By Paul M. Banks and Jake McCormick

(PMB) #16 Wisconsin has had themselves a quietly, make that very quietly, productive season. 9-2, 5-2 and neither of their losses were very bad losses. Yet no one is singing their praises, what’s up with that? We know all about Scott Tolzien, John Clay and that Big Ten leading rushing attack, who/what else do we need to know about?

(JM) I was just paging through the new Sports Illustrated college basketball preview issue, and they ranked 65 teams with no mention of Bo Ryan’s Badgers, despite the fact that they always make it into the NCAA tournament and always overachieve. My point is that Wisconsin fans are used to getting completely shafted despite any typical/surprise successes. Part of that comes from having an extremely boring style of offense in nearly all sports, but if it gets the job done that’s good enough right?

And if my memory serves me correctly, Jim Tressel isn’t exactly lighting up scoreboards with his playcalling, yet Terrelle Pryor’s overratedness is covered more than any Badger underratedness. The only other thing you’d need to know about Wisconsin is that Bret Bielema should be Big Ten Coach of the Year because of his recruiting abilities; not his coaching, which is still very much a question mark in big games.

(PMB) Any special NFL level talent on Wisconsin other than Garrett Graham, the most boring and lifeless interview subject in the history of Big Ten football, and O’Brien Schofield. What about Nick Toon? Or are we talking about him just because his Dad is Al Toon, and his name is reminiscent of Nicktoons on Nickelodeon.

For NU, you might see Corey Wootton and Sherrick McMannis, maybe Adam Hahn playing on Sundays next fall. Their main attraction on the college level though is the Mike Kafka to Zeke Markshausen connection, which sounds a lot like a NFL Europe pitch and catch combo. And of course, many references here are truly….Kafakesque.

(JM) Kafka is a pretty decent writer too; I remember reading and enjoying metamorphosis in my AP English class senior year in high school. Did I just make a classical literature reference? Graham is the only senior position player on the offensive side of the ball, but he won’t be missed nearly as much next year with the recent emergence of Lance Kendricks.

The Badgers have quietly become a consistent producer of good all-around tight ends, and Kendricks’ chemistry with Tolzien grows with each game. Toon is a legit, 6’4” receiver (and only a sophomore!) and will undoubtedly follow in the footsteps of Lee Evans, Chris Chambers, and his father on Sundays. The Badger offensive line always sends at least two guys to the NFL, and my top candidates are juniors John Moffitt and Gabe Carimi. Defensively, Jaevery McFadden will make it on a roster somewhere as a special teams player. Thankfully, most of the team is underclassmen, so there is some time before I have to worry about filling big shoes.

(PMB) This is the 93rd meeting between Wisconsin and Northwestern, and the first since ’06. The rivalry with Wisconsin is Northwestern’s oldest among Big Ten teams (dating to 1890). Only NU and Illinois have played more games (103) than NU and Wisconsin (92). And with David Kay in attendance this time, it’s an even bigger rivalry for The Sports Bank, as both TSB’s President and V.P. will be there. In the two teams last meeting at Ryan Field (2005), the Wildcats exploded for a school-record 674 yards of offense as they won a thrilling shootout, 51-48. Brett Basanez threw for 361 yards and Tyrell Sutton ran for 244. Expecting a barn-burner?

(JM) I liked the way Pat Fitzgerald rallied his team together to beat Iowa two weeks ago, because the Hawkeyes have been squeaking by too many games and definitely deserved a loss at the hands of a non-elite Big Ten team. And to quote Boars and Bernstein, he definitely looks like a guy that goes to bed in full Wildcat pajamas. With that said, all of Northwestern’s Big Ten wins have been by seven points or less and their closest loss was by 10 points. I would expect the Wildcats to score anywhere between 17 and 24 points, but the Badgers have put up 30 or more in three straight games. I think the game will play out much like the Michigan game last week, where Northwestern stays in it for a couple quarters but Wisconsin pulls away early in the second half.

I don’t think Bielema will let this team coast through the end of the season, especially when they’re one win away from 10 on the year.

(PMB) Yes, Fitzgerald certainly is Coachy McCoachington when it comes to his general intensity. Currently the Champs Sports, Alamo and Insight bowls are the leading candidates for the Wildcats’ holiday destination. I’d prefer the Champs Sports Bowl because

a.) it used to be called the Continental Tires Bowl, and this new name is just such an upgrade, I guess.

b.) they did the Alamo Bowl last year and that didn’t work out too well.

c.) they haven’t won a bowl since 1949 (and in this city this is only a modest drought, as big long sports dry spells are to Chicago what clips of people getting physically damaged are to Comedy Central’s Tosh.O) and I just see the match-up in Orlando being magical.

Because it’s where Disney is based, and when you wish upon a star, you finally might win a bowl game.

So where will Wisconsin go bowling? You guys seem to get a New Year’s Day bowl in Florida every year, so much so that they don’t even sell the Bowl packages anymore. It’s all old hat to the fanbase. Like Amy Winehouse and crack, heroin, and cocaine, it’s all routine now. Would even be excited about playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers home? What are some other options?

(JM) Florida LOVES Wisconsin bowl appearances because we travel really well and literally empty the kegs at local bars. These are stories I hear from family members that have made trips down for Sunshine State bowls. I wouldn’t have been happy with anything other than a January bowl this year, because I consider Wisconsin one of the top programs in the Big Ten and hate settling for a dot com, before Christmas bowl. It’s also good for recruiting. By the default of having the four ranked Big Ten teams at 10, 13, 14, and 16, Wisconsin seems destined for the bloomin’ onion bowl, aka the Outback Bowl. Unless Penn State or Iowa lose this weekend to the clearly inferior Michigan State or Minnesota, respectively, that is the only New Year’s Day bowl left for Wisconsin. They will be in the Capital One bowl if the Nittany Lions or Hawkeyes lose, but I wouldn’t bet on it against two extremely underachieving teams. Mediocrity and inconsistency is the name of the Big Ten game, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I get a Christmas present early.

(PMB) Predictions and final thoughts?? I’m going to say Wisconsin 37-24, and I have a feeling around mid 3rd the Sconnies will put this one away. Fitz’s teams are just plain better on the road. Mostly because many sections of Ryan Field are emptier than Sarah Palin’s head on most Saturdays, so there’s not really much of a home-field advantage going on. And I expect Saturday’s crowd to have more red than a Che Guevara pep rally.

(JM) Haha…honestly, I wrote the game turnout response a couple paragraphs above, so it looks like we’re in the same boat here. It’ll be close enough early to trigger flashbacks of unexpected losses to Northwestern, but at the end of the day I think Wisconsin will pull away with a final score around what you predicted. It’ll be interesting to see where the Wildcats are in a few years, because they seem to be improving each year as a program. I would have no problem with the return of the Darnell Autry teams of yesteryear.

(PMB) I second that. Good luck, and may the best team win Saturday.

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