ORLANDO, Fla. — I’m here live from the Florida Citrus Bowl. The ‘Noles fans vastly outnumber the Badger fans down here. Kickoff is about 73 minutes away. Check the Herald site for postgame coverage following this afternoon’s matchup.

When Jeff Rohrman resigned as head coach of the UW men's hockey team after seven seasons at the helm, the Badgers were left with a coaching vacancy.

They filled that void Thursday with the hiring of Todd Yeagley, who served as an assistant coach for six years at Indiana University, his alma mater.

"I know our men's soccer student-athletes will benefit greatly from Todd's experiences as a player and coach who has competed and thrived at the game's highest levels," UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez said. "We're looking forward to him joining the Badger family."

Yeagley, 36, becomes just the fifth head coach in the history of the Wisconsin program. As a player for the Hoosiers, Yeagley was a four-time All-American in the early 1990s. Following his years at IU, he played for seven seasons with the Columbus Crew of the MLS.

"The University of Wisconsin has a great history of commitment to academic and athletic excellence, and I look forward to elevating the men's soccer program to new levels of success," Yeagley said. "I'm thrilled to become part of the family of UW men's soccer student-athletes and alumni."

Wisconsin's sophomore defenseman Cody Goloubef has been named to Team Canada for this year's World Junior Championship, set to take place in Ottawa Dec. 26 and running through Jan. 5.

"It's a real big deal in Canada," Goloubef said of the World Juniors last week before the tryout. "It's a very well-respected tournament, so it's definitely going to be an honor to put that jersey on if I make the team.

The honor came just a week after Goloubef was named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week following a two-goal weekend against the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.

Goloubef and Badger teammate Brendan Smith both took part in a five-day tryout process in Ottawa starting last Thursday. For Smith, it was his second time trying out.

Goloubef will join fellow Badger Ryan McDonagh in the World Juniors. McDonagh was named earlier this month to Team U.S.A.

Because of the timing of the tournament, both players will miss two of UW's home series, including the Badger Hockey Showdown Dec. 27-28 and a two-game tilt against Northern Michigan the following weekend.

Goloubef knows that with two defenseman gone, it will allow some of the other Badgers a chance to get some playing time.

"Everybody can play," he said, "so it's going to be a good opportunity for everybody to get some ice time."

9:30 -- UW holds on and ekes out a 60-58 score. Check tomorrow's Badger Herald for full coverage. Thanks everyone.

9:29 -- A 3 by Stucki cuts it to 59-58, but Hughes is fouled on the inbounds with 2.1 to go. Misses the second; 60-58. Lane violation on UW will give ISU an inbounds pass at the end of the court.

9:27 -- Stucki runs into J-Bo and is called for the foul. The sharp-shooter will take two from the charity stripe. Makes them both. 59-55.

9:27 -- 57-55 UW, ISU almost stole the inbounds pass. 8.9 to play.

9:26 -- Good pressure on the inbounds by the Bengals but UW gets it to Leuer, who is immediately fouled. Makes one of two.

9:22 -- And the second FT is good by J-Bo after the timeout. 25.4 to play, and ISU makes a layup to cut the lead to 3. Still not over yet, folks...

9:20 -- Morgan hits a runner in the lane to pull it to within three, 54-51. But Bohannon is fouled and will shoot two. He's 2-for-2 from the line tonight but just 4-of-11 from the field.

Makes the first and Bo calls a 30-second timeout.

9:18 -- Hughes hits one of two free throws after getting fouled by Morgan and UW now leads 54-47 with 1:34 to play. Some of the Kohl Center fans are filing out, feeling as if this one is in hand for Bo Ryan's bunch. Seeing how this season has gone for the Badgers, however, I wouldn't leave quite yet if I were them.

9:15 -- Idaho State's Amorrow Morgan hit one of two from the line, 53-47 Wisconsin with 2:35 to play.

The Badgers have done a nice job of limiting Morgan all night. He averages 17 per game but has just six tonight.

Hughes misses the front-end of a one-and-one but the Badgers get the rebound and will set up their offense. The clock is now on their side.

9:09 -- Seven point lead here for the Badgers as J-Bo hits a pair of free throws and Idaho State misses a three its next time down the court. They'll maintain possession after Landry tipped it out of bounds.

