Football

Baggot: Five things to know - Set for New Year's Day

Wisconsin battles No. 13 LSU in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa on Jan. 1

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In September of 2016, the Wisconsin football team opened the season facing a perennial Southeastern Conference powerhouse, ranked in the Associated Press’ top 15, at an NFL stadium.

The unranked Badgers were led by a 23-year-old graduate student at quarterback, who had been chosen for the role by a coach in his second year at UW.

For the opponent, meanwhile, there was all sorts of Heisman Trophy buzz regarding a high-profile offensive standout.

The Badgers came away with a 16-14 victory over fifth-ranked LSU at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Bart Houston made his first career start at quarterback for UW, a decision made by second-year coach Paul Chryst.

The Tigers fell despite getting good mileage out of running back Leonard Fournette. A year after finishing sixth in the Heisman voting, he carried 23 times for 138 yards and established himself as a favorite to win it.

Jump ahead to January of 2024 when all those storylines will be revisited.

Once again, the unranked Badgers (7-5 overall) are playing LSU, which is 9-3 and rated No. 13 in the latest AP poll.

Once again, the teams will meet inside an NFL venue. The ReliaQuest Bowl is being staged at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., at 11 a.m. (CT) on Jan. 1.

Once again, a greybeard will start at quarterback for Wisconsin. Tanner Mordecai is in his sixth college season after transferring to Madison to play for first-year coach Luke Fickell.

Once again, the Tigers are influenced by a Heisman candidate. Shortly after quarterback Jayden Daniels won the prestigious award – the third LSU recipient in history – he opted to declare for the NFL draft and will not play against UW.

Here are five more things to know:

OLB T.J. Watt (42) rushes the passer vs. LSU in 2016

ONE

That 2016 edition of the Badgers was remarkable in many ways – it toppled three top-10 teams and finished in the top 10 after beginning the season unranked – but one fact is particularly impressive. There are 11 Wisconsin players currently on NFL rosters – including practice squads and injured reserve – who saw action that day against LSU (Zack Baun, Tyler Biadasz, Corey Clement, Ryan Connelly, Michael Deiter, David Edwards, Troy Fumagalli, Alec Ingold, Dare Ogunbowale, Ryan Ramczyk, T.J. Watt).

RB Jonathan Taylor (23) runs for a gain against Miami in the 2017 Orange Bowl

TWO

The Badgers are 19-15 in bowl games overall, 11-11 in matchups with ranked opponents and 11-8 vs. ranked teams since 1993. Barry Alvarez was 7-3 coaching in bowl games against schools ranked in the AP top 25, including two games in which he was the interim coach. Chryst was 2-1, Bret Bielema was 2-3 and Gary Andersen was 0-1.

Braelon Allen square
RB Braelon Allen (0) heads to the NFL Draft after his junior season

THREE

The current UW depth chart reflects the fact that nine players have either elected to transfer (Skyler Bell, Chimere Dike, Rodas Johnson, Jordan Turner, Darian Varner, Trey Wedig) or declare for the NFL draft (Braelon Allen, Tanor Bortolini, Jason Maitre) since the regular-season finale vs. Minnesota on Nov. 25. There were 62 starts between them: Bortolini 12, Johnson 12, Dike 11, Allen nine, Maitre nine, Turner seven, Bell two.

OL Jack Nelson (79) blocks in a win over Oklahoma St. in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl

FOUR

Wisconsin has won eight bowl games since 2014, same as Alabama and Georgia (excluding the College Football Playoff championship game). No other Football Bowl Subdivision school has more.

S Hunter Wohler (24) celebrates a tackle at Indiana

FIVE

Wisconsin has not allowed a second-half touchdown over its last four games after yielding at least one in seven of its first eight outings.