Champs Sports Bowl: No. 14 Miami (9-3) vs. No. 24 Wisconsin (9-3)

Arguably the most intriguing bowl matchup before the new year is Tuesday’s Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando between No. 14 Miami and No. 24 Wisconsin. These two teams are loaded with young talent and both could be national title contenders next year – especially the Hurricanes.

Miami is a 3-point betting favorite on WagerWeb.com.

The Canes were expected to be bound for the Jan. 1 Gator Bowl but those plans were scrubbed when Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said he was retiring after the Seminoles’ bowl game. Thus the Gator Bowl then snapped up FSU despite a worse record than Miami and a head-to-head loss to the Canes.

Though the Hurricanes have never played in an Orlando bowl, the game will mark the second time this season that they will have played a game in Orlando (they beat UCF) and will be the 10th game on the slate this year in Florida.

UM quarterback Jacory Harris can stamp himself as an early Heisman contender for next season with a big game. UM ranks 27th in the nation in passing, averaging 268.1 yards per game behind Harris, who did tie for the nation’s lead in picks with 17. Harris won’t have star left tackle Jason Fox protecting him during this game due to a knee injury that required surgery. That could mean a big game from Badgers defensive end O’Brien Schofield, who is tied for second nationally in tackles for loss (22.5) to go along with 10 sacks.

Wisconsin, as usual, likes to pound the ball on the ground, led by running back John Clay, the Big Ten Offensive Player who averaged better than 116 yards on the ground the season and had 16 touchdown runs. Miami defense ranked 28th nationally against the run. Clay needs 104 rush yards in the bowl to become just the second sophomore in team history to reach 1,500 rush yards.

Behind Clay and surprising QB Scott Tolzien, the Badgers led the Big Ten in scoring offense (32.8 ppg). In Wisconsin’s nine wins, Tolzien had 14 TD passes and four picks compared to two TDs and six picks in the three losses.

This will be the fourth all-time between these two schools, but the first since 1989. Since the 2007 season, the Badgers are 2-7 vs. ranked foes.

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