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The Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Wisconsin Badgers will compete for holiday cheer in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl on Tuesday at Chase Field at 10:15 p.m. ET. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W.'
Oklahoma State entered their contest against the West Virginia Mountaineers four weeks ago without any home losses -- but there's a first time for everything. The Cowboys were within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 24-19 to West Virginia. A silver lining for Oklahoma State was the play of RB Ollie Gordon, who rushed for one TD and 136 yards on 17 carries.
Wisconsin suffered a bitter defeat four weeks ago, failing to capitalize on an early lead against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Wisconsin took a 23-16 hit to the loss column. QB Graham Mertz had a pretty forgettable game, throwing one interception with only 170 yards passing.
Most of the squad's points came courtesy of special teams, which contributed ten. K Nate Van Zelst delivered a perfect 3-for-3 game.
A couple defensive stats to keep in the back of your head while watching: The Cowboys enter the game having picked the ball off 12 times, good for 34th in the nation. But the Badgers are even better: they enter the matchup having picked the ball off 15 times, good for 11th in the nation. We'll see if that edge gives Wisconsin a route to victory.
