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It stands only a couple feet off the ground and weighs between 15 and 30 pounds.

Its appearance isn’t overtly intimidating, yet it’s one of the fiercest animals in the United States.

The badger usually devours earthworms, insects, plants and rodents for sustenance, but last week, the only thing on the menu was the gopher.

Much like its mascot, the Wisconsin Badger football team has a subdued appearance, but also has a big bite, as the Minnesota Golden Gophers found out last Saturday in their 38-14 loss to the Badgers.

With the exception of last week’s score, the wins haven’t exactly been pretty for the Badgers, (remember the Arizona game? Ughhh … ) but who needs pretty when you’re a perfect 9-0?

The Badgers’ success isn’t found in explosive players or in a high-flying offense. Their success is found in the trenches, with the defensive and offensive lines dominating the line of scrimmage.

I hate to compare the Badgers to the Ohio State Buckeyes, but this year’s team does have an uncanny resemblance to the Buckeye team that shocked the world two years ago when it won the Bowl Championship Series national championship.

Like the 2002 Buckeyes and the Pittsburgh Steelers this year, the Badgers are just downright physical. They don’t just beat their opponents – they beat up their opponents. Don’t believe me?

Ask the Gophers’ offensive and defensive lines, because I’m sure they’d have a thing or two to say about the subject.

Many critics scoff at the style of game the Badgers bring to the field, but frankly, I don’t care.

If wearing a tutu on the outside of their uniforms would help the Badgers win, I would support the move. Hell, I’d wear a tutu when watching the game if it helped them win.

The point is, for the first time since 1942, the Badgers could walk away from a season as national champions, or, at the very least, Rose Bowl champions. All they have to do is win.

The talking heads are all over the place with their predictions for the final four weeks of the season and how the BCS race will play out. Unfortunately, for the most part, the Badgers are absent from national title discussions.

But if they take care of business on the road this weekend at Michigan State and next week at Iowa, the only thing that can get the way of a national championship is the BCS.

Looking at the top three teams in the BCS – Southern California, Oklahoma and Auburn – only one has a cake walk to an undefeated season: Oklahoma, who finishes up with Nebraska at home and then at Baylor.

Auburn has No. 5 Georgia this weekend, followed by Alabama on the road, while USC still has to get past Notre Dame and UCLA to get a sure bid for the title game.

So, with a loss or two, the Badgers could sneak into a championship game, an event that Wisconsin probably would turn into a holiday and would take me a week to recover from.

I know it’s asking a lot, but at this point, the only thing that can satisfy this Badger fan’s appetite is a national-title birth.

If you see some crazed man sprinting through campus next Saturday in a tutu painted red and white, don’t call campus security or the police. It’ll just be me celebrating the best Badger football season ever.