Brad Crawford of 247Sports recently released the July edition of his college football bowl projections and had the Badgers facing off against the Texas A&M Aggies in the Citrus Bowl.
I've been handling preseason (and weekly in-season) bowl projections for nearly 10 years.
This updated preseason look for 2020 might be the most challenging ever with so many unknowns and the likelihood the 6-win threshold is lowered this fall: https://t.co/sIlFgtZlAH pic.twitter.com/CVliNDyLZD
— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) July 13, 2020
This after College Football News placed the Badgers in the same bowl but against the defending champion LSU Tigers in their bowl projection a few months ago.
After this week’s news of the Big Ten and others moving to a conference-only schedule, much is unknown about what the bowl season will look like and what will change about the 6-win mark needed to qualify for a bowl.
Nevertheless, these projections are what make the offseason fun and here’s what Crawford had to say about the projected Badger–Aggie matchup:
A major change from previous bowl picks this spring, earlier this year we had LSU in this slot, but we’re changing things up a bit. Assuming this projection is accurate, that would mean Texas A&M falters vs. Auburn, Alabama and LSU this season for three losses. Jimbo Fisher expects this to be his best team thus far in College Station with a senior quarterback and depth up front, but we’re not ready to label the Aggies a final four contender just yet. As for Wisconsin, the Badgers don’t have to deal with Notre Dame any longer after the Big Ten went to the conference-only plan.
If one thing is clear with these projections it’s that there is a sentiment across the college football landscape that the Badgers are in line for good things this season–especially without Notre Dame and Appalachian State on the schedule–and are a great pick to land in a New Year’s Six bowl for the fourth time in five years.