Instead of the UW Marching Band on Saturday, it was AC/DC and Black Sabbath.

Fans still cheered wildly at the University of Wisconsin football team's first Big Ten Conference home game. Blaring horns and bass drum beat, however, were conspicuously absent after band director Mike Leckrone suspended the band indefinitely Friday because of serious hazing allegations.

"The fans are the ones that got penalized," a disappointed Chris Laos said after the game, which 18th-ranked UW lost to 14th-ranked Ohio State 20-17.

Laos joined thousands of others who began streaming out of Camp Randall Stadium as soon as Badgers quarterback Allan Evridge tossed the game-ending interception, since the band's celebrated "Fifth Quarter" had been canceled.

Not getting to see that show, and the band's usually raucous half-time performance, was "awful," said Laos, a 1996 UW-Madison grad from Milwaukee.

Leckrone's decision caused the spotlight of the national media to temporarily turn from the football team to what is usually its supporting cast.

Officials continued to be tight-lipped about the allegations that led to the suspension, which Leckrone said were alcohol-related and involved "inappropriate sexual behavior."

An investigation will determine whether the alleged behavior violated band or University of Wisconsin System codes of conduct.

But Leckrone said Saturday he thinks only a small percentage of students were involved.

"I think there's a counterculture that really operates outside of the band structure that feels like this is the cool thing, this is what being part of the band is," he said. "We've stressed that's not the case at all."

Still, the latest incident is not the first time the band has been accused of hazing or lewd behavior. The culture of hazing has ebbed and flowed over the years, Leckrone said.

"You get 18- or 19-year-old kids who don't always use the best adult judgment," Leckrone said. "They think it's part of the organization. I think it's a hard thing to break down."

Current band members contacted by the Wisconsin State Journal wouldn't comment Saturday. Some said they'd been told by University officials not to comment — one called it "a gag order."

But several said they would have had nothing to reveal anyway. They said they knew nothing about what led to the suspension, suggesting the number of offenders could be relatively small.

Culture clubs

In the past, band alumni said, most hazing took the form of minor mischief.

Heather Watter, who played trumpet in the band from 2003 to '06, said she quit before her fourth year in part because she wanted to focus on her studies and in part because she said she didn't like the atmosphere of the band, which she said revolved heavily around alcohol.

"I heard of people my freshman year that seemed pretty quiet and shy who were getting completely drunk and doing things they wouldn't do otherwise," she said. "It seemed like they were forced to drink."

But she said she was never the subject of any serious hazing and said she avoided situations where she might feel uncomfortable.

"There is pressure to do that kind of stuff so maybe some people don't think they can escape that pressure," she said.