8:59 -- Badgers building their lead. Hughes hit a 3 after Monroe missed an open layup for the Bengals, and then Landry grabbed the offensive board off a missed 3 by Jarmusz and put it back for a 46-40 advantage for UW.

8:55 -- Idaho State's Busma looked like he traveled, but got away with it and scored. On the other end, UW turned it over and the Bengals turned it into a 2-on-1 layup by Monroe on a behind-the-back pass from Bay.

41-40 Wisconsin, 10 minutes to go.

8:51 -- Leuer now has eight points after another bucket down low. He's also had a few bad misses as well, including the dunk and another layup in which he hesitated to take it to the hoop.

41-36 Wisconsin, 11:17 to play.

8:45 -- Nice feed from Landry to Krabbenhoft under the hoop; Joe pump fakes and lays it in to give UW a 37-33 lead.

The next time down the court, Leuer missed a dunk attempt and the ball bounced five feet about the rim.

8:35 -- Bengals regain the lead early in the first half. 31-29 Idaho State, and Wisconsin will call a timeout with 18:22 to play.

8:17 -- Big 3 at the top of the key by J-Bo just before halftime to give Wisconsin a narrow 29-27 lead heading into the locker room. He finished 4-of-9 from beyond the arc to finish with 12 points at the half to lead all scorers.

Badgers shooting just 34 percent from the field, including 27 percent from 3-point land. Idaho State is firing at 48 percent on 11-of-23 shooting. Wisconsin is outrebounding the Bengals 18-14 and have nine offensive boards.

Not surprising that Wisconsin is letting Idaho State hang around. That's been the case all season, as we saw against teams like Iona and Long Beach State, who beat the Bengals earlier this season in double overtime.

We'll be back after halftime for the rest of tonight's game. Again, the score at the half reads 29-27 Badgers.

8:16 -- Bo takes a timeout with 21.2 to play and his team down 27-26. Bohannon has 9 and Landry has 8, but that's been about it for Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Monroe has 8 to lead the Bengals.

8:12 -- J-Bo puts the Badgers back on top with a 3. 24-23 UW now as Carson hits a jumper for the Bengals.

8:05 -- Bohannon has really been pulling the trigger on the 3-ball tonight, but so far is just 2-of-7.

On the other end, a 3 by Bay for the Bengals gives them a 21-20 lead.

7:54 -- Nice putback layup by Landry off a miss by Jon Leuer. Right now, the Badgers have Rob Wilson, Tim Jarmusz, Landry, Hughes and Leuer on the floor.

Nice pass by Kal Bay for Idaho State, driving in the lane and passing behind his head to Deividas Busma.

18-11 Badgers, just under 10 minutes to play in the half.

7:46 -- In my three semesters with the Herald, this is just the second men's hoops game I've covered, and the first at the Kohl Center. The other was at Illinois in Assembly Hall.

The view up here is weird to look down and not see ice, which I'm accustomed to.

12-4 Badgers with 14 to play in the first half.

7:42 -- Another J-Bo 3 followed by a Krabbenhoft layup, we're at 10-2 now. Posts will probably become less frequent as the game goes on. I'm adjusting to this whole basketball blogging thing.

Idaho State's zone defense doesn't seem to be working for them. They're in a timeout now. We'll see if they switch to man-to-man.

7:40 -- J-Bo hits a 3 and UW is out to a 5-0 lead. Still a lot of empty seats here...

7:35 -- Here are your starting lineups:

Idaho State: G Amorrow Morgan, G Donnie Carson, F Felix Caspari, G Matt Stucki, C Demetrius Monroe

Wisconsin: G Trevon Hughes, G Jason Bohannon, F Keaton Nankivil, F Joe Krabbenhoft, F Marcus Landry

7:30 -- Good evening and welcome to the Badger Herald's Extra Points blog, where we'll be bringing you live coverage of tonight's men's basketball game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Idaho State Bengals.

Might be a low turnout tonight here at the Kohl Center. On the way in, I overheard scalpers trying to get rid of extra tickets. One said he had them for free. Not sure if he was serious or not, but I wouldn't be surprised.

There's just a few minutes to go before tipoff and the place is dead. The lower bowl is less than half full, so you can only imagine the second and third tiers aren't much better. Chalk it up to the snowy conditions we've been having here in Madison as well as the less-than-sexy opponent for tonight's game.

