: The 2022 @GuaranteedRate Bowl will feature a first-ever meeting, when @BadgerFootball and @CowboyFB face off in @DowntownPhoenix on Tue, Dec. 27.
Kickoff is at 8:15 pm and the game will be broadcast live on @ESPN.
️ https://t.co/TXp2CpfWah pic.twitter.com/2CiPhJ0GGU
— Guaranteed Rate Bowl (@RateBowl) December 4, 2022
The Badgers qualified for a bowl game after beating Nebraska on Nov. 19. The trip to Phoenix will cap off a tumultuous season that saw the Badgers fire Paul Chryst, win 4 of the last 7 games with interim head coach Jim Leonhard at the helm, then hire Luke Fickell from Cincinnati to be the new head coach.
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Fickell said he will be involved in some capacity during the game, but did not give specific details.
“I just wanna be around the guys,” Fickell said. “It’s important to move forward.”
Fickell also said that he opened the door for Leonhard to return to the team, though he also said the former defensive coordinator has a lot of opportunities on the table.
“It’s not an easy decision,” Fickell said. “It’s not cut and dry.”
He also said he did not give Leonhard a timetable or deadline to make a decision.
Fickell, who was in a similar situation as Leonhard in 2011 when Urban Meyer was hired over him at Ohio State, said he wanted the next few weeks to be a positive experience.
“I wanna make this good for everyone involved,” Fickell said.
The head coach also said that remaining staff who have been with the Badgers throughout the season will be on the sidelines for the bowl game.
The Badgers have appeared in 33 bowl games since 1953, including each of the last 20 seasons. Wisconsin is 18-15 in the postseason and won last year’s Las Vegas Bowl over Arizona State.
The Badgers have appeared once before in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, which was formerly known as the Copper Bowl. The Badgers defeated Utah at Arizona Stadium in the Copper Bowl in 1996.
This year the game will be played at Chase Field, home of MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks. It’s the second time Wisconsin will play a bowl game at a baseball stadium. The Badgers beat Miami in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in 2018.
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