Is it any wonder...

What's the most attractive bowl Wisconsin can hope for in the wake of the crushing loss to Iowa? UW's lone Florida option appears to be the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2 in Tampa. But let's be honest. The Badgers will need plenty of help to get there. UW (8-3, 5-3 Big Ten Conference) first needs two Big Ten teams, Penn State and Ohio State, to secure Bowl Championship Series berths. The Nittany Lions (9-1, 6-1) would secure the Big Ten's automatic berth with a victory Saturday at Michigan State; the Buckeyes (8-2, 6-1) could secure an at-large berth with a victory Saturday at Michigan. Yet even if Penn State (No. 5 BCS) and Ohio State (No. 8 BCS) both win this weekend, the BCS berths probably won't be finalized until after several key games on Dec. 3. If Ohio State loses at Michigan, the best bowl UW could hope for would be the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28 in San Antonio. Yet even if Penn State and Ohio State close out the regular season with victories, UW might have to beat Hawaii on Nov. 25 to make itself an attractive option for the Outback Bowl officials. Remember that UW, which Sunday dropped to No. 24 in the USA Today poll and to No. 25 in the Associated Press poll, played in the Outback Bowl last season and a loss to Hawaii would be the third in a row for Alvarez's team.