The Bengals are 2-5 on the year, with their two wins coming against Eastern Oregon and Utah. As a member of the Big Sky conference, they're led by head coach Joe O'Brien. If you're wondering where Idaho State is located (admit it, you were), the school is in Pocatello, ID and has an enrollment of just under 14,000. Idaho State will be wearing their black jerseys tonight with orange and white trim.

They'll be led offensively by Amorrow Morgan, who averages 17 points per contest through seven games this year. Wisconsin (6-2) is coming off a tough 61-58 loss to No. 25 Marquette on Saturday night in Milwaukee.

Trevon Hughes and Marcus Landry are the only two Badgers to average in double-figures, at 13.9 and 12.3 per game, respectively.

About set for tipoff, stay with us as we'll keep you posted with all the action.

After reeling off a five-game winning streak following a weekend sweep of Alaska Anchorage, the UW men's hockey team (9-7-2, 7-5-2 WCHA) is back in the national polls, garnering the No. 16 spot in the USCHO.com poll.

The Badgers were the second-highest unranked team receiving votes last week but jumped six spots after 3-2 and 7-2 victories over the Seawolves. UW has now lost just once in its last 11 games--a 6-2 loss to St. Cloud State--after beginning the season 0-6-1.

No surprise in the women's poll as the unbeaten Badger womens' team (18-0-2) remains the top squad in the nation after sweeping the St. Cloud State Huskies 7-0 and 6-2. Wisconsin was the unanimous No. 1, receiving all 15 first-place votes.

Both teams will now have some time off before returning to action. The men's squad will host Alabama Huntsville in the first round of the Badger Hockey Showdown Dec. 27 and will then face either Harvard or Lake Superior State the following night.

The womens' team will not play again until 2009, hosting the U.S. Select Team Jan. 2 in an exhibition game and then traveling to take on Minnesota Duluth in a two-game road series.

The Wisconsin men's hockey team saw its captain Blake Geoffrion helped off the ice Friday night against Alaska Anchorage after suffering an apparent ankle injury.

What appeared at the time to be rather serious--Geoffrion was grabbing his leg in obvious pain and didn't return the rest of the weekend--might not end up to be quite as bad as initially thought.

Geoffrion walked into the media room after UW's 7-2 win Saturday wearing a boot on his left foot. Following the win, head coach Mike Eaves said Geoffrion's status will be week-to-week.

In Geoffrion's absence, Eaves noted that the entire team came together Saturday in preparing for the series finale.

"It was an atmosphere where, without Blake being there, just kind of walking by you could hear more guys chatter," Eaves said. "I think everybody just basically stepped up."

The Badgers saw two other players go out with injuries over the weekend. Freshman defenseman Jake Gardiner was shaken up after a big open-ice hit in the first period of Friday night's 3-2 win and did not play the rest of the series. Junior forward Ben Grotting went down Saturday and also did not return.

With a few weeks off to rest before returning to play in the Badger Hockey Showdown Dec. 27 and 28, Eaves said it was "reasonable" that all three could be back by then.

Can't make it to the hockey games this weekend? No problem.

Join Badger Herald sports editor Tyler Mason and WSUM's Eric Levine at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday night as they broadcast the Wisconsin-Alaska Anchorage hockey series live from the Kohl Center.

To tune in, click here.

Despite going 7-1-1 in the month of November, the UW men's hockey team remains unranked in the USCHO.com poll. They are, however, receiving the second-highest amount of votes for unranked teams, with 72.

"You can't really pay much attention to that," Wisconsin goaltender Shane Connelly said last week when his team was not receiving any votes. "We take care of our job, get back to .500 and then start going from there. The votes will start coming in, and we'll get our due."

Minnesota dropped out of the top spot to third following a loss to Michigan Friday and a 4-4 tie with Michigan State Saturday. That opened the door for Notre Dame--ranked second last week--to claim the No. 1 overall ranking, with a 10-3-2 record.

In the Inside College Hockey (INCH) Power Ranking, the Badgers finally cracked the poll at No. 20. Notre Dame also took the top ranking in the INCH rankings, while Minnesota was second.

Wisconsin's opponent for this weekend, the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves, are 15th in the USCHO.com poll.