Jim Polzin: Ranking every bowl in Wisconsin football's 20-year streak from 'Yes!' to 'Yaaawn'

Was it strange playing a Big 12 team in Pasadena? Yes. But considering it had been more than a decade since the Badgers played in the “Granddaddy of Them All” and this was the only top-5 matchup in UW’s bowl run, it deserves the top spot.

The what-might-have been season that included back-to-back heartbreaking defeats to Michigan State and Ohio State midway through the campaign ended with a return trip to Pasadena. That’s always a pleasant experience and this trip meant one last chance for UW fans to watch Russell Wilson work his magic.

Going to Pasadena should never get old, even if it happens in three consecutive seasons. This one lost a little bit of luster with the Badgers arriving as an 8-5 team and would have been even less appealing had Bret Bielema still been the coach. But Bielema’s shocking departure to Arkansas only a few days after UW hammered Nebraska in the Big Ten title game opened the door for Barry Alvarez to make his return to the sidelines.

The Badgers’ best chance to make the College Football Playoff ended with a 27-21 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. Four weeks later, they were playing a major bowl game in the Miami area for the first time against a brand-name opponent. Not too shabby.

Ending up in Pasadena after coming up short against Ohio State in the Big Ten title game felt weird, but it’s still the doggone Rose Bowl and that experience never should be taken for granted.

The Badgers were in the Big Ten title hunt until opening November with back-to-back losses to Penn State and Iowa. Still, the buildup to this one was exciting because it was a farewell to Barry Alvarez and he’d never ever coach another game for the Badgers, right? Oops. Orlando would end up being my least-favorite bowl destination but I didn’t know that before this trip, so it had no impact on my grade.

The Badgers were still stinging from wasting a 21-point lead in a 38-31 loss to Penn State in the Big Ten title game, but they still earned an invitation to a New Year’s Six bowl. There wasn’t anything sexy about playing an opponent from the MAC, but the Broncos were unbeaten and had a coach that liked to talk. Perhaps too much, in fact, and UW fans by the end of the week were happy they’d never have to hear from P.J. Fleck again. Four days later, Fleck row, row, rowed his boat to Minnesota.

Bret Bielema’s fabulous debut season — the only loss came at Michigan in Week 4 — ending with a game against an intriguing top-15 team from the SEC? A lot to like there, even if it did mean going back to Orlando for a second consecutive season.

UW’s Big Ten title hopes came crashing back to earth with a 59-0 loss to Ohio State in the title game and its consolation prize was a trip back to Tampa, where it was matched up against a team that was 8-4 and a frequent opponent for the Badgers. Not much intrigue there on bowl selection day. But then Gary Andersen bolted to Oregon State and, once again, there just happened to be an athletic director who was more than happy to coach the team against the Tigers.

Back-to-back losses to Michigan State and Iowa ruined a 9-0 start and cost the Badgers a shot at a 2004 Big Ten title, and perhaps more. Still, it was the program’s first trip to Tampa in seven years and an opportunity to end the season on a high note with a win over a top-10 opponent. So much for that idea.

The Badgers, who were ranked as high as No. 5 during the season, landed back in Tampa after finishing fourth in the Big Ten. But this was only their second all-time meeting with the Volunteers and Tennessee came in after losing a one-score game to LSU for the SEC championship.

This is a second-tier bowl — good, but not great — and not helping matters was that UW had made so many trips to Orlando by that point. The Gamecocks themselves weren’t all that interesting but they did have the “Ol’ Ball Coach” Steve Spurrier leading them and that counts for something.

It was a strange season for UW, which won its first five games to climb to No. 19 in the rankings before dropping six of its next seven. They needed a 49-31 victory over Minnesota in the finale just to finish the regular season with a winning record. This Brooks Bollinger-led victory was a thriller but, again, these rankings are about the lead-up to the bowl and not the actual game. Bonus points for San Antonio, a great city, and the fact UW was back in a bowl game after missing out in 2001.

UW limped into the postseason with four defeats in its final five games of the regular season after a 6-1 start. But at least Auburn was a name opponent that had opened the year ranked No. 6 in the country. And, while the Badgers and Tigers would match up three times in a span of 12 bowl seasons, this was the schools’ first meeting since 1931. Nashville lived up to its reputation and, frankly, I was hoping that’s where UW would end up in this bowl cycle.

Great location (San Diego) and a blueblood opponent, even if the Trojans were 8-5 entering this contest. Besides, it presented a great opportunity to revisit the classic Rose Bowl clash between these two programs from 53 years earlier.

The matchup was the only thing that made a fourth trip in five seasons to Orlando worthwhile. It’s not like the Hurricanes were great — they were 9-3 entering the game — but I got to do a cool little story looking back at how much the playing field had evened out between these teams since they met 20 years earlier at Camp Randall Stadium. So maybe I was in the minority, but this bowl game was at least kind of intriguing to me.

About the only thing this game had going for it was a unique venue and an easy chance for alumni in the New York area to see the Badgers. Other than that, not much charm. A cold-weather city and a bowl rematch from the previous season? Not many people wanted a bite out of that Big Apple.

The only thing worse than going back to Orlando for the third time in four seasons was a trip there for a third-tier bowl. This is the only time the Badgers and Seminoles have played, so there’s that. But this was a disappointing way to end a bummer season and the Badgers ended up playing like they didn’t want to be there.

Considering the entire 2020 season was in jeopardy of not being played due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fact the Badgers were even playing a postseason game deserved some amount of attention. A clash of styles made this matchup semi-interesting. But when the bowl’s sponsor is more interesting than the actual game, that tells you where this one fell on the hype-meter.

Vegas is a good place to spend some time between the holidays and accessible for UW fans on the West Coast. Other than that, what is there that makes this game exciting? Certainly not the opponent, a shady program whose best player will be skipping the game to prepare for the NFL draft. Plus, flights are ridiculously expensive out of the Madison area and kickoff is set for 9:30 p.m. CT. Sin City? More like Snooze City.