UW-Madison’s athletic teams are the Badgers and they compete in the NCAA’s Division I and the Big Ten Conference in most sports except ice hockey. Their football team won the Rose Bowl 3 times: in 1994, 1999 and 2000. The men’s basketball team won the NCAA National Championship in 1941 and got to the Final Four in 2000. Their mascot is Buckingham U. Badger, who is also called Bucky Badger. Their fight song is “On, Wisconsin!” The 2005-06 season was the first time in the school’s history that four teams brought home national championships in the same academic year. The men’s cross country team got its 4th national championship in the fall; both the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams came home with national titles; and the women’s lightweight crew won its 3rd straight title in the spring.

Football is a popular sport at UW-Madison; the football team’s home games are played at Camp Randall Stadium, which can seat over 80,000. At the end of every game, regardless of whether the team has won or lost, the UW Marching Band plays popular songs during the renowned Fifth Quarter. Head coach Barry Alvarez became the athletic director after the 2005 season; and Bret Bielema took over for him. In the 2006 season, the Badgers had an 11-win season under Bielema; he also led them to 12 overall wins, which are both firsts for the school. Their last win of that season was against the SEC runner-up Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl. On January 1, 2008, the Badgers played the University of Tennessee Volunteers in the Outback Bowl and lost. Their trophy games are: the Heartland Trophy against the Iowa Hawkeyes and Paul Bunyan’s Axe against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.