BOWLNANZA!: The Capital One Bowl

#10 Arkansas (10-3) vs. #7 Wisconsin (11-1)

Arkansas was part-underwhelming, part-unlucky last year, and coach Houston Nutt's job was on the line. But the Hogs came through with a vengeance, led by the one-two rushing attack of Heisman runner-up Darren McFadden (1558 yards, 14 TD) and Felix Jones (1018 yards, 4 TD.) As for the passing game, well, the lines against LSU show the tale:

Darren McFadden, the running back: 2/2, 33 yards
Casey Dick, the quarterback: 3/17, 29 yards, TD, INT

Oof. The Razorbacks were somewhat lucky this season, too. Alabama missed 3 FGs and an XP en route to losing to the Hogs by 1 point, Vanderbilt played them about even, and Mississippi State held McFadden to 84 yards in a game the Bulldogs probably should've taken. That said the team's improvement's is quite legit.

Wisconsin was a team in flux during the offseason. Last year's 10-3 team was widely seen as having overachieved, and Badgers coaching legend Barry Alvarez retired and installed Bret Bielema, then the youngest coach in the nation, in his place. And making matters worse, star RB Brian Calhoun decided to leave early and head to the NFL. No problem. The Badgers had what might've been an even better year, losing only to powerhouse Michigan and basically kicking the crap out of every other team on the schedule outside of Illinois. And they've done it in kind of a mini-Michigan way, too: solid defense (#3 in scoring and yardage), a strong running back (redshirt frosh PJ Hill: 1533 yards, 15 TD), and an above-average QB more than willing to help out (John Stocco: 1979 yards, 15/4 TD/INT.)

The Badgers have some questions about their schedule though; they avoided Ohio State, got killed by Michigan, and their biggest win is...vs. Penn State in Madison? Plus, the Michigan comparison isn't completely apt, as the Badgers' strength is their pass defense (#2 nationally) rather than against the run ("only" 22nd.) That's probably the opposite of what you want while playing Arkansas. Wisconsin's also a bit of an unknown due to that weak schedule, but I'll still pick the Badgers. Arkansas's dropped their last two to LSU and Florida, and before that didn't look too hot against Mississippi State. Meanwhile, Wisconsin's just been on a roll, and I think they'll be much more motivated to prove themselves than a team that probably expected (at least by the end of the year) to make the BCS.

My Pick: Wisconsin
Confidence (out of 5): 1