Wisconsin Football is matched with SEC in bowl projections

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MIAMI GARDENS, FL – DECEMBER 30: Jonathan Taylor #23 of the Wisconsin Badgers carries during the first quarter of the 2017 Capital One Orange Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images) /

It’s looking like Wisconsin Football will draw an SEC opponent in bowl season this year.

Paul Chryst has gone 3-0 in bowl games since his return to Madison as the head coach of Wisconsin football. That’s not something to gloss over either, considering two of those three opponents were USC and Miami programs full of talent far superior to Wisconsin’s. On the recruiting websites, anyway.

Things are starting to take shape and the end of the season is in sight. Wisconsin is firmly out of the College Football Playoff picture now so the best the Badgers can hope for in bowl season is to be as highly ranked as possible to draw out the best opponent possible.

The bowl tie-ins for the Big Ten make things complicated but also narrow down where the Badgers are likely to play come late December/early January.

The Big Ten traditionally participates in the Citrus Bowl vs. the ACC or SEC, the Outback Bowl vs. the SEC, the Holiday Bowl vs. the Pac-12, the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl/Music City Bowl vs. the SEC, and the Pinstripe Bowl vs. the ACC, among others lesser bowl games that Wisconsin need not worry about.

To make some sense of all that noise, the Badgers are likely to face an SEC team with how many tie-ins the two conferences share. A lot of these bowl games have agreements with conferences to not send the same team within the same few years, which means Wisconsin is likely not going to the Holiday Bowl. But it is still possible if there are limited options elsewhere.

As of this week, here’s where Wisconsin football is projected to play its bowl game.