Almost as good as the Heisman

I'm still unfamiliar with the level of decorum on this blog, so when it came time to post my suggestions for a Wisconsin/Marquette travelling trophy, I took those suggestions elsewhere, please feel free to read them here

112th Meeting Means More to Marquette

Tomorrow's meeting between the two in-state rivals is significant because both teams are collectively ranked higher than ever as gameday arrives. Marquette's freshman trio of last season have certainly matured and will give the Badgers a stiff road test. While the Fortress on Fourth isn't know for revelry parallel to the Kohl Center, Marquette carries a chip on its shoulder as the ugly stepchild in a state the wears Badger red, and without football this game means more to Tom Crean's Golden Eagles than any other.

This is great for basketball in the state as the two programs are led by stellar coaches and continue to land top recruits. May the best team win, but let's hope Tucker and Taylor pull rank and make Matthews sorry for interrupting the family lineage.

Thomas Wins Outland

Joe Thomas became the first Wisconsin Badger to earn recognition as the top offensive lineman in the land on Thursday evening. He joins a lineage of stellar men who battled in the trenches at Camp Randall, from Mike Webster, to Paul Gruber, Joe Panos, Cory Raymer, and Chris MacIntosh.

Alvarez always claimed that his teams' heart and soul would come from Wisconsin, but its permimeter speed from the coasts and other football hotbeds. Bielema continued in this tradition by scoring an oral commitment from CJ Peake of Trotwood, OH, a safety and one of the only positions open for competition come fall practice.

Bowl Pick 'em

Shawn's prediction of LSU big over ND in the Sugar Bowl got me thinking I should pick the winner (straight up of course) of every bowl. So here we go...

POINSETTIA BOWL
San Diego
Dec. 19, 8 p.m. (ESPN2) TCU (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5)
Winner: NIU. Garrett Wolfe goes out with a bang.

LAS VEGAS BOWL
Las Vegas
Dec. 21, 8 p.m. (ESPN) BYU (10-2) vs. Oregon (7-5)
Winner: BYU. BYU QB Beck passes over, around and through Ducks.

NEW ORLEANS BOWL
New Orleans
Dec. 22, 8 p.m. (ESPN2) Troy (7-5) v. Rice (7-5)
Winner: Rice. Owls WR Dillard catches a TD in his 15 straight game.

PAPAJOHN'S.COM BOWL
Birmingham, Ala.
Dec. 23, 1 p.m. (ESPN2) South Florida (8-4) vs. East Carolina (7-5)
Winner: S. Florida. Young Bulls use momentum from WVU upset to beat Pirates.

NEW MEXICO BOWL
Albuquerque, N.M.
Dec. 23, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN) New Mexico (6-6) vs. San Jose State (8-4)
Winner: New Mexico. Albuquerque has a bowl now too? What the heck, I'll just go with the "home" team.

ARMED FORCES BOWL
Fort Worth, Texas
Dec. 23, 8 p.m. (ESPN) Tulsa (8-4) vs. Utah (7-5)
Winner: Utah. Tulsa has lost 3 of 4 to win season and Utes nearly beat BYU in their regular season finale. Teams are going in different directions.

HAWAII BOWL
Honolulu
Dec. 24, 8 p.m. (ESPN) Arizona State (7-5) vs. Hawaii (10-3)
Winner: Hawaii. Warriors use home-field (and hometown ref advantage) to beat Sun Devils. Brennan gets two TDs to pass Klinger for single season TD record.

MOTOR CITY BOWL
Detroit
Dec. 26, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) Central Michigan (9-4) vs. Middle Tennessee State (7-5)
Winner: CMU. Chippewas frosh QB LeFevour gives former coach remorse about leaving for Cincinnati.

EMERALD BOWL
San Francisco
Dec. 27, 8 p.m. (ESPN) Florida State (6-6) vs. UCLA (7-5)
Winner: UCLA. Canning Jeff Bowden not enough to fix all of Seminoles woes. Chicago politicians should take clue from Bobby Bowden - nepotism rarely pays.

INDEPENDENCE BOWL
Shreveport, La.
Dec. 28, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN) Oklahoma State (6-6) vs. Alabama (6-6)
Winner: Ok. St. Tide fans wish Gene Stallings was coming back to coach, but will have to settle for Rich Rodriguez. Unfortunately, Slaton and White are not following their coach to Tuscalosa.

HOLIDAY BOWL
San Diego
Dec. 28, 8 p.m. (ESPN) Cal (9-3) vs. Texas A&M (9-3)
Winner: Cal. Cal RB Lynch has coming out party and gives NFL GMs, including Ted Thompson, something to think about.

