Champs Sports or Insight for Wisconsin?

Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg

Mickey Mouse vs. Giant Saguaro. The Everglades vs. Camelback Mountain. Urban sprawl vs. urban sprawl. 

These are the choices facing the Wisconsin Badgers, who find themselves in the mix for the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., or the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz. Despite a recent newspaper poll that showed a large percentage of fans would rather not see the Badgers in any bowl game, the debate about where Wisconsin will spend its postseason continues in Madtown. 

The Champs Sports Bowl picks first in the Big Ten bowl order, but there’s some concern that Wisconsin would rather head somewhere other than Florida after visiting the Sunshine State the last four seasons. That somewhere would be Arizona for the Insight Bowl, which carries a little less prestige. 

The Wisconsin State Journal’s Tom Oates weighs in today on Wisconsin’s whereabouts, arguing that the Badgers would be better off in Arizona. After a regular season that has already disappointed most Wisconsin fans, another bowl trip to Florida could be a turnoff. 

“It’s just that Badgers fans, already disillusioned by a UW’s 7-5 record, will yawn collectively at the prospect of another bowl game in Florida, especially if it’s not on New Year’s Day. That’s true even if the opponent is the ever-attractive Florida State.

So while the Champs is a better bowl destination – bigger payout, more television exposure and a closer drive – than the Insight for UW fans, it simply isn’t as appealing in 2008 as it would be in other years.

A trip to the Insight would benefit UW more than returning to Florida for the fifth straight year. That’s because the Badgers haven’t played in an Arizona bowl in 10 years and a game there would hold considerable appeal to the many UW alums and former Wisconsin residents who live within driving distance in Phoenix, Las Vegas and southern California.”

Wisconsin likely will have to speak up if it really wants to avoid Champs Sports. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how things pan out on Selection Sunday. 

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