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state are available and can
be found by calling 211.

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Season tickets for UW
football went on sale this

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week. The Badgers are
coming off consecutive

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losing seasons, and last
fall, fans at Camp Randall

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were chanting to fire head
coach Luke Fickell. The

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football program generates
$60 million in profits each

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year to fund the entire
athletic department, and a

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study last fall estimated a
loss in fan support from a

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losing team could lead to
more than $100 million of

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losses in state and local
revenue. Earlier this week,

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“Here& Now” senior
political reporter Zac

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Schultz sat down with UW
Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin

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and athletic director Chris
McIntosh to discuss the

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state of the football team
and the ever changing

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landscape of college
athletics.

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>> Chancellor Mnookin
Athletic Director McIntosh.

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Thanks for joining us, both
of you.

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Great to be here.
>> So, Chancellor, let's

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start with you. It's been a
few months since we heard

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the student section
chanting to fire the coach.

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What have you seen since
then that gives you faith

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that the decision to keep
the coach was the right one.

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>> Well.
>> For one thing, we saw

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two pretty great victories
after that moment against

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both Illinois and
Washington. But more

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generally, I think that
while last season's

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football performance wasn't
what any of us would wish

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for, and it's what we have
to do better than that,

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there's no question about
that. But I also think that

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what we've seen is that
this team can pull together

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the resources, the
discipline and the know how

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to help Badger football
perform at the level that

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all of us rightly expected
to.

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>> Athletic director
McIntosh. We've seen

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headlines about the new
recruits coming in through

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the transfer portal, but
what have you seen from

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inside the building that
gives you faith that this

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next team is going to
perform a lot better?

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>> Well, I mean, there's a
lot of excitement around

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the players that have
committed to play at

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Wisconsin. It's been fast
and furious. For those

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Badger fans that have been
following the news, it's

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it's been a flurry of
activity. You know, at this

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point in the season, I feel
satisfied that we had a

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plan and we were able to
execute it. And I think we

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did well in this
environment of college

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athletics and its
dependance on the portal.

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At the same time, while I'm
excited, you know, we

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haven't played a snap yet
and we're looking forward

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to getting those kids on
campus and getting getting

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to work. And and they'll
get to work right away. And

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so it's a, you know, the
beginning of a new season

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for us. There's optimism
and excitement. And like

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the Chancellor said,
there's high expectations.

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And we all understand that.
We embrace that.

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>> Chancellor. There's a
lot of things that you have

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to deal with. As the
chancellor of the

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University of Wisconsin,
national issues have never

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been hotter than before.
How do you view the

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athletic department? Is is
it something that would be

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a lot easier if it was
something that didn't draw

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that much of your attention?
>> I think, first of all,

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that we're really proud to
be a school that has an

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amazing athletic tradition,
and we're really committed

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to our athletic future.
We're really proud of the

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student athlete experience,
and we're proud of the way

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that athletics is a great
part of being a student at

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UW-Madison, whether or not
you're a student athlete.

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And also it's a front porch
to the university for the

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whole state of Wisconsin
and well beyond. It's an

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absolutely critical part of
who we are. It's not the

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only part of who we are.
Some fans might think

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otherwise on that, but we
do have teaching and

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research mission to. But
athletics is absolutely

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central to the identity of
what it means to be

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Wisconsin and what it means
to be a badger.

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>> We've saw Indiana win a
national title in football,

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a program that for years
was a doormat in the Big

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Ten. Does that change the
expectation for what we

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should expect out of
Wisconsin football?

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>> I don't think it changes
the expectation. I think it

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demonstrates what's
possible, which is which is

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much different today than
it was not a long time ago.

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You know, it's a I mean,
first of all,

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congratulations to Indiana
and kudos to everything

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they've accomplished.
>> And go.

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>> Big Ten.
>> Yeah, absolutely. But,

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you know, it wasn't long
ago in which the which

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optimism around the program
revolved around the high

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school kids that you were
recruiting and maybe just

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maybe four years from now,
we'll see the the fruits of

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that. And and that's just
not the world we're living

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in now. And so, you know,
their turnaround in a two

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year span, while
unprecedented, creates

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optimism for us and
excitement. And you know,

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they have their strategy.
And it's obviously worked.

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We're executing ours. And
we're optimistic and

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excited about ours.
>> For decades, the

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standard at Wisconsin was
to compete for Big Ten

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titles and hopefully in the
right scenario, win a

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national title. Is that
still the standard?

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>> Yes.
>> Is that still the

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standard.
>> So in that sense, you

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you gave the athletic
director a contract

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extension last year and
he's the one calling the

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shots here. What is your
confidence level in him,

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and will he be making the
ultimate decisions on who

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runs the football program
here?

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>> Yes, I mean, Mac is, I
think, a first rate

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athletic director. We've
we've all we've had some

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bumps. This is a wild ride
in college athletics right

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now. Moore has changed over
the last couple of years

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than really in decades.
It's still very much in

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flux. So, you know, it's
not altogether surprising

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that there will be and can
be bumps in the road. What

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we need is somebody
passionate, committed and

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strategic who also will be
accountable for the

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program's success. And I
have every faith that Mac

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is going to execute on that
successfully.