TEXAS BOWL
Houston
Dec. 28, 8 p.m. (NFL) Rutgers (10-2) vs. Kansas State (7-5)
Winner: Rutgers. Scarlet Knights have best season since they played first college football game and they end up in the Texas Bowl vs. mediocre Big 12 team.

MUSIC CITY BOWL
Nashville
Dec. 29, 1 p.m. (ESPN) Clemson (8-4) vs. Kentucky (7-5)
Winner: Clemson. Tigers' RB duo of Davis and Spiller have field day on porous Wildcat rushing D.

SUN BOWL
El Paso, Texas
Dec. 29, 2 p.m. (CBS) Missouri (8-4) vs. Oregon State (9-4)
Winner: Oregon State. Remember when Missouri started 6-0? Well they lost 4 of the next 6 and showed why Gary Pinkel can't be trusted. Oregon State would have looked good on Badgers' schedule had they not chickened out.

LIBERTY BOWL
Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN) South Carolina (7-5) vs. Houston (10-3)
Winner: Houston. Kevin Kolb is best QB you've never heard of. Gamecocks tend to play to level of their competition.

INSIGHT BOWL
Tempe, Ariz.
Dec. 29, 7:30 p.m. (NFL) Minnesota (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (7-5)
Winner: Texas Tech. Gopher fans are lucky to have hockey team to make up for pitiful football and basketball teams.

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL
Orlando, Fla.
Dec. 29, 8 p.m. (ESPN) Maryland (8-4) vs. Purdue (8-5)
Winner: Maryland. Joe Tiller is only person who could complain about trip to Hawaii. How does he feel about Disneyworld?

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL
Charlotte, N.C.
Dec. 30, 1 p.m. (ESPN) Navy (9-3) vs. Boston College (9-3)
Winner: Boston College. Eagles' players wonder how coach could bolt for NC St., but take out frustrations on Midshipmen.

ALAMO BOWL
San Antonio
Dec. 30, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN) Iowa (6-6) vs. Texas (9-3)
Winner: Texas. This has to be one of the biggest mismatches on the board. Has the luster worn off of Ferentz after sub-par year? I still would rather see him in the pros.

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL
Atlanta
Dec. 30, 8 p.m. (ESPN) Virginia Tech (10-2) vs. Georgia (8-4)
Winner: VT. Hokies D will bring their lunch pail to work, but so will Bulldogs' D. First team to three FGs wins.

MPC COMPUTERS BOWL
Boise, Idaho
Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) Nevada (8-4) vs. Miami (6-6)
Winner: Miami. Just think, Larry Coker was a questionable pass interference call away from back-to-back national championships. Now he is a coach without a job and ending the season on the Blue Turf. Just so you know, Miami was Kirk Herbsteit's pick to contend for the national championship.

OUTBACK BOWL
Tampa, Fla.
Jan. 1, 11 a.m. (ESPN) Penn State (8-4) vs. Tennessee (9-3)
Winner: Tennessee. Vols make first shot across bow of Big Ten in argument of best conference in NCAAs this year. Bonus prediction: JoePa announces retirement after game.

COTTON BOWL
Dallas
Jan. 1, 11:30 p.m. (Fox) Auburn (10-2) vs. Nebraska (9-4)
Winner: Nebraska. Auburn one of most overrated teams in NCAA, getting blown out by double digits at home in two losses. Nebraska QB Taylor has big day on the ground and Blackshirt defense shuts down Irons and Cox. Think repeat of last year's Capital One Bowl.

CAPITAL ONE BOWL
Orlando, Fla.
Jan. 1, 1 p.m. (ABC) Wisconsin (11-1) vs. Arkansas (10-3)
Winner: In depth prediction to follow closer to game date.

GATOR BOWL
Jacksonville, Fla.
Jan. 1, 1 p.m. (CBS) Georgia Tech (9-4) vs. West Virginia (10-2)
Winner: Georgia Tech. West Virginia D can't stop anyone and GT defensive coordinator Tenuta will have a month to figure out how to stop White and Slaton. GT WR Johnson will make claim for being top 3 pick in next year's draft.

ROSE BOWL
Pasadena, Calif.
Jan. 1, 5 p.m. (ABC) USC (10-2) vs. Michigan (11-1)
Winner: Michigan. Wolverines get revenge for 2004 Rose Bowl loss. Michigan D uses blueprint from Bruins' win and manages to slow down high-powered Trojans' offense. Hart helps Michigan play keep away and Henne makes enough big plays to get the job done.

