(Over)reacting to Number One

It's the classic admonishment, the finger-waving warning to those who wish to be graceful winners: "Act like you've been there before."

Well, the Badgers haven't been there before, so we get things like this:



Yes, you can go to Bucky's Locker Room, plunk down $18.99 plus tax and shipping, and celebrate the fact that a near-plurality of members of the media thought the Badgers should inherit the number one spot.

After weeks and weeks of enduring complaints of no respect, even the most stalwart complainers had to recognize that the national media are, in fact, paying attention to the Badgers. Everyone has something to say, and everyone is searching for a fresh angle; some frame the #1/#2 tandem of Wisconsin and Ohio State as a point of pride for the conference, others are playing up the takedown factor the opponents are salivating over, but ultimately the news of the #1 ranking becomes the story, and the result is full-on exuberance. In their state of freewheeling euphoria, the mainstream media has even sunk to the level of reviewing the reaction from homers on the internets.

So, excuse us for not acting like we've been here; we haven't.

Also of note: Greg Stiemsma has co-opted the hockey tradition of the playoff beard; Big Ten Wonk urges the Spartans to be wary of turning the ball over and fouling the Badgers; a messy weekend has kept the hockey team's postseason hopes alive; Alando Tucker is good at basketball, even on the road; Nick Polczinski, captain of the 1990 football team, has died at age 39; and MGoBlog takes a hilarious look at a hockey game at Lake Superior State.