true....Minnesota was definitely the better team that night. Wisconsin has demonstrated that they can win on the road this seaon. But they do (so far) seem to save their best play for the Fieldhouse.

It's not unusual for a team to play much better at home. The Fieldhouse is a nightmare for visiting teams it seems, but Huff Hall at Illinois and the Pavillion in Minnesota aren't exactly wonderful places to visit either.

I hope the Badgers have learned what they need to do when they go on the road. They have the talent in their lineup to play with anyone in the country. It seems that they forget that fact sometimes when they leave Madison.

[Badger Alum]

I'm not trying to say Minnesota didn't play better. If you win 3-0, it's obvious you played better. But what stuck out in my mind where all the unforced errors. That had very little to do with Minnesota. Hitting out, serving out, hitting into the net. Those are mostly within your control. The Badgers seem to struggle with that on the road and don't seem to have the same problem at home.

I know most teams do better at home than on the road, what surprises me is the large difference in their abilities at home vs. the road. It's not common to have such a difference.

[bucky415]

If anyone figures this out, could they please get the answer to Pete Waite by thursday? I hope that the Badgers don't lose their game somewhere between Madison and Michigan. I would also hope that Carlini's previously stated desire to beat the Michigan schools leads to good performances from her on that trip. She almost saved the Badgers at Michigan last year with a huge match. It usually isn't an easy trip, and MSU especially is coming off a good weekend. Of course, the Badgers did do pretty well against those schools in Madison, but I guess that isn't news at this point in the season.