The Wisconsin Badgers have proven to be one of the most impressive teams in the country this season and one reason might be because they embraced a song by the singer Ke$ha to celebrate a huge win over Michigan.
According to Fox Sports, following the 65-62 overtime victory by the Badgers over the third-ranked Wolverines, the players put together a dance floor in the locker room and started to get down to the song "Die Young" by Ke$ha, which is an energetic ballad about being young and playing for the moment.
The school's athletic department put the video up on YouTube and it went viral, getting nearly 100,000 views. Some players said that it wasn't the first time the song was used.
"It was something that we play a little bit in the locker room, just having fun," Wisconsin center Jared Berggren said. "Just kind of an upbeat, fun song. Before the Illinois game (Feb. 3), they started playing it down there in their pregame warmups, and we were kind of joking around. We all started getting a clap going to the beat. We were just bringing energy and having fun with it.
"Obviously, we went and got the win there and we just kind of carried it over. We've been winning since we've been playing it, so I guess we'll stick to it."
Wisconsin has been playing well of later and maybe its thanks to Ke$ha. The team has won three straight and are into the Top 25 rankings at number 20. They are also in the coaches poll at 19.
Ke$ha saw the video and tweeted early Tuesday morning to her nearly 3.3 million followers: "maybe the hottest/cutest thing I've EVER seen."
Wisconsin forward Mike Bruesewitz wasn't down with it at first, but he came around.
"It was forced upon me," Bruesewitz said. "Everybody else on our team likes that song. I'm forced to follow these guys. Plus (reserve guard) Dan Fahey really likes that song. I think he plays it a lot in the bathroom. He sings to it all the time in the bathroom.
"And we played it a lot. I know a lot of the guys like it. I tried to get the crowd involved in it at the pregame stuff. I admitted to everybody that I don't like the song. I'm not a huge fan of it. It's kind of catchy. But after a big win like that, you've got to hold your bias back and just be excited about it."
Added Badgers guard Traevon Jackson: "It's the perfect song for us as a team. When that song comes on, it's go time."
