A few days have passed since the 2019 Wisconsin Badgers fell to the now-No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship game. However, UW (10-3) found itself in a third New Year's Six Bowl in four seasons when it was announced that Paul Chryst and his program would play No. 6 Oregon in the 106th edition of the Rose Bowl Game.

BadgerBlitz.com will provide much more coverage of "The Granddaddy of Them All" in the coming weeks, but for now, editor/recruiting analyst Jon McNamara, senior writer Jake Kocorowski and staff writer Asher Low convened to discuss what transpired the first 13 games of the 2019 season.

Below is just the first of a handful of questions answered that will be published in the coming days.

McNamara: If you told me at Big Ten Media Days this summer in Chicago that Wisconsin would be playing in the Rose Bowl, I’d certainly call that a huge success. A big theme at that time – outside of how great Michigan and Nebraska were expected to be – was how difficult the Badgers’ schedule was in 2019. South Florida looked like a difficult season opener on the road, the Wolverines were supposed to the Big Ten East favorite and an away game against the Cornhuskers was assumed to be a much more difficult challenge. UW passed those obstacles with flying colors and, outside of a stumble against Illinois and two losses to arguably the best team in college football, Wisconsin passed each test this season. That also included a win over a good Iowa team and one of more satisfying victories this decade over Minnesota to shut P.J. Fleck’s team out of the Big Ten title game.

As far as a final regular season grade, I’m giving Paul Chryst’s group an A/B. I think the year, in total, has been a success, but an A would require a win over Illinois or one against Ohio State, which proved to be a very tall task. This fall, there were big questions at quarterback and at multiple spots on defense. Jack Coan, despite a pocket of fans who will always clamor for Graham Mertz, exceeded even the loftiest of expectations. The junior passed for 2,541 yards with 17 touchdowns and just four interceptions. On the other side of the ball, coordinator Jim Leonhard was able to fill some holes, which currently ranks No. 8 in the country in total defense and No. 10 in scoring, nationally.

Though the College Football Playoff is always the goal, any season that ends in Pasadena has be considered a large success. Wisconsin now has an opportunity to go out on a high note against a good Oregon team to finish with 11 wins on the season, which looks great no matter when you choose to evaluate.

Kocorowski: It really depends on where you start your grades from. Before the 2019 season? After the 6-0 start? I would give it, based on preseason projections, an A/B. With all of the questions surrounding this team at quarterback and outside linebacker, among other positions, Wisconsin found itself back in the Big Ten Championship game and 30 minutes from upsetting the No. 1 team in the nation. Jonathan Taylor was Jonathan Taylor, Jack Coan emerged not just as a reliable starter but he became one of the nation’s most accurate passers who could stretch the field. And the defense -- despite some tendencies for missed tackles and giving up chunk plays at times -- re-established a pass rush and rebounded from its 2018 campaign.

If you look at the season through re-calibrated lenses after the Badgers’ 6-0 start, your thought process and subsequent grade is likely lower with the upset loss at Illinois. Maybe we are talking this week about a two-loss Wisconsin team potentially slipping in to the College Football Playoff instead of one-loss Oklahoma, and maybe the implications of the Big Ten title game raise the stakes even further.

That being said, UW crushed my preseason expectations and wound up in Pasadena. In my opinion, even if the Badgers did not lose to Illinois, they would have wound up here. That’s a successful season in my book, despite some obvious blips in the road.

Low: There were considerable ups and downs this year but based on preseason expectations, this season was a major success for Wisconsin. I would go with a high A/B for a letter grade, and that could have easily been an A if a few things don’t go wrong for the Badgers. Losing as massive favorites at Illinois certainly put a damper on things after such a positive 6-0 start. Had it not been for that game, I really feel Wisconsin would have had about as good of a season as it were capable of at their best.

A Rose Bowl appearance is an overwhelming success, and despite many analysts trying to find a team not named Wisconsin who would come out of the Big Ten West, the Badgers still found themselves in Indy. I don’t think any Wisconsin fans were realistically expecting to have a two-score lead against No. 1 Ohio State at any point in that game, and even though that first half momentum did not carry over to the final result, UW did enough to get to Pasadena.

This season was a success.