Wisconsin football: rooting interests for Dec. 6-7

Let’s get this out of the way first: there is basically zero chance that the Wisconsin Badgers make the College Football Playoff this season. FiveThirty Eight’s Playoff predictor gives them a 7% chance and only a 31% chance if the Badgers happen to beat the No. 1 ranked and undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday.

HOWEVER!

If a number of crazy, nearly statistically impossible, things happen this weekend well...

GAMES OF WISCONSIN INTEREST ON FRIDAY DEC. 6TH

• No. 13 Oregon Ducks (10-2) vs. No. 5 Utah Utes (11-1), 7:00 p.m. CT, ABC

Neither of these teams are currently slated to be in the Playoff but the Badgers still need a lot of teams ahead of them to step aside if they are to move all the way up to No. 4. First on that list? The Utes.

No one has seen a Utah game this season because the Pac-12 is terrible at marketing their top teams and almost all of their games kickoff too late for anyone on the east coast. Apparently, though, Utah is quite good this season.

Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

No matter! We Wisconsin fans need our old Rose Bowl opponent to do us a favor, ‘SCO DUCKS!

GAMES OF WISCONSIN INTEREST ON SATURDAY DEC. 7TH

• No. 7 Baylor Bears (11-1) vs. No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners (11-1), 11:00 a.m. CT, ABC

This one is kind of a tossup for the Badgers. Three other teams have to make the Playoff with Wisconsin, by rule sadly, and one of them will be the winner of this game. Technically FiveThirtyEight gives the Badgers a 3% more likely chance to make it if Baylor wins so GO BEARS!

• Miami (OH) RedHawks (7-5) vs. Central Michigan Chippewas (8-4), 11:00 a.m. CT, ESPN2

Shutting out a nine-win conference champion HAS to be good for the ol’ resume! FIRE UP CHIPS!

• No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs (11-1) vs. No. 2 LSU Tigers (12-0), 3:00 p.m. CT, CBS

Alright, when a team is as good as LSU is this year you just kinda want them to win all of their games and chalk their spot up to good footballing. The Tigers have a pretty decent chance to be in the CFP regardless of the outcome of this game so why not kick UGA the hell out with a second loss? Evan a two-loss SEC runner-up won’t get in over a two-loss B1G champion Wisconsin...right? GEAUX TIGERS!

So right now we’ve got LSU, Baylor and Wisconsin in our Fantasy CFP field. Who gets the fourth spot?

• No. 23 Virginia Cavaliers (9-3) vs. No. 3 Clemson Tigers (12-0), 6:30 p.m. CT, ABC

I’ll tell you what, neither of these teams are getting in the field after the Cavaliers shock the world and beat Clemson in the ACC Championship game. The Tigers’ trash-ass schedule finally comes back to haunt them as they drop to the fifth spot in the final CFP rankings upon losing to the worst P5 championship game participant. WAHOOWA!

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

• No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers (10-2) vs. No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (12-0), 7:00 p.m. CT, FOX

The Badgers, or at least the fans, will know if they actually have a chance at making the Playoff since they are the last game to kickoff, but beating the Buckeyes is clearly first, second and third on the list of Things That Have To Happen in order to sneak in. Also, in this scenario we’ve concocted, both of these teams get in with a Badgers win. Man, the SEC would be SOOOO MAD if that happened.

Now that the perfect plan is in place...we wait.