Girl-next-door attitude won't get Badgers in BCS bowl

Why is one-loss Notre Dame ranked higher than one-loss Wisconsin? Because the Badgers lack sex appeal, writes Rod Gilmore.

Updated: November 18, 2006, 1:23 PM ET
By Rod Gilmore | Special to ESPN.com
Wisconsin is the girl next door. You know the type: smart, dependable and pretty in an average sort of way -- not the drop-dead gorgeous looks of Eva Longoria, Scarlett Johansson or Halle Berry. Guys don't dream of a date with the girl next door. The girl next door is taken for granted and ignored. To the BCS, the 10-1 Badgers are the girl next door and won't likely get a date to the BCS party.

The soon-to-be 11-1 Badgers (after facing Buffalo on Saturday) sit at No. 9 in the current BCS Rankings -- with five other one-loss teams ahead of them (USC, Florida, Notre Dame, Arkansas and West Virginia). And hardly anyone outside of Madison is screaming that the Badgers aren't being treated fairly.

The most cited reason for casually dismissing the Badgers from the BCS discussion is that their schedule isn't as strong as the other one-loss teams. After all, the Badgers didn't have to play Ohio State this year and their nonconference schedule was soft (Bowling Green, San Diego State, Western Illinois and Buffalo).


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Rod Gilmore

College Football analyst
Rod Gilmore serves as an ESPN studio analyst on SportsCenter and College Football Live, and provides commentary on ESPN's Friday night game telecasts. He writes regularly for ESPN Insider.

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