If there was one thing University of Wisconsin football fans could count on when Barry Alvarez was the team’s coach, it was the fact the Badgers usually ended up in a bowl game. Bad seasons were few and far between. Getting to play in warm-weather cities like Tampa, Fla., and Pasadena, Calif., were nice rewards for a job well done.

It will be strange not to see the Badgers playing on New Year’s Day, 2009, and that will be the case if they stay on their current path. The Badgers (3-3) looked absolutely terrible Saturday in their 48-7 loss to Penn State. They’ll have to win at least four of their last six games to get invited to a bowl. As tough as it was for Wisconsin to get Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State back-to-back-to-back, nothing I’ve seen convinces me the Badgers can beat solid teams like Illinois, Michigan State and a much-improved Minnesota squad.
It’s just one of those years where even a less-than-exotic locale like Shreveport, La. — site of the Petro Sun Independence Bowl on Dec. 30 — will look good to the Badgers. That is, if they even get there.

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