The Wisconsin Badgers have had a disappointing season in 2012, but somehow find themselves just one win away from a Rose Bowl berth.
The team has gone just 7-5 this year and will face off against Legends division champion Nebraska in the Big Ten championship game on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Although the Badgers finished third in the Leaders division behind Ohio State (12-0) and Penn State (8-4), both those teams are on postseason probation and cannot play in the title game.
Reporters asked Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema during the week about whether his team deserves to be playing in the game.
"I appreciate the question and understand it totally," Bielema said Sunday to the Associated Press. "I think there are 10 teams out there in the Big Ten that would love to be in the position Nebraska and we're in right now. When the two teams take the field on Saturday, neither is going to care how the other team got there or what their record is.
Senior Montee Ball has had another excellent season, rushing for 1,528 yards and 18 touchdowns. He recently set the record for career touchdowns and has had at least 100 yards rushing in the past three games.
Ball, who was a Heisman finalist last year, has scored five touchdowns in the past three games and had his best performance against Purdue on Oct. 13 when he rushed for 247 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Last season Wisconsin won the first-ever Big Ten championship game 42-39 over Michigan State and has won two-straight conference titles. Ball rushed for four touchdowns in the championship game last year.
Wisconsin started the 2012 season 6-2 after defeating Minnesota 38-13 on Oct. 20, but has lost three of the past four games in overtime, including a brutal 24-21 loss at Penn State to end the regular season.
Wisconsin last won three weeks ago, defeating Indiana 62-14 on the road. Ball has 198 yards rushing in the win over the Hoosiers and scored three touchdowns.
"We've been on the short stick of some close, hard-fought games," he said. "The optimist in me looks at it and says, 'Hey, we were in these games.' We lost to Ohio State and Penn State, who are ineligible to play in the game. One play here or there, we could we win them. We didn't. I get it... It's not going to diminish what we've accomplished."
The Badgers have dealt with quarterback issues all season and will start Curt Phillips on Saturday night. Phillips has thrown for 386 yards and four touchdowns this season with just one interception.
The team has also played Danny O'Brien and Joel Stave this season. Stave played in the first game against Nebraska this season, a 30-27 loss for Wisconsin on the road on Sept. 29. Ball had three touchdowns in the game against Nebraska, but only rushed for 31 yards in the second half.
"We lost a heartbreaker to Nebraska on the road," Bielema said. "We played well in that game and did some things not so well. I know they're a better team than we saw. I know we're a better team, too. It's going to be fun for us."
Nebraska has won six straight games on their way to winning the Legends division, including a 13-7 victory over Iowa. The team has allowed just 21 points in the last two games and has scored at least 28 points in nine of 12 games this season.
Head coach Bo Pelini dismissed the notion that Nebraska should be playing a more worth team, like Penn State or Ohio State, who went 12-0 this season but are on probation.
"I don't really care what people say about that," Pelini said. "Wisconsin is there because they deserve to be there. (Ohio State's) not there for a reason. That's not taking anything away from Urban Meyer or the kids who played at Ohio State and played their tails off, but there's a reason they're not there."
Nebraska has put up some excellent statistics on both sides of the ball this season and are ranked 31st in the nation in defensive scoring with 22 points allowed per game. The offense is ranked 29th in scoring with 35 points per game is averaging over 450 total yards per game this season.
The Huskers have the eighth-ranked rushing attack in the nation with 252 yards per game, largely due to the play of quarterback Taylor Martinez and running back Ameer Abdullah.
Martinez has passed for 2,483 passing yards and 21 touchdowns this season with just eight interceptions and has rushed for 833 yards and eight touchdowns. Abdullah has rushed for 1,071 rushing yards and eight touchdowns this season and is averaging five yards per carry.
In the opening win against Southern Miss, Martinez had 354 yards passing and five touchdowns and has thrown five touchdowns in the past four games. Abdullah has rushed for 100 yards in four of the past six games, but hasn't scored a touchdown in the past four.
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