The 2011 Rose Bowl game is nearly upon us, and today we take a look at the Wisconsin Badgers. The No. 5 Badgers are 11-1, and finished in a three-way tie with Ohio St and Michigan St atop the Big Ten at 7-1 in conference. Wisconsin was awarded the Rose Bowl bid by virtue of having the highest BCS ranking of the three Big Ten teams. This is the seventh Rose Bowl for the Badgers, and first since 2000:
| Wisconsin Rose Bowl History | |
| Year | Rose Bowl |
| 2000 | Wisconsin 17, Stanford 9 |
| 1999 | Wisconsin 38, UCLA 31 |
| 1994 | Wisconsin 21, UCLA 16 |
| 1963 | USC 42, Wisconsin 37 |
| 1960 | Washington 44, Wisconsin 8 |
| 1953 | USC 7, Wisconsin 0 |
Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema had a tough act to follow, replacing the legendary Barry Alvarez, who is now the school's athletic director. Alvarez became head coach of the Badgers in 1990, when their bowl history consisted of just one win in six tries. Alvarez guided the Badgers to 11 bowls in his 16 seasons, winning eight, including three Rose Bowls.
Bielema has held his own quite nicely, with a 49-15 record in five seasons, and has guided Wisconsin to three of the seven 10-win seasons in school history. Bielema's Badgers have gone to five bowls in his five seasons in Madison, and won two. The only two Big Ten schools to play in more Rose Bowls than Wisconsin are Michigan (20) and Ohio St (14).
The 2010 Rose Bowl kicks off at 5 p.m. EST, Thursday, Dec. 30. The game will be televised on ESPN. For a complete list of bowls, browse SB Nation's 2010 college football postseason schedule.