Photo by J. Matthew Serafin/matthew.serafin@marquette.edu
Marquette first played the University of Wisconsin-Madison in basketball in December 1917 and another 118 times since. The 120th meeting between the two teams will be played Saturday, but, for the second consecutive year, that now means the week leading up to the game has an impact off the court.
Beat Bucky Week made its debut last year and is dedicated to generating energy for the upcoming game with events scattered throughout the week, while also dedicating some time and effort to the Milwaukee community. A Wisconsin T-shirt trade-in and class penny war for scholarship aid is taking place in the Alumni Memorial Union all week, while the AMU’s Marquette Place and Brew Bayou had rivalry-themed food and drink specials Monday and the Annex had bingo Wednesday.
Jennilee Schlinsky, a senior engagement officer on the Marquette Alumni Association Staff, said the main goal of the week is to spur some hype for the in-state grudge match and the inaugural Beat Bucky Week achieved this goal.
“It’s all about creating that spirit and buzz for that week,” Schlinsky said. “In general, we were happy with last year’s program, in terms of people talking about it and recognizing the brand we created.”
Michael Kelly, a senior advancement officer, said Beat Bucky Week was also very successful in its fundraising efforts.
“We believe the inaugural Beat Bucky Week was very successful in terms of fundraising through the penny war,” Kelly said in an email. “We raised more than $130 for the Students Helping Students Fund – a scholarship fund for students with immediate financial need, such as a parent losing their job.”
Schlinsky said the very popular Wisconsin T-Shirt exchange, which will be held every day this week, as opposed to just one day of the week last year, had 60 items exchanged last year.
One of the obstacles of this year’s Beat Bucky Week is trying to promote a game that will not be played at the BMO-Harris Bradley Center, unlike last year. Schlinsky said she believes the solution to not having home-court advantage is promoting the watch party at the Annex and the women’s game against the Badgers at the Al McGuire Center Saturday night.
“We’re lucky because we can still create atmosphere on campus with the viewer party at Union Sports Annex and because the women are also playing at the Al McGuire Center that day.”
Although Schlinsky said not much is changing, there are some new events to look forward to in this year’s event schedule. One of those new programs Schlinsky said she is excited about is a campus-wide spirit day, in which the whole Marquette community is encouraged display Golden Eagle pride.
“We want the entire campus community to show their Marquette pride by wearing their Marquette gear on Friday,” Schlinsky said. “It’s going to be important to have that visual presence on campus.”
The double-header will kick off at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, when the men’s team hits the hardwood at the Kohl Center in Madison, with the game televised on Big Ten Network. The night cap at the Al will begin at 7 p.m. when the women’s team also takes on the Badgers.