The first half of December was the off-field victory tour.

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The second half is all about securing another Wisconsin victory on the gorgeous Rose Bowl turf in Pasadena.

Surely at certain points during the first two weeks of this month, Stanford must have been the furthest thing from a few Badgers' minds.

Kicker Vitaly Pisetsky, left tackle Chris McIntosh and tailback Ron Dayne all spent some time in far-flung locales such as Orlando and New York in search of personal-achievement hardware.

While Pisetsky came up short in his bid for the Lou Groza Award and McIntosh lost out to Alabama's Chris Samuels for the Outland Trophy that goes to the nation's best lineman, Dayne picked up enough hardware and memorabilia to start his own Hard Run Cafe.

Dayne's extended adventure -- which netted him the Doak Walker Trophy, Maxwell Award and Associated Press Player of the Year honors -- concluded with his Heisman Trophy coronation Dec. 11.

Coach Barry Alvarez and offensive coordinator Brian White joined Dayne in Manhattan, but every other person in the Badgers program watched the event from the Camp Randall press box.

"As soon as they announced it, we all started screaming," said tight end Mark Anelli. "Our scoreboard lit up right away with 'Ron Dayne, 1999 Heisman winner.' It was great."

But the same teammates who roared their approval during Dayne's coronation cut him no slack when he finally returned to Madison a few days later.

Wisconsin's indoor practice on Dec. 16 marked the first time in almost two weeks that the entire Badger family was present and accounted for.

Dayne's linemen friends made fun of their supposed big-timer, but the senior tailback put on as many airs as always. That is to say, none.

"He was just the same ol' Ron, like nothing has changed," center Casey Rabach told The Capital Times. "It sure felt good to have him back there again and to have the whole offensive unit together again. It felt really good."

The Personnel File

MCINTOSH GETS HIS DUE: All over the nation, Ron Dayne's getting his due as the best player in the nation.

Only in Madison is he considered to have a peer: Left tackle Chris McIntosh. Dayne and McIntosh shared the team's MVP honors.

Somehow that seems fitting, for McIntosh has led Dayne's record-setting runs every step of the way. In fact, McIntosh has been a bigger part of the offense than Dayne over the past four years.

After redshirting in 1995, McIntosh has started all 49 games since at left tackle. When he starts New Year's Day, he'll become the third player in Big Ten history to have 50 starts.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Dague Retzlaff, TE. Just kidding. Obviously, it was Ron Dayne.

Hampered by ankle woes and a less-than-diverse attack in the early going, he earned a place on Sports Illustrated's "Top 10 disappointments" list. Now he's the Heisman Trophy winner. Among other records, Dayne wrapped up his regular-season career with an NCAA record 6,397 rushing yards.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jamar Fletcher, sophomore cornerback. Unlike last year, when defensive end Tom Burke's stats were too incredible too ignore, this Badger defense was built on 11 mostly-equal parts.

LB Chris Ghidorzi led the team in tackles, but Fletcher's terrific cover skills enabled the defense to take chances and devote more resources to the run.

Fletcher contributed seven of the team's 16 interceptions and knocked down 10 passes. He also returned two picks for scores, giving him the Big Ten career record (five) halfway through his career.

COACH UPDATE: Barry Alvarez (69-44-4 in 10 years at Wisconsin and overall). The good news for Badgers fans? Alvarez finally has a new knee that seems to be doing the job and, more important, he doesn't seem interested in finding another coaching job.

The only thing the fans don't like about him is he doesn't have enough time in his day to coach the Packers, too.

STRENGTHS: Wisconsin's primary strength is strength. Between their massive linemen and Great Dayne, the Badgers wear down foes gradually until they buckle completely.

CONCERNS: Hard to find a weakness in this bunch. Sure, it would be nice to know for sure how Big Ten freshman of the year Brooks Bollinger would fare if he had to pass more than 11 times in a game (his average the last five weeks), but why bother when you've got Dayne?

Noteworthy

BUILD IT, AND THEY WILL COME: Wisconsin's back-to-back Big Ten championship trophies seem to act like magnets for those on the Badgers' recruiting list. Sixteen preps already have committed to Wisconsin, including at least one player who might be able to fill Dayne's shoes figuratively and literally.

Six-foot, 240-pound Tyron Griffin, who rushed for nearly 4,000 yards in his past two seasons at Sumner High in St. Louis, is a big back cut from Dayne's cloth. He's been timed at 4.58 in the 40-yard dash.

Of course, no Wisconsin class would be complete with some hulking offensive linemen. The Badgers have received commitments from five such young men, including 6-7, 310-pound Ryan Wilkerson and 6-5, 280-pound Mike Lorenz.

SCOUTING THE CARDINAL: Nobody has allowed more passing yards than Stanford (3,354), but the Cardinal has made up for its defensive deficiencies with one of the nation's most explosive offenses. Just like Purdue, it's sure to move the ball against any and every team.

The Cardinal proved their quick-strike ability again in its nationally televised season-finale against Notre Dame. Stanford scored twice in the game's first 88 seconds, then drove the length of the field in barely a minute for the game-winning field goal.