For the fourth straight season, the UW football team (5-3 Big Ten, 9-3 overall) will spend New Year’s Day playing their final game of the season in Florida. For the fourth straight season the Badgers will also face a foe from the South Eastern Conference.
As announced yesterday, athletic director Barry Alvarez and head coach Bret Bielema accepted an invitation to play in the 2008 Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The invitation marks the 13th time in the past 15 seasons that UW football will play in a bowl game, including the previous six consecutively.
After a tumultuous season that started with high hopes but regressed to one battered with injury and three conference losses, the New Year’s Day Bowl will serve as a testament to how the team responded down the stretch run of the season, winning four of their final five games. For the seniors this will truly mark their final opportunity to wear cardinal and white in a game atmosphere.
Originally called the Hall of Fame bowl and played in Birmingham, Alabama, it was not until 1995 that the game was moved to Florida and renamed the Outback Bowl.
The Badgers last played in the bowl the first day of 2005. However, in that contest, the Georgia Bulldogs held on to claim victory 24-21 over a Badger team that had started that season 9-0 before losing each of its last three games.
A rematch with the Bulldogs, one of the nation’s hottest teams, is possible. But with one more weekend of the regular season remaining, many scenarios could play out.
Louisiana State University (LSU) plays Tennessee in the SEC championship game for the right to play in a Bowl Championship Series game. Depending on the outcome, Georgia may receive an at-large bid for a BCS contest, leaving the loser of the SEC championship, Florida, Auburn and Arkansas waiting for their invitation to a bowl game.
At this point, it seems likely UW would square off with either Tennessee or Auburn. The Badgers beat Auburn in the Capital One Bowl following the 2005 season in then head coach Barry Alvarez’s final game, after losing to them in the Music City Bowl at the conclusion of the 2003 season. The Volunteers and Badgers have not had any match-ups in recent years.
Student tickets will go on sale on a lottery basis starting Dec. 4th and ending Dec. 5th on uwbadgers.com.
