Our team at Badgers Wire highlighted the fact that Tyler Biadasz was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy. No one needs any explanation in the state of Wisconsin — or in any Badger football-loving forum — about the centrality of offensive line play in growing the UW program and establishing it as a formidable national force.

It is worth noting, in the wake of the announcement that Wisconsin will play Oregon in the 2020 Rose Bowl, that the Ducks value offensive line play as well. This is the big point of commonality between the two programs as they prepare for this prized pigskin pageant on New Year’s Day of 2020.

No, Chip Kelly didn’t devalue offensive line play when he coached the Ducks against the Badgers in the 2012 Rose Bowl. Kelly’s offenses were finely-tuned machines. Chip’s track record in Eugene (in marked contrast to the final season of his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles and each of his seasons as head coach of UCLA, in the Rose Bowl stadium itself) shows that he developed his offensive lines in concert with the offensive system he ran.

Nevertheless, if Chip Kelly had a top priority as Oregon’s head coach, it was speed. That’s what he valued more than anything else at Oregon. Speed was the cornerstone of UO football. The zone-blocking concepts were designed to make defenses hesitate and unleash his speed. The emphasis on tempo at Oregon at the start of this decade was designed to make superior speed triumph over the course of 60 full minutes. A physical defense might stop Kelly’s speed in its tracks in the first quarter or a quarter and a half, but in the third and fourth quarters, conditioning and speed would have the final say.

When I refer in the title of this piece to “Old Wisconsin” and “New Oregon,” I am not referring to age versus youth, but to the fact that Wisconsin has maintained a very consistent identity under Barry Alvarez’s watch, with Paul Chryst keeping the tradition going, 30 years after Alvarez first arrived in Madison at the end of 1989. The current Wisconsin way is the old Wisconsin way. It’s not in any way a criticism. Old, in this case, means traditional, time-tested, and proven.

“New Oregon” doesn’t imply the Ducks are better or fresher or more hip than Wisconsin, only that the Chip Kelly emphasis on speed has given way to a greater emphasis on power. Mario Cristobal doesn’t devalue speed, much as Kelly didn’t devalue line play. He simply puts his foremost point of emphasis on being very physical.

There is less emphasis on tempo in this Oregon offense, less emphasis on getting as many snaps per game as possible; that was a Chip Kelly goal. Whereas Wisconsin has Tyler Biadasz, Oregon has Penei Sewell, an elite lineman who — like Biadasz — should cash a very hefty check on Sundays in the future. Oregon’s commitment to a physical offensive line is a core reason the Ducks supplanted Washington — which similarly rose to Pac-12 prominence on brawn more than swiftness — as the Pac-12 champion this year.

Yes, the Ducks certainly like to get backs and receivers in open space; again, they don’t dismiss the value of speed. Yet, if Chip Kelly preferred track meets at UO, Mario Cristobal prefers trench warfare. In this sense, Wisconsin is meeting a like-minded opponent on New Year’s Day.

The Wisconsin Badgers and the Oregon Ducks are not playing a consolation game. The Rose Bowl is not — and never should be viewed as — a consolation prize. The Rose Bowl is always a top prize. The playoff semifinals are the ultimate goal, but the Rose Bowl can never disappoint — at least, it can never disappoint if one adopts a mindset which always treats the Rose Bowl as a special game.

That having been said, why are Oregon and Wisconsin in Pasadena, and not in the Fiesta or Peach Bowls? Simple: They didn’t beat the very best teams on their schedules. That’s not a “burn,” or an “insult,” or a withering criticism. It’s just reality.

It is hard to call Utah an elite team after the Utes played horribly in their big primetime moment on Friday in Santa Clara, California, in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Utah did not beat any team this year which had at least eight wins. I didn’t create that fact. I am merely passing it along. The Ducks lost to Auburn and have to live with the reality that national observers won’t give them an extra measure of credit unless or until they beat Wisconsin in Southern California.

Wisconsin exists in a similar situation. The Badgers crushed Michigan, but is Michigan an elite team? A 9-3 team which nearly lost to Army at home (non-bowl Army, to be more precise; the Black Knights are 5-7) isn’t elite. The 10-2 Minnesota Golden Gophers are certainly a good team, but elite? Much as Oregon smashed the idea that Utah was an elite team this past Friday, Wisconsin did the same to Minnesota over a week ago.

Ducks-Badgers on the first day of the 2020s is significant primarily because it’s the darn ROSE BOWL GAME, the Granddaddy Of Them All. Winning the Rose Bowl is always a goal unto itself, without need for extra qualifiers and caveats and specifications. That said, one very prominent goal attached to winning the 2020 Rose Bowl for Oregon and Wisconsin is the need to beat an elite team, and more precisely, an elite team outside of one’s own conference.

No, this isn’t a playoff semifinal, but the winner of this game will know it has passed a defining test and deserves to stand tall on the national scene. Don’t call the Rose Bowl a consolation prize or an exhibition game — not when so much national respect is squarely on the line.

