The Wisconsin Badgers are on the heels of a massive loss against the Iowa Hawkeyes, and now must battle to preserve an important streak.
In college football, each team currently need six wins in a given season to guarantee a bowl game for the team. There have been special circumstances where bowl games were offered to teams with five wins, but it something that rarely occurs. The Badgers currently have five wins this season, and thus need one more win in order to qualify for a bowl game.
The real kicker is not getting the final win, but what would happen if the Badgers were not able to secure another win. The Wisconsin Badgers are currently on 22-year bowl streak dating back to 2002 when Wisconsin defeated Colorado in the Alamo Bowl. Wisconsin currently holds the third-longest bowl streak in the FBS, behind Oklahoma (25) and Georgia (27).
However, Wisconsin has not played like a bowl team over the past two games, and now might be hitting a slump at the worst of times. The Badgers not only need to secure the win to play a bowl game, but also to preserve something that has been passed down throughout classes of players.
Wisconsin Badgers Need One Final Win to Relieve Stress of Potential Ending Bowl Streak
For Wisconsin, securing a final win this season could be a task that proves to be rather difficult given the remaining schedule.
The Wisconsin Badgers must play #1 Oregon, Nebraska, and Minnesota to finish off the 2024 regular season, and potentially the entire season for the team. Wisconsin has a much needed bye week before playing the Ducks, but it would take significant preparation during that week to pull off a win. After how the team looked against the Iowa Hawkeyes, sliding past Nebraska or Minnesota will not be as easy as many originally thought.
Nebraska is a team that has dealt with similar issues as quarterback Dylan Raiola has begun to hit a freshman slump. The quarterback is not nearly as effective as he was early in the season, and neither is the run game for the Cornhuskers. However, Nebraska is still a talented and capable team that could find a way to beat the Badgers.
Minnesota, on the other hand, is a team in a completely different situation as everything has begun to click. The Golden Gophers have won four games in a row and arguably should have beaten the Michigan Wolverines as well. Quarterback Max Brosmer has returned to the form he displayed with UNH last season, and has been making very few mistakes as of late.
For the Wisconsin Badgers, trying to find a win out of the final three games is going to be difficult. Nebraska is arguably the most vulnerable team at the moment, but the team still poses a threat against the Badgers. Wisconsin is going to have to play solid football moving forward in order to preserve the two decade long bowl streak.
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