FIESTA BOWL
Glendale, Ariz.
Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m. (Fox) Boise State (12-0) vs. Oklahoma (11-2)
Winner: Oklahoma. While the Broncos have a nice story and probably deserve BCS reward, they are not in same league as Sooners. With or without Adrian Peterson, the Sooner run over Broncos D and do just enough to stop BSU RB Ian Johnson.

ORANGE BOWL
Miami
Jan. 2, 8 p.m. (Fox) Wake Forest (11-2) vs. Louisville (11-1)
Winner: Louisville. Matchup looks more like a Final Four game than a BCS bowl game. I have doubted Wake Forest all year (and been proven wrong) and I am not about to stop now. ACC is weakest power conference this year and it will show in match-up of Big East and ACC champs.

SUGAR BOWL
New Orleans
Jan. 3, 8 p.m. (Fox) LSU (10-2) vs. Notre Dame (10-2)
Winner: LSU. LSU simply has more talent than Domers. And they are playing at home. This match-up reminds me of 2001 Sugar Bowl when 1 loss Illinois team got spanked by Bayou Bengals. Mike the Tiger will be roaring early and often.

INTERNATIONAL BOWL
Toronto
Jan. 6, Noon (ESPN2) Cincinnati (7-5) vs. Western Michigan (8-4)
Winner: Western Michigan. Since when were bowl games played in Canada?

GMAC BOWL
Moble, Ala.
Jan. 7, 8 p.m. (ESPN) Southern Miss (8-5) vs. Ohio (9-4)
Winner: Ohio. Bobcats coach Frank Solich has quietly turned program into annual MAC title challenger.

BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Glendale, Ariz.
Jan. 8, 8 p.m. (Fox) Ohio State (12-0) vs. Florida (12-1)
Winner: OSU. I'm sorry but I don't buy the argument that Florida played the toughest schedule in the nation and so they will be battle tested for game with Buckeyes. Chris Leak continues to make huge mistakes at QB (similar to Rex Grossman) and just like the Bears, the Gators are living on borrowed time. The Buckeyes offense will have a tough time against Gators' D, but OSU D will dominate Gators' offense. OSU takes the National Championship, its second in 5 years.

Big Ten Football Finish: 1, 2, ...3?

What are the chances that the Big Ten claims the top three spots in one of the major college football rankings come January 9th? Seems like OSU and Michigan victories restore their 1-2 pairing at the top, but LSU lurks ahead of Bucky in every poll, and I think a win against the undeserving Irish is a given, making Wisconsin a candidate for #4 with a win against the Razorbacks.

The Spoons that Stir the Drink

More praise for Flowers and his fellow floor-burned and stitched-up teammate Joe Krabbenhoff. Flowers must contain James on Saturday for Bucky to beat Marquette at the Bradley Center, and the polar bears, Tucker, and the Enforcer must capitalize on Wisconsin's size advantage that could extend their season well into March.

Flowers Blooms

As Bo Ryan and most knowledgeable college basketball fans knew, "mid-major" program Winthrop would present a challenge to the Badgers on Monday night. Dubbed by some as the "Gonzaga of the South," Winthrop came in with a team that got nearly 40% of its points from behind the three-point line. This is also a program that has played competitively against teams like Tennessee, Marquette, North Carolina and Maryland over the last 10 months. Winthrop was due for an upset, but the Badgers weren't about to let it happen.

Winthrop didn't disappoint on Monday pushing the Badgers to overtime before losing 82-79. Winthrop made an incredible 15 of 25 three point shots it made. In contrast, Wisconsin made only 6 of 25 three point shots. However, Wisconsin got Alando Tucker's typical superman effort and it also got a contribution from an unlikely hero, Michael Flowers. Flowers scored 21 points and added five assists, four rebounds and two steals in 42 minutes.

After Winthrop hit a three to go up 65-63, Tucker missed a bank shot from just right of the lane - but it was corralled by Flowers in the midst of several bodies under the basket, and Flowers was able to go up and score to tie the game at 65 with 10.6 seconds left.

Winthrop's Torrell Martin, who tied a Kohl Center record with seven 3-pointers, got an open look from the top of the circle as the clock was winding down, but his 3-pointer drew the front of the rim just before the buzzer sounded.

The Badgers scored points on their first eight possessions of overtime, the biggest coming when Tucker buried a 3-pointer from the left wing as the shot clock was winding down to give UW a 73-67 edge. From there the Badgers made their free throws and held off the Eagles to get the win.

Stocco to Play Against Vols

John Stocco insisted he will play in the Capitol One Bowl after light throwing on the side during the Badgers' first bowl practice. Tennessee remains the most likely opponent. The two teams last met in the 1981 Garden State Bowl, with the Vols prevailing 28-21. Ben Strickland filled in for Ike at corner in a practice where the seniors were given the day off.