The 2011 Wisconsin Badgers weren’t the last Wisconsin football team to make the Rose Bowl, but the 2011 Badgers did meet the Oregon Ducks in that season’s Rose Bowl game, the January 2012 edition. As we continue a month filled with Rose Bowl stories — what a happy task for us at Badgers Wire! — one small part of a much larger Wisconsin Rose Bowl story is that the 2011 and 2019 Badgers both arrived in Pasadena against Oregon after making similar regular-season journeys.

You know the 2019 Badgers’ progression under Paul Chryst and quarterback Jack Coan. What about the 2011 team under Bret Bielema and Russell Wilson?

Wisconsin won its first six games of 2011 by large margins: 51-17, 35-0, 49-7, 59-10, 48-17, 59-7. Huh. Sounds familiar, does it not?

49-0. 61-0. 35-14. 24-15. 48-0. 38-0. Those were the first six scores of Wisconsin’s games in 2019.

Wisconsin’s combined point differential in its first six games of 2011: 223 points. Wisconsin’s combined point differential in its first six games of 2019: 226 points.

Huh.

The 2011 Wisconsin team suffered a two-game losing streak in the last two weekends of October. The 2019 Wisconsin team suffered a two-game losing streak in the last two weekends of October.

The 2011 Wisconsin team endured its two-game losing streak on the road. The 2019 Wisconsin team endured its two-game losing streak on the road.

The 2011 Wisconsin team lost the second of its two midseason games at Ohio State. The 2019 Wisconsin team lost the second of its two midseason games at Ohio State.

The 2011 Wisconsin team went 4-0 in November to rebound and make the Big Ten Championship Game. The 2019 Wisconsin team went 4-0 in November to rebound and make the Big Ten Championship Game.

The obvious difference between 2019 and 2011 is that Wisconsin won the Big Ten Championship Game in 2011, unlike 2019. Wisconsin scored 42 points in the 2011 Big Ten title game, only half (21) in 2019. Yet, when looking at the 12-game regular-season schedules which sent Wisconsin to Indianapolis and then to Pasadena against Oregon, these journeys contained a lot of common elements. It shows how consistent Wisconsin is, and has been — at the start and end of a very successful decade.

The Wisconsin Badgers will face the Oregon Ducks in the first Rose Bowl of the new decade. Wisconsin and Oregon play on the first day of 2020 in Pasadena, California, giving the Granddaddy a rematch of the 2012 game won by Chip Kelly and the Ducks over Russell Wilson and the Badgers in a fun shootout.

Will this 2020 UW-UO game be as fun as 2012? That’s a high bar to clear. Don’t expect as many points in this game. However, one can still make a very convincing case that this is the best New Year’s Six bowl game of them all.

First, let’s knock down the lesser members of the New Year’s Six. Florida versus four-loss Virginia in the Orange Bowl? Yawn. Memphis versus Penn State in the Cotton? I have seen better matchups than that, to say the least. Baylor versus Georgia in the Sugar? Those two offenses have looked bad for large portions of the 2019 college football season. Georgia didn’t care about playing Texas in last season’s Sugar Bowl, so why would the Dawgs care about this Sugar Bowl trip?

Let’s look at the College Football Playoff semifinals. They might be very exciting games. However, many people will pick LSU to beat Oklahoma by 25 or 30 points in the Peach Bowl. That game could easily become a dud. Then we arrive at the one game which, to be honest, could be seen as better than Wisconsin-Oregon. Ohio State-Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl does have the potential to be an absolute classic.

Yet, what do we know about Clemson and Ohio State? We know that Clemson shut out OSU in the previous Fiesta Bowl semifinal between the two teams. We know that Clemson, if not playing Alabama (in the 2017 season) in the semifinals, has dump-trucked its semifinal opponents.

Clemson beat Oklahoma in the 2015 semifinals by 20 points. Clemson destroyed Ohio State in 2016. Clemson annihilated Notre Dame in the 2018 semifinals. None of those three games were close. Maybe Ohio State brings its A-game and creates an epic semifinal. that could happen. If you were to say that OSU-Clemson is the best of the New Year’s Six, you will get no argument from me.

Yet: If you were to ask me a more specific question — namely, “Which NY6 game has the best chance of being a good game?” — I think Wisconsin-Oregon in the Rose is the best answer.

This game reminds me of the 2014 Rose Bowl between Michigan State and Stanford. Both of those teams were very physical and hard-hitting, as Oregon and Wisconsin are. Oregon is not what it was under Chip Kelly in the early part of this decade, when the Ducks previous met the Badgers in Pasadena. That was a team (and program) based a lot more on perimeter speed. This Oregon team, under Mario Cristobal, emphasizes offensive line play and the ability to knock teams off the ball. Chip Kelly was rooted a lot more in the need to get his skill players in space and use tempo as a weapon. This UO team doesn’t have that same identity.

If this game is similar to the 2014 Michigan State-Stanford Rose Bowl, viewers will get a quality game. If the Big Ten can win this Rose Bowl just as Michigan State won six years ago, Wisconsin fans will be very happy.

Ohio State-Clemson COULD be a much better game, sure. However, if you want a game which is the most likely to satisfy, Wisconsin versus Oregon is the New Year’s Six game to choose this bowl season.