[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 29 (Thursday, March 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN--MADISON MALE BASKETBALL TEAM

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                  in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 14, 2002

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 
University of Wisconsin--Madison male basketball team who through a 
season of intense hard work made the 2002 NCAA basketball tournament. 
After being picked to finish ninth in their league by most pre-season 
publications, the UW Badgers ended the season with a share of the Big 
Ten Championship, and a number one seed in the Big Ten Tournament. This 
championship title was the first the school has seen since the 1946-'47 
season.
  The team began the season with a new coach, Bo Ryan, and had 
graduated four out of its five starters from last season, and before 
the season even got underway, lost two of its star freshmen. Under the 
motivating leadership of Ryan, however, the team finished its regular 
season with an impressive six-game winning streak to finish the Big Ten 
season with an 11-5 record and an 18-11 mark overall.
  Ending Michigan State's, fifty-three home game winning streak in 
January, and their one-point victory over Indiana, providing the first 
UW victory over Indiana at Indiana in twenty-five years, were just a 
couple of the highlights of this exciting Badger season. Their last 
game, in which the team beat Michigan by twenty points, ended with a 
sold-out crowd chanting ``Big Ten Champs. Big Ten Champs.'' These Big 
Ten Champs ended up with an eight seed in the NCAA tournament and will 
be playing their first game against St. John's University on the 
evening of Friday, March 15, at the MCI Center in Washington, DC.
  I wholeheartedly congratulate the University of Wisconsin Males 
Basketball Team on their successful season and wish them the best of 
luck in the NCAA tournament.

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