Five burning Questions: Rose Bowl, Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin basketball

With the big news of the Wisconsin Badgers making it back to Pasadena for the 106th edition of the Rose Bowl, along with basketball heading out east this week to take on Rutgers, BadgerBlitz.com continues our "Five Burning Questions" series with a handful of topics to discuss.

The 2019 Heisman finalists were announced on Monday night, and out of the four who will head to New York City for the ceremony, Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor was left off the list.

To be fair, it is extremely difficult to unseat Joe Burrow, Justin Fields, Jalen Hurts and Chase Young from this distinction. The apparent and proverbial leader going into the clubhouse, Burrow has completed a whopping 77.9 percent of his throws for over 4,700 yards with 48 touchdowns to just six interceptions for No. 1 LSU.

Wisconsin fans saw what both Fields (40 touchdown passes to just one pick this season overall) and Young (four sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss versus Wisconsin alone in '19) could do on the field in two regular season games this year. Hurts leads the Sooners in rushing (1,255 yards with 18 touchdowns) while also completing nearly 72 percent of his throws for 3,634 yards and 32 touchdown strikes through the air.

That said, Taylor has gained 1,909 yards this season -- good from second in the nation in both rushing yards overall and rushing yards per game -- along with an FBS-leading 26 total touchdowns. Pundits wanted the junior to show he could catch the ball. He did in recording 24 receptions for 209 yards and five touchdowns.

We know this has become more of a quarterback-based award -- and good for Young to make his way to New York, as he deserves the honor as one of the game's most impactful players on defense. Just after rushing for over 6,000 yards in under three seasons, one would expect Taylor to somehow, someway find himself attending the finalist ceremony.

Wisconsin made it to the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Rose Bowls at the tail end of the Bret Bielema era earlier this decade. All three ended with a loss, and with the third, the former defensive coordinator turned head coach was not even there to lead the team onto the field as he jetted off to Fayetteville to take the Arkansas job.

Once again, Wisconsin athletics faces an Oregon program outside of the regular season. The Badgers squared off against the Ducks in the 2012 edition of "The Granddaddy of Them All" and lost a one-possession, 45-38 shootout to a then-Chip Kelly led team.

For that matter, Oregon's men's basketball team defeated Greg Gard and Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this past March, and those two programs have faced off recently in March Madness even before that in 2014 and 2015.

Back to football, will the tide turn for the Badgers to start 2020 and the new decade off on the right foot?

Since the 2015 Outback Bowl -- one led by Barry Alvarez after Gary Andersen bolted to Corvallis and the Oregon State head coaching position -- Wisconsin has won its last five bowl games.

Chryst boasts an impressive four-game bowl winning streak in leading UW's program. That includes a 2015 Holiday Bowl win over USC -- the "Three-Sack-Jack" game by inside linebacker Jack Cichy -- two New Year's Six bowl wins over Western Michigan and Miami in the Cotton and Orange Bowls, respectively, and last season's Pinstripe Bowl against the Hurricanes once again.

BadgerBlitz.com already previewed the Ducks briefly once the bowl match-ups were announced. This will not be an easy match-up in facing quarterback Justin Herbert and an Oregon offense that averages over 450 yards or a defense that gives up less than 16 points per contest.

Wisconsin has loved the Kohl Center early this season, going 5-0 and shooting 47.9 percent from the field (39.2 percent as a team from three-point range). The team averages over 79 points while allowing just 62 in those handful of contests.

For that matter, five Badgers average at least double digits in scoring at home.

Looking at road or neutral contests, and it is a completely different story. UW is 0-4 away from the friendly confines of the Kohl Center, shoots just 37 percent from the field and a chilly 20 percent from deep. They have made only 67.7 percent of their free throws in those quartet of games (compared to 86.7 in the five at home), and only one player -- forward Nate Reuvers -- has averaged over double figures.

Rutgers holds a 6-3 record heading into Wednesday evening's game against Wisconsin, and like UW, all of its victories have come at home. Can the Badgers change their tune on the road against the Scarlet Knights?

Wednesday's match-up in Piscataway marks the last time the redshirt junior big man will have to sit out due to (what editorially and euphemistically we will say is a very unfair) NCAA transfer rule.

Redshirt junior forward Aleem Ford told BadgerBlitz.com believes Potter has done a great job in practice and "brings it every day" and does not complain. He believes the Ohio State transfer will bring another inside presence to the Badgers.

"I mean, he's done a lot of good things. He has experience under his belt. He's a player so he's tough," Ford said on Monday. "As you guys see, he's a big body and he's not afraid to use it.

"He's vocal, and that's one of the biggest things. Just he's always talking, and he's not shy on the floor so that's great to have. I feel like he'll be a great addition to have in, especially with our bigs."