UW Athletic Director Pat Richter announced Tuesday afternoon that Wisconsin has accepted a bid to play in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28 in San Antonio, Texas.

“We were called today by Derek Fox of the Alamo Bowl, and we accepted his invitation to participate in the game,” Richter said. “We are extremely excited and enthused. For some reason or another, over the last few years we have always had conversations but never ended up in the Alamo Bowl. From what other people have talked about, this is an outstanding bowl game.”

The timing of the announcement of the Badgers’ travel destination came as a bit of a surprise. It appeared Wisconsin would have to wait until next weekend at the earliest to find out whether Iowa would receive an at-large BCS bid.

Iowa’s bowl placement would then have a trickle-down effect throughout Big Ten bids. However, USC’s drubbing of Notre Dame has apparently decided the Orange Bowl in favor of the Hawkeyes, thus allowing the rest of the Big Ten teams to receive their bowl bids.

“There was a lot of discussion of what was the Orange Bowl’s take on things, and so I think in the final analysis, it was indicated that Iowa would be in the BCS mix,” said Richter. “Everyone felt comfortable enough to then say to the Citrus Bowl and the Big Ten and all the bowls thereafter to start to make the arrangements.”

The Alamo Bowl pits the fourth team in the Big Ten against the fourth finisher from the Big 12. Wisconsin (7-6) actually ended up finishing behind Minnesota and Purdue in the Big Ten standings but was able to leap frog the other schools in large part due to Wisconsin’s bowl record and reputation for having a strong traveling contingency.

“I think the way that it unfolded coming down to us, Minnesota and Purdue, obviously I think it shows the tremendous support that we have from fans,” said Richter. “The way we travel, they are excited about having Wisconsin at a bowl game. It shows that we have a good group of followers, and as Barry [Alvarez] has mentioned, it is the total package.”

While the Badgers know they will play in the Alamo Bowl, they are still unsure about whom their opponent will be. Wisconsin moved up to play in the bowl and will likely play the underdog role to whomever it is matched with from the Big 12.

The Big 12 conference finishes up play this weekend with Colorado facing Oklahoma in the conference’s championship game.

As strange as it seems, the loser of this game could wind up playing Wisconsin. It appears a Colorado loss would likely put it in the Alamo Bowl with four total losses, while Oklahoma would still have a good chance to play in a better bowl even with a loss but could slip to the Alamo.

Kansas State (10-2) has also been mentioned as a team that is receiving consideration for the bowl but would clearly be unhappy to drop to the Alamo Bowl with a 10-win season. Texas Tech could also end up playing in the Alamo Bowl if a Big 12 team received an at-large BCS bid, although this appears unlikely. The Texas Longhorns are also in the mix to face the Badgers despite an impressive (10-2) record.

All in all, the Badgers would be the clear underdog against any of their possible opponents other than Texas Tech, who would still feature Heisman candidate Kliff Kingsbury. Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas and Colorado are ranked seventh, eighth, ninth and 12th in the BCS standings, respectively.

“[The Alamo Bowl representative] mentioned Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas State and possibly Texas Tech,” Alvarez said. “He indicated that if Oklahoma would win, it appeared, he felt, that Colorado would be the team.”

Speculation of possible opponents aside, Alvarez and the team were just happy to know where they were heading and be able to make plans.

“I’m happy to know right now; I wanted some finality in it. It had appeared that we would end up in Texas someplace, but this allows us to make plans,” Alvarez said. “Our players know where they can go and make plans.”

Senior center Al Johnson echoed those sentiments and was happy for the family members and fans that were planning to make the trip.

“It is a good relief to have it finally set now. I think for the parents and fans it is a little bit more relief,” Johnson said.

“Mom was calling, ‘Do I book the hotel?’ — things like that. For us, we were just going about our business like we were going and felt confident that we were going. It is up in the air who we are going to play, so I’m looking forward to finding that out soon.”