Bowl Buzz: Coasts calling amongst Bowl options
November 28, 2018 | Football, Andy Baggot, Bowl Central
Badgers’ bowl fate tied to those of fellow Big Ten foes
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — National college football analysts are focusing on two warm-weather bowl options for Wisconsin even though several key dominoes have yet to fall.
CBS Sports, ESPN, 247Sports and USA Today forecast the Badgers (7-5 overall) will play a Southeastern Conference opponent in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 31 in Jacksonville, Florida.
CBS and 247Sports project the opponent will be Missouri (8-4); ESPN says it will be Vanderbilt (6-6); and USA Today predicts it will be Texas A&M (8-4).
Meanwhile, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, SB Nation and a second ESPN staffer project Wisconsin will be slotted in the Redbox Bowl opposite a Pac-12 Conference opponent on Dec. 31 in Santa Clara, California.
Bleacher Report and Sports Illustrated agree that the opponent will be Stanford (7-4). The ESPN staffer says it will be California (7-4). SB Nation projects it will be Oregon (8-4).
Another forecaster, The Sporting News, has the Badgers facing Stanford in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 31 in San Diego, California.
Wisconsin's bowl destination appears tied to how many Big Ten Conference teams get prime postseason assignments.
Ohio State (11-1), Michigan (10-2) and Penn State (9-3) are situated sixth, seventh and 12th in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, respectively, but it remains to be seen if all three will get berths in New Year's Day Six bowls given that the Nittany Lions are on the fringe of consideration.
Ohio State enters the Big Ten title game vs. Northwestern (8-4) with an outside chance at moving up to a top-four playoff berth.
If the Buckeyes somehow advance to the playoff, that would make it more likely that Michigan and Penn State would get a spots in New Year's Day Six bowls. That would have a trickle-down effect on the Big Ten-affiliated bowls, putting Wisconsin in line for the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee, on Dec. 28.
Stewart Mandel of The Athletic has the Badgers drawing Missouri in Nashville in part because, as Mandel reports, the Music City Bowl is expected to draft a Big Ten entry, not an Atlantic Coast Conference team.
Should Ohio State fail to make the playoff, it's possible that the CFP selection committee would bypass Penn State for one of the New Year's Six bowls. That would create a different trickle-down effect, one that could put Wisconsin in line for the Pinstripe Bowl in New York City on Dec. 27.
There the Badgers would face a team from the ACC at Yankee Stadium. College football analysts offer a variety of possible opponents, including Syracuse, Duke, Pittsburgh, Miami and Virginia.
First-Team All-Big Ten selection! Congrats, @TJEdwards8! 👏 #OnWisconsin
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) November 27, 2018
