I've been researching a bit for my Badger game preview so the links today may be a little heavy on Badger links, but you'll make due.

Bucky's 5th Quarter had a good post this week on the rules of buying a Badger jersey. I enjoyed the read so I'm sharing it with you.  There are 5 basic rules for buying a college team jersey..

1) If the player is a true freshman then he must be a No. 1 recruit who is not red-shirting and if he is a red-shirt freshman then he must be a starter and lead the team in at least one key statistical category. Too many highly regarded recruits fall flat on their face.
            Pass: Ron Dayne in 1996 Lawrence Maroney 2003
            Fail: Josh Oglesby in 2007 MarQueis Gray 2008 (you gt the idea)

2) If the player is a sophomore or junior then he must be a starter and lead the team (among returning players if it is the offseason) in at least one key statistical category. These are the guys you want to invest in. They have already proven themselves and they are going to be around for a while.
            Pass: David Gilreath or John Clay Adam Weber 2008
            Fail: Kyle Jefferson Brandon Green

3) If the player is a senior then he must be a Heisman/Player of the Year candidate or be a good candidate to have his jersey number retired at that player’s school. Sorry Garrett Graham fans, you missed your chance.
            Pass: Alando Tucker in 2006-07 Maroney 2005
            Fail: Kammron Taylor in 2006-07.

4) If the player plays football and wears No. 1, 7, 9, 12, 14, 18 or 80 then the previous rules do not apply to purchase the jersey, although the jersey can only be worn during seasons when the player currently wearing that number is a clear cut starter and leads the team in at least one key statistical category.
            Pass: No. 12 Tyler Donovan in 2007. - I'm not sure what he is getting at here, maybe those are retired numbers for Wisconsin?
            Fail: No. 4 Allan Evridge in 2008.

5) Any former All-American is eligible for a jersey purchase, but the jersey must be from a year in which that player played.
            Pass: Ron Dayne and Alando Tucker - Kevin McHale
            Fail: A No. 33 or No. 42 placed on a 2009 jersey

6) He forgot one rule.

    Pass: Gopher Jersey
    Fail: Badger jersey

A couple years back there was a post out in the blog-sphere giving the general rules about wearing a jersey (any jersey).  His rules were things like don't tuck your jersey in, don't buy #69 (it's not that funny), don't wear average players no longer on your team (i.e. Brad Johnson, Vikings fans), etc.

• Zombie Nation shares his Big Ten picks and he has Hassan Lipscomb as his pick to surprise the rest of the conference this year.  Interesting.
• Good article by Marcus Fuller on Mbakwe.  This kid is going to help us a LOT next year.
• On Wisconsin asked me a few questions, here are my answers.
• This Badger sports fan thinks it will be a rough year for the Badgers, always good to read.