INDIANAPOLIS -- Jonathan Taylor has a lot more to lose than to gain when No. 8 Wisconsin (10-3) resumes action in January for their bowl game.

While millions of dollars are awaiting him following the 2020 NFL Draft, where Taylor could be a first or second round draft pick, the reigning and potentially two-time Doak Walker Award winner decided he's not ending his college career with a 34-21 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game.

"Especially after today, I want to make sure I help these guys finish out right," Taylor told reporters Saturday night. "We earned the right to be here, we also earned the right to have one more.

"I want to make sure I help these guys finish out right."

Taylor has not officially stated his intentions to enter the 2020 NFL Draft yet, but the junior tailback is expected to put his name in following the conclusion of this season.

Had Taylor opted to wrap up his college career against the Buckeyes on Saturday, his final game would have gone down as a pleasant lasting memory from an individual standpoint.

Held to just 52 yards on 20 carries in the first meeting with OSU back on Oct. 26, a 38-7 win for the Buckeyes, Taylor ran for 148 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries against a defense that entered Saturday ranked fourth against the run (91.2 ypg).

"I really felt like (my offensive line) did a good job of getting to the second level," said Taylor. "Really cutting some guys off, creating running lanes, and really sticking on guys."

Get breaking news/updates sent straight to your inbox! Sign up for the FREE Wisconsin newsletter.

Taylor also became the seventh player in FBS history to rush for 6,000 yards for his career, but just the first to reach that mark in three seasons.

"What a back," OSU head coach Ryan Day said. "I've not seen many guys who have the combination that he has of size and change of direction, body control, power. He's a talented back.

"He deserving of all the credit he gets."

With three weeks until UW has to take the field again, Taylor now awaits a call to New York as a potential Heisman Trophy finalist.

“It was an up and down season for me, I feel like there were some highs and some lows as well," he said. "But that’s why they have a committee to sit down and judge the body of work for me.”

Wisconsin is expected to get a bid in either the Rose or Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day. Should the Badgers drop out of the top 10 in the college football playoff rankings, they'd potentially be looking at a berth in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

Taylor returning for his senior season would be stunning to say the least, but not all of his teammates are 100 percent sold that he isn't thinking about one last go-around.

"You never know if he'll want to stay another year and leave as a Big Ten champ," junior cornerback Caesar Williams said.