http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hda0QdcnVaM

Apparently there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

It’s tough to pinpoint what stage Badger fans are currently fighting through just less than a week since the infamous hail mary play in East Lansing.

At first Wisconsin fans couldn’t believe their eyes last Saturday night. They were left wondering how wide receiver Keith Nichol somehow came up with a deflected 44-yard touchdown and muscled his way into the end zone in the game’s final seconds.

After reality sank in, fans wanted to place blame on someone. They were angered at how the Badgers found a way to surrender an early 14-point lead on the road with the nation’s best offense. Badger faithful questioned Bret Bielema for his suspect use of timeouts at the end of the game, and shook their heads at how quarterback Russell Wilson and the special teams committed major mistakes.

The bargaining stage of grief centers around “what if” questions. There were plenty of times throughout the Michigan State game that fans could use the clich? phrase to wonder what could have happened had certain plays gone in the Badgers’ favor.

Many sports fans are too familiar with the depression stage of grief. Wisconsin fans surely were in low spirits after how high they’d been riding on the new “Russellmania” bandwagon, as they could start to see New Orleans in the distance.

And fans finally experience acceptance as they realize there’s nothing they can do but accept the loss and move forward. They realize Wisconsin’s shot at a national title and Russell Wilson’s Heisman campaign are essentially over.

As soon as fans have finally accepted the loss, ESPN airs the hail mary play multiple times a day, and the feelings of grief creep back as the infamous play replays in the mind of every Badger fan.

I’m obviously generalizing how many Wisconsin fans have probably felt since the Badgers loss to Michigan State, but it’s one of the toughest losses the program will ever have to stomach.

They can surely fix their mistakes with a successful year, but this year could’ve been the greatest in Wisconsin football history. The program has never won a national championship and most people never dare to even speak of the title game. Simply getting to the Rose Bowl is an extremely impressive accomplishment, but this team had the rare opportunity of taking one step past a trip to Pasadena.

The Badger’s Rose Bowl team from a year ago lost many key veterans, but returned other key players like Montee Ball, James White, and Aaron Henry. The only piece that was missing for the 2011 Badgers squad was a quarterback. The position was a big uncertainty until Russell Wilson entered the picture. Wilson is an amazing talent that has brought an entirely new dimension to Wisconsin’s offense. He made the Badgers Big Ten favorites and even outside contenders for a national championship when he transferred from North Carolina State.

People were initially uncertain of how Wilson would fit the Badger’s offense on the field and in the locker room. He silenced the doubters immediately by leading Wisconsin to a 6-0 record and the nation’s top scoring offense.

Had the Badgers won all of their games, they still would have needed some help to get into the championship game. But with Oklahoma’s loss last week, the Badgers would have possibly moved up to the fourth spot in the BCS rankings.

It’s all a mute point now, but this year seemed to hold something special for Wisconsin.

The Badgers still have a long road ahead of them that begins with a tough showdown against Ohio State this weekend. They need to focus on winning the Leaders Division of the Big Ten before setting their sights on the Big Ten Championship game and the Rose Bowl.

A Rose Bowl berth would be considered another great season for Wisconsin. A trip to Pasadena is always a special one. But every team’s ultimate goal is always to win it all and this year looked to be the one for Wisconsin.

Fans will obviously be very excited about getting another shot to win the Rose Bowl if the Badgers return to sunny Pasadena. The team could very likely win the remainder of its games if it’s able to bounce back from its first loss of the season. Even if the Badgers manage to return to the Rose Bowl, fans will always wonder “what could’ve been” had they not fell at the hands of the Spartans on that unforgettable October night.