Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
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F orty-yard dash times notwithstanding, Wisconsin tailback Montee Ball and center Travis Frederick are both "racing'' into the unknown, the National Football League draft. "That's exactly what we're dealing with,'' Ball said. "It's a mind game not knowing when you're going to go and where you're going to go and what city you're going to be in.'' Confirming his excitement level has been on the rise leading up to Thursday's first round ― "My anticipation is at the top because it's so close now'' ― Ball has tried to enjoy the process. "I've been nervous the entire time,'' he admitted. "It's a healthy nervous with a lot of the unknowns and not knowing where I'm going to end up at. But I've been having fun with it.'' Frederick can relate to the uncertainty of the draft and the grind of the evaluation process. Unlike Ball, who completed his four seasons of eligibility, Frederick is leaving prior to his senior year. "I'm just looking forward to being able to take the step and move on,'' said Frederick. "It's been such a long process from the first or second week of January when I decided to make the jump to now. "It's been a constant grind. Now this week it's kind of all slowed down and come to a halt. There's nothing else I can do. It's all completely left in their hands, so I sit and wait.'' Ball and Frederick are not the only UW players in a holding pattern. Rick Wagner, Devin Smith, Marcus Cromartie, Shelton Johnson and Mike Taylor are waiting to see where they might end up. Whether they're drafted or sign as free agents, they haven't been subjected to the same degree of scrutiny ― not even close ― to what Ball and Frederick have been under since the NFL Combine. Not only have Ball and Frederick had to answer for their 40-yard dash times, but they've had to deal with the countless mock drafts that rarely have any rhyme or reason to their projections. "I'm not going to sit here and lie and say that I've stayed away from looking at the mock drafts,'' Ball said. "I'll get bored and check them out. I just want to see what the buzz is about out there.'' 44 » VARSITY APR I L 25, 2013 Many of the so-called draft experts have vacillated on Ball's destination. "I'm all over the place right now,'' he said. "That's what makes it more interesting and the anticipation that much more.'' Tracking Frederick has been tougher. "I don't want to insult anyone but I can't help but laugh,'' he said. "I don't laugh at them because they're wrong, I laugh at them because nobody has any idea.'' There has been a wide range of opinion on Frederick and what round he may be taken. "Some people say second, some people say fourth, some people say sixth,'' he said, shrugging his shoulders. All he knows is that he can't control what others think or say; especially the more personal critiques