With the Wisconsin football team off for a month, they can only sit back and watch this weekend as their bowl status is determined.
The No. 18 Badgers, with a 9-3 overall record, are guaranteed a bowl game this December or January. The UW has their sights set on the Capital One Bowl, a Jan. 2 match up that features a top Big Ten team and a top SEC team. Most experts have predicted a Wisconsin-Auburn match up in this post-season contest. However, a lot can change between now and Saturday, and with a few upsets, the Badgers could be venturing to Tampa, Fla. for their second consecutive Outback Bowl appearance.
Wisconsin's Capital One hopes will be greatly affected by the outcomes of two games: BCS No. 1 USC at home against No. 12 UCLA, and No. 2 Texas vs. Colorado in the Big 12 Championship in Houston, Tex. There are four possible scenarios from the outcomes of these two games.
If both USC and Texas are victorious, then UW is unaffected. The Badgers would most likely face No. 10 Auburn in the Capital One Bowl, and USC and Texas would play in the Rose Bowl (Jan. 4) for the national title.
If the Trojans lose and the Longhorns win, then UW will still be largely unaffected, and will likely remain headed to Orlando.
This picture would look pretty good to a couple of UW's Big Ten foes. No. 3 Penn State would likely receive a Rose Bowl bid, and No. 6 Ohio State would most likely be bumped up to the Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 2) to take on USC, who would receive this bid due to its Pac-10 title via tiebreaker.
If the Longhorns lose and the Trojans triumph, Texas would most likely be out of the BCS picture, which would not bode well for the Badgers or for Ohio State's BCS hopes. Penn State would be bumped up to the Rose Bowl to play USC and Colorado's victory over Texas would vault them into the Fiesta Bowl to take on No. 7 Oregon, due to the fact that the Fiesta's executives would not want a Colorado-Texas rematch.
Because the final at-large BCS berth would most likely be used on everyone's favorite, No. 8 Notre Dame, Ohio State would be nudged out of the BCS picture completely, and take the Badgers' spot in the Capital One Bowl. UW would therefore be headed to the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2 to face an SEC team, who could be No. 13 Georgia or possibly South Carolina. As a result, it is possible that all Big Ten teams, with the exception of Penn State, would move down the postseason ladder.
If both USC and Texas lose, there would most likely be a Penn State-LSU or Virginia Tech national championship. This would likely produce a USC-Colorado match up in the Fiesta Bowl, and Texas would move down to the Orange Bowl (Jan. 3) to take on Virginia Tech. Again, Ohio State would be bumped out of the BCS and take UW's spot in the Capital One Bowl, sending the Badgers to the Outback Bowl.
In all likelihood, USC and Texas will both come out on top on Saturday, and the Badgers will head to their desirable Capital One Bowl bid. However anything can happen in the Pac 10 and Big 12 championship games, forcing fans to wait until Saturday before anything is set in stone.
