It's not Faber College, it's the University of Wisconsin.

        It's not the Delta frat, it's the Badgers Marching Band.

        But the foot, as Faber Dean Wormer said in the classic movie "Animal House", has got to come down and that foot is me.

       It lands squarely on the necks on every trombone player, horn blower, tuba swinger and baton tosser in one of the school's most famous brands.

       The UW Band won't play Saturday night when the Badgers host Ohio State--at least, not on the field.     School officials suspended the entire group amid new hazing allegations, with the decision coming late Friday night.   

        No "On Wisconsin" before the game.     No "Hey Baby" or "Swingtown" during it.     No Fifth Quarter after.

       Wow.

       It's page-one news in Milwaukee but I'm guessing that many a fan won't know what happened until they flick on the game at home or plunk their butts down on a Camp Randall bleacher Saturday night.      Most of the state is gobsmacked with the Brewers and their postseason travails against the Phillies.     And, as of this writing, Bernie Brewer isn't on double-secret probation and will be in his Miller Park chalet, as scheduled for Game Three tonight.

      Wow, indeed.

      It's not clear what happened in this most recent UW band episode--the school won't give specifics, but it's clear that officials are done dealing with substandard behaviors.      They've been warned, threatened and yes, even put on probation (single, not double-secret) for past transgressions.      If you've ever talked to a band alum who's willing to tell stories, you already know that this is a culture that goes hand in hand with a school that has a rep as one of the nation's great learning--and party-institutions.

       This story will go national--the band is too famous, the story too juicy to be ignored.      And, if the suspension had happened during an early season game against a lesser foe, it might've made it under the radar.      Icing the entire band before the Big Ten home opener against a dreaded foe before a nationally t-v broadcast on a Saturday night?       C'mon, feel the lack of noise.

       Band Director Mike Leckrone is a Madison legend, beloved by many for what he's done during the past 40 years to raise the band's performance standards and global profile.      Win or lose, Wisconsin fans always had at least his charges to depend on.      Now, once again, the kids on his watch are putting him in a very, very bad position, to the point where one wonders if the school is going to ask him some very tough questions about the control he has over the students he's in charge of.          Past members know how demanding band membership is, how high the standards are.      But I'm guessing it's only a matter of time before those above Leckrone demand accountability, and perhaps a pound of flesh.

      Student athletes out of control?      That, sadly, is too often the norm.      A band running amok?     Maybe at the Faber College of "Animal House" fame.      Oh wait, all they ever did was get led down a blind alley at the homecoming parade.

      If the problems were only that simple in Madison.