To bring in the New Year, the Wisconsin Badgers will face the No. 13 LSU Tigers in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa Bay, FL. It will be only the fifth time these teams have faced one another with the series in the Tigers' favor, 3-1, meeting last in 2016.

Wisconsin football will be bowling for a 22nd consecutive time, which ranks third right behind Oklahoma (25) and Georgia (27) as the longest streak in college football. The Badgers have also won eight out of their last nine bowl games with their last loss going back to 2019 in the Rose Bowl against Oregon.

In a bit of a rebuild under first-year head coach Luke Fickell out of Cincinnati, it took until the next to last week of the season for the Badgers (7-5) to earn bowl eligibility with an overtime win over Nebraska, followed by a win over Minnesota the next week. Not counting the 2020 pandemic-impacted season, this was the worst win-loss season in Madison since 2008 when they finished 7-6.

The Tigers are bowling for a third consecutive season and their second time under Brian Kelly earning a bid to the ReliaQuest Bowl (former Outback Bowl). LSU (9-3) has a chance for their second consecutive 10-win season with a win over the Badgers, which would be their first since 2018 and 2019.

The Badgers and Tigers will be just one of six bowl matchups featuring the Big Ten versus the SEC during this bowl game season. Which conference will get the edge? Let's get into some bold predictions for the ReliaQuest Bowl.

*Watch college football LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Can Garrett Nussmeier have a Miller Moss type of day against Wisconsin?

Garrett Nussmeier

For those who didn't see or hear about it, Miller Moss played in place of Caleb Williams as USC's quarterback in the Holiday Bowl against Louisville. He threw for a Holiday Bowl-record six touchdowns in his first start. Can Nussmeier do something similar against the Badgers?

Nussmeier, of course, will be filling in for Heisman winner Jayden Daniels, who has chosen to opt-out and focus on the NFL Draft. Nussmeier is a former four-star recruit and should be able to be a nice transition, at least for the bowl game, from Daniels. Plus, he'll have a talented corps of receivers to work with. Wisconsin tended to struggle against higher-powered offenses this season. Nussmeier could throw three or more touchdowns at least.

Running game becomes the story of the game for LSU and Wisconsin

It will be interesting to see what LSU football looks like offensively without Daniels, who was not only an elite passer but was also the leading rusher for the Tigers with 1,134 yards. The next closest rusher was Logan Diggs with 652 yards.

For the Badgers, who, though they're working their way towards making themselves a more Air-Raid offense, the majority of their offense came off the run game this season while in the transition. Two of Wisconsin's leading running backs will be out in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Braelon Allen (opt-out) and Chez Mellusi (injury). Even though LSU's defense averaged giving up 163.5 yards per game this season, not having their premier backs could drastically stifle their offense.

LSU football holds Wisconsin to 210 yards of total offense, beating them by double-digits

As bad as LSU's defense was this season that allowed 417.3 yards per game that ranked 102nd in the country, they were able to hold a few teams to around 200 yards of total offense. In fact, they held one Power-5 team to 201 yards in SEC rival Mississippi State. With opt-outs, injuries, and an offense in transition, not to mention the talent differential, LSU could have one of their best defensive days of the 2023 season and handily beat the Badgers.