Dvorak changed the band in many ways, including expanding it to 120 marchers, introducing new steps, creating the run-on entrance to the pre-game, and developing animated formations.

When the Badger football team qualified for the 1963 Rose Bowl Game, the band was still wearing uniforms based on United States Marine Corps Dress Blues, with a broad red stripe down the leg.

Lacking time to order and manufacture new uniforms, the band wore white duck pants for the Rose Parade, causing at least one wag to call them "Salvation Army milkmen".

He required every member to attend Registration Week fundamental drills to learn the new marching step, updated the pre-game "run-on" Dvorak had introduced, filmed every performance, and scheduled viewing sessions in which he provided feedback.

Leckrone's band played a repertoire of Badger songs and tunes, creatively arranging and weaving them into field-show programming.

During Leckrone's first decades, the Badger marching band was on the ascendancy as the football team was in decline,[3] mired near the bottom of the Big Ten.

Halftime shows maintained interest in the Saturday afternoon festivities, and the band's "fifth quarter" performances kept fans in the stands after the games ended.

Reg Week teaches prospective members the fundamentals of the band's marching style and serves as a period of physical conditioning.

A highlight of Reg Week is countdown drills, where members march out and back across the field, decreasing at five yards at a time.

It became popular among Wisconsin fans when the band traveled to Boston for the 1973 NCAA men's hockey championship, where the song was played at games, on the street, and in hotel lobbies.

"[5] On Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018, Michael Leckrone directed his last "Fifth Quarter" performance after a 50-year career leading UW-Madison’s marching band.

Begun during the 1927–1928 school year by then-band director, Edson W. Morphy, and traditionally held in late November or early December, the band banquet is a formal affair, with speakers and an awards ceremony.

[10] Skyrockets are a method the Wisconsin Band has used to call attention to something, such as in announcing a song or cheer, telling a joke, or greeting someone.

The sound of a skyrocket is meant to mimic a real rocket by beginning in a low hiss, followed by a short, loud "boom", then an "ahhh", and finally ending in a whistle.

[11] At the beginning of the fourth quarter the tubas line up single file and march around the stadium, weaving in and out of the stands and concourse, playing songs such as Semper Fidelis, Beer Barrel Polka, and On Wisconsin.

The band has also performed at NFL games, often making the trip to Lambeau Field to play for the in-state Green Bay Packers.