MADISON, Wis. - For the first time in at least 40 years, the University of Wisconsin Marching Band won't play at a Badgers home football game.

UW-Madison Band Director Mike Leckrone suspended the entire band because of serious hazing allegations, he said Friday evening.

Leckrone would not say specifically what the allegations were or when the incidents occurred but said they were alcohol related and involved "inappropriate sexual behavior."

"I just thought the allegations were serious enough that there needed to be some action right away," Leckrone said.

The announcement came a day before the 18th-ranked Badgers' Big Ten Conference home opener, a 7 p.m. game against 14th-ranked Ohio State.

The energetic band is a popular Badger tradition, almost as quintessential on campus as fall football. It's not clear whether a different act will perform in the band's place during halftime or the well-known, post-game Fifth Quarter. UW Athletic Department spokesman Vince Sweeney said the department would make those decisions Saturday morning.

Leckrone said he believes it is a small percentage of students, a "counter culture," who were involved in the hazing.

"You can blame it on a few individuals who didn't get the message," he said. "The message had to be sent this is not going to be something anyone's going to tolerate."

Dean of Students Lori Berquam said her office will investigate the allegations to see if they violated an internal band code of conduct and University of Wisconsin System codes of behavior. The band will be suspended until the investigation is complete. Berquam said she does not know how long it will take.

Berquam said it was more than one student that alerted her office to the problems. Leckrone found out about the allegations at 3:45 p.m. Friday afternoon and informed the members of the suspension at around 4:30 p.m. He consulted with Chancellor Biddy Martin, university spokeswoman Amy Toburen said. But Martin did not speak publicly about the hazing or suspension.

The band has a history of hazing. Most recently, former Chancellor John Wiley put the band on probation in 2006 when complaints of alcohol use and inappropriate sexual behavior made some band members feel uncomfortable and unsafe.

Leckrone said the allegations Friday were very similar to those in 2006.

The 2006 incidents included: demeaning and abusive demands for younger band members to run errands and refill beer cups for older members; women forced to kiss other women to gain access to bus bathrooms; highly sexualized banter and more, according to the university.

At that time, Wiley threatened that the band would lose travel and performance privileges unless Leckrone solved the problems.

The band was taken off probation last year.

Leckrone said then that he would consider stepping down as director if poor conduct continued. But he said he changed his mind. Still, he said he feels responsible.

"My attitude is now I'm a teacher," he said. "And I'm going to teach these people what the right way to go on this thing is."

He said he put into place mechanisms to prevent hazing, which included mentoring sessions, an ombudsman in the dean of students office, a chain of command and more. He said he has seen great progress in the past two years.

"We have a pretty good system in place, but this time I don't think we did a good enough job to make it work," Leckrone said.

Leckrone said the band would practice Tuesday but won't perform until the matter is resolved.

The band, which has about 300 members, was devastated at the news, Leckrone said.

"My feeling was I hit them between the eyes with a sledgehammer," he said.

Leckrone, who has led the band for 39 years, said the decision was incredibly difficult.

"You don't have any idea how hard it was," he said. "It's like I can remember my father saying, 'This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.' They know how important this is to me."

- State Journal Reporter Devin Rose contributed to this article.