74 // VARSITY May 15, 2014
NCAA hopes make Big Tens
'do or die' for Badgers
UW looking for top finish to grab NCAA spot
I
t feels like déjà vu all over
again for the Wisconsin
women's openweight row-
ing team, which heads to the
2014 Big Ten Championships
this Sunday at Eagle Creek
Park in Indianapolis.
Boats from seven schools
will line up next to each other
at the start for seven races,
including one race in the var-
sity eight, second varsity eight,
varsity four, second varsity
four, novice eight and second
novice eight to crown this
year's Big Ten champion. Last
year, when Ohio State came
out on top, the Buckeyes went
on to win the conference's first
NCAA title.
Wisconsin hopes to end the
day in position to hear its name
next Tuesday when NCAA se-
lections are announced for the
22-team field that will return to India-
napolis at the end of May. It would be a
step to becoming the second team in Big
Ten history to win it all.
The Badgers find themselves in a fa-
miliar position, as they've peaked at Big
Tens to grab NCAA invites in six con-
secutive seasons and in nine of the last
10 years. Ohio State and Michigan, who
have also made regular appearances at
recent NCAA championships are the top
two seeds, but upstart Indiana has joined
the Big Ten elite this season and is a ma-
jor obstacle if UW hopes to get back to
NCAAs for a seventh-straight time.
The Hoosiers upended UW's top boat
on the first day of the Clemson Invite in
mid-April, though the Badgers respond-
ed on the second day in a big way, tak-
ing out IU and some of the nation's other
top crews one day after dragging behind
most. Nearly a month will have passed
since that confidence-building perfor-
mance.
"We started out a little bit rocky. We
raced before we really practiced, and
that's our reality," UW head coach Bebe
Bryans said. "This is the best team we've
ever had on paper. So that's pretty excit-
ing for us. It's a young team. I have one
senior in the varsity eight. I have two
sophomores in the varsity eight that
walked on this team last year.
"I'm really optimistic that this crew is
going to bring what they can do."
SCHEDULE
OPENWEIGHT
Sunday at Big Ten Championships
May 30-June 1
at NCAA Championships
LIGHTWEIGHT
May 30-June 1
at IRA Championships
INSIDE
WOMEN'S ROWING
BY PAUL CAPOBIANCO @BADGERROWING
