Only four days remain until coach Mark Mangino and the Jayhawks officially find out which bowl game they will play in, but it appears the choice has already been made.

Insight Bowl representative Mike Wall confirmed to The Kansan that the Jayhawks would likely be headed to Tempe, Ariz., to play in the Insight Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

“It’s a good probability,” Wall said. “They are definitely a leading candidate.”

Kansas probably would have been selected to the Insight Bowl even if it had lost to Missouri on Saturday because of the way the bowl picture is shaping up in the Big 12. Two teams will make the BCS, and the Cotton Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Alamo Bowl and Sun Bowl all will pick teams before the Insight Bowl. That would leave the Big 12’s seventh-ranked team, Kansas, left for the taking by the Insight Bowl.

But an impressive 40-37 win over the nation’s 12th-ranked team definitely doesn’t hurt the Jayhawks’ appeal to Insight Bowl representatives, who also represent the Fiesta Bowl and were hoping to land the Jayhawks for that game last year. Wall was at the Texas Tech game earlier this year but said it didn’t have any effect on the Insight Bowl’s interest in the Jayhawks.

“I was at five games last year so I’m very familiar with the team and the program,” Wall said. “They had a great opportunity to play in the Fiesta Bowl last year, but the Orange Bowl was great and they had a great season.”

The Jayhawks started 5-1 on the season but lost close games at South Florida and at Nebraska. Had they won those two games, the resulting 9-3 record would have looked much better than 7-5. But still, Wall and the Insight Bowl say the Jayhawks are deserving.

“They are an exciting team,” Wall said. “They are a great program with great fans.”

Kansas would play the sixth-ranked team from the Big 10 Conference, meaning their opponent could be one of two teams — Minnesota or Wisconsin. ESPN college football analysts Mark Schlabach and Bruce Feldman both predict that Kansas will face Minnesota, while Collegefootballnews.com has the Jayhawks facing Wisconsin. The game will kick off at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 and will be televised by the NFL Network.

Both teams went 3-5 in the Big 10 and 7-5 overall. Wisconsin started 3-0 and was ranked No. 9 before losing four straight to fall to 3-4 and drop out of the rankings.

The Badgers won four of their last five to end the season, including a 35-32 victory against Minnesota. The Golden Gophers of Minnesota lost four in a row to end the season, including a 55-0 home loss to Iowa in their last game of the season.

A bowl appearance by the Jayhawks this season will mark the first time that the program has appeared in bowl games in back-to-back seasons.

— — Edited by Scott R. Toland