Wisconsin bounced back from two crushing losses

At the end of a pair of unfortunate weekends in October, Wisconsin's plan of returning to the Rose Bowl had plunged into a ditch, with the Badgers' psyches perhaps scarred badly enough to keep them from reaching their goal.

Playing the first of two straight road contests, the Badgers lost to Michigan State on the final play of the game, a 44-yard Hail Mary pass that was ruled a touchdown on official review. The next week, Ohio State connected on a similar 40-yard heave into the end zone with 20 seconds to play to upset Wisconsin.

So the Badgers were dead, right?

Wrong. Wisconsin was so bummed by its crushing defeats that it beat its next three opponents by an aggregate 142-47, putting the Badgers in position to clinch a berth in the first Big Ten championship game with a victory Saturday over Penn State.

Not surprisingly, Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema fully expected his team to bounce back the way it did.

"I think a lot of people from the outside world that aren't in this program would have that feeling. I didn't," Bielema said Tuesday, addressing the thought that the Badgers would never be in this position after the two stunning losses.

"To lose those games the way we did, I thought it would only make us stronger. It was a very, very difficult time. If you don't have great kids and great coaches, you wouldn't be able to come out of it. That goes for the fan base as well. The result is, we put ourselves in a position where we'll play a Penn State team for the opportunity to play in something even bigger."

The fact that Wisconsin surged to this point is typical of the way it's gone in November since Bielema took over as head coach in 2006. The Badgers sport an 18-2 record in November in his six seasons, leading the coach to say: "The part of it that our kids really pride themselves on is playing stronger as the year goes longer."

The Badgers show tremendous balance between offense and defense, ranking in the top 12 in several major categories. They're also balanced between the run and the pass on offense, averaging 245 yards rushing and 235 yards passing.

With Russell Wilson, the FBS leader in passing efficiency, running the offense in his one and only season at quarterback, the Badgers make a habit of playing smart. They have committed seven turnovers this season; only top-ranked Louisiana State (six) has fewer. They are third in the nation in third-down conversions, at more than 55 percent.

"Of the five games we broke down, they were only in third and 10-plus a total of seven times," Penn State interim head coach Tom Bradley said. "The worst-case scenario for them is third and 5. You always see them in third and 2s and 3s. They hold the carrot."

The Badgers have unfinished business in Pasadena. Montee Ball scored with two minutes to play last year against Texas Christian, but a two-point conversion pass was batted away, and they returned to Madison with a bitter, 21-19 loss.

For now, it's first things first, Bielema said.

"As Russell has been here longer, he's heard the stories about falling short against TCU," he said of Wilson. "But the main thing we have to do is take care of this Saturday. Our kids have an approach that they take every day and mark it off their calendar, get ready for Saturday, and hopefully good things happen."