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>> There are fans out there
that say, well, one of the

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reasons that you kept Coach
Fickell is because you were

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the one that hired him and
you. It would look awkward

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if you admitting a mistake
to let him go. Is there any

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basis in that?
>> No, I mean, I, I

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understand and and I
appreciate the frustration

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of our fans sharing it, but
I think, you know, my job

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was to try to determine
what it will take to move

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us forward and to be
successful. And when we

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looked every aspect of our
program, certainly with the

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leadership in our football
program, Coach Fickell, and

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we weighed that against
what we need to be

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successful in the future.
We realized that we have a

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great coach here. We need
to do more to invest in the

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program. Like the
Chancellor said, my goal is

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to position this program to
be successful in the long

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run, and there's no room
for pride in that.

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>> It's part of the
landscape that's changed is

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nil, and the media money
and the things that have

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changed drastically
everywhere is Wisconsin.

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Were they behind in terms
of adapting to that new

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landscape? Were they
playing by a different set

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of rules than other
universities? May have

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taken advantage of how nil
was supposed to be used?

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>> Well, I can say this.
You know, we welcomed the

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House settlement last July,
and that was an opportunity

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for us to share revenues
directly with student

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athletes, a way for us to
maybe influence our own

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destiny in ways that we
hadn't been able to before,

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in the time since House,
since that settlement was

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finalized and took effect,
the world has been has gone

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through even more change.
And so we continue to adapt

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and we continue to iterate.
I think we have along the

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way. But there's no doubt,
like we announced last fall,

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there was a need to invest
more in football. And

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that's what we did. And and
that's what we've been

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executing. And I think, you
know, the progress we've

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shown and the success we've
had in the portal, just

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this last week is the first
step of many that show the

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progress we're making.
>> The one thing I would

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add to that is we welcome
the house settlement. We

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welcome the chance to be
able to support athletes

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directly. And I think we
would be we would both

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welcome. And I think,
frankly, many schools would

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welcome a system that did
have clearer guardrails and

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greater clarity about what
was and wasn't permitted.

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We are operating all of us
in something of a wild West

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right now. That's not the
structural environment that

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I think is really ideal for
the future success of

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college athletics. That's
not a Wisconsin issue.

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That's not a Big Ten issue.
That's not even an NCAA

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issue. That's now a
national dynamic. But I

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would love to see greater
clarity and rules emerge

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that would ensure that we
were all playing by the

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same rulebook about what
was and wasn't allowed.

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>> The Big Ten has been
negotiating a deal with

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private equity brokers for
a 10% stake in media rights.

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It's been rumored to be up
to $2.4 billion. Do you

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support that deal.
>> At this point, there's

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no deal under active
consideration, as has been

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publicly reported. We were
in conversations with

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actually a pension fund,
not not exactly private

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equity, about a minority
stake in a new enterprise.

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I think that the question
of how we can work together

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as a conference to ask, are
there revenue and growth

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opportunities where we can
come together to add

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collective value? I think
that's a really important

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conversation for us to
continue to have.

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>> As you travel and speak
with alumni, do they bring

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up sports to you? Is that
one of the. Sure.

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>> Of course they do.
>> And do they bring up the

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successes? I mean,
Wisconsin football is that

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part of like one of some of
the first and earliest

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conversations?
>> I've had lots of

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conversations about
Wisconsin football. I've

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had lots of conversations
about other aspects of

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Wisconsin athletics. It's
definitely something that

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alums talk to me about and
sometimes make their

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feelings known in, in
strong terms. And there's

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also a lot of people who
believe in this institution

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and what we're trying to do
athletically and more

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generally. That's one of
the incredible, really

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positive things about the
Wisconsin culture and

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environment. Wherever you
travel, there are badgers

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everywhere, and there's
usually badgers with, with,

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with, with opinions and
strong feelings and ideas.

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But whether those whether
they're happy with what

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you're doing or whether
they're unhappy, that comes

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from a place of caring
about the institution and

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its future and believing in
it. And that's that's

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special sauce. That's
something really wonderful.

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>> And bringing this full
circle back to the football

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team and looking ahead to
next year. There are people

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we talked about what is the
standard, but there are

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some people that I've
talked to that said, well,

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it's got to be bowl or bust
in terms of the success for

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the coach next year, is
that a sentiment that's

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00:11:00,894 --> 00:11:03,297
fair for fans to have that
a winning record and a bowl

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00:11:03,363 --> 00:11:06,033
season should be the
minimum.

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for our coaches and our
athletic director, and I

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understand that our fan
base does as well.

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>> Is bowl or bust. Is that
a fair sentiment?

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00:11:12,940 --> 00:11:15,409
>> I don't think our
expectations have changed,

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and I think our intent is
to compete at the highest

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level. I think, like I said,
we've put a plan in place

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that we feel optimistic
will will allow us to do

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that.
>> Right now. Usually the

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coaches from the fall get
an extension on their

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contract, and it's usually
announced somewhere in

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February or March. Will
there be a one year

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extension on Coach
Fickell's contract?

231
00:11:38,165 --> 00:11:40,067
>> I think that's a
conversation that we should

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take up in February.
>> All right. Jagler

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Mnookin JD McIntosh. Thanks
Mnookin JD McIntosh. Thanks