After being projected to play the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Cotton Bowl last week by USA TODAY, Wisconsin’s projection has moved back to that of a matchup against a very familiar non-conference opponent in the Fiesta Bowl, the BYU Cougars.
Many Wisconsin fans may be familiar with the Cougars because of their 2018 upset of the sixth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall. The loss to BYU ended the Badgers’ hopes for an undefeated regular season, which ended up culminating in Wisconsin’s appearance in the Pinstripe Bowl. Wisconsin has played BYU four times in their history, and the matchup is split even at two games each.
The projected College Football Playoff teams remain unchanged from last week and include Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, and Oregon.
The drop from last week’s projection of the Cotton Bowl likely comes from the fact that Wisconsin canceled their game last weekend against Nebraska, as well as their upcoming game against Purdue, because of a team outbreak of COVID-19. The Badgers will look to return to action on November 14th against the Michigan Wolverines.