Rose Bowl 2013 Preview
The Wisconsin Badgers will be in their third consecutive Rose Bowl. They will have their hands full this time around as they are playing the number six team in the nation, Stanford. Stanford is on a hot streak, winning their last seven games, heading into the Rose Bowl. Among those wins is a victory over Oregon in which they held one of the best offenses in the NCAAF to just 14 points.
The Badgers are 8-5 compared to Standford’s 11-2. The Badgers, however, are coming off a big conference championship win against Nebraska in which they crushed them 70-31. It could be argued, therefore, that both these teams are coming into the Rose Bowl red hot.
The Badgers are the first team with five losses on the season to participate in a Rose Bowl game. Wisconsin’s win/loss record could also be considered a bit deceiving. The Badgers five losses were by a combined score of 19 points and three of them came during overtime. This game will likely start out as a battle to establish the run game as both the Cardinal and the Badgers pride themselves on their run game. Stanford’s RB, Stepfan Taylor has rushed for 1,442 yards on the season. He also proved to be a dangerous weapon by slipping out of the backfield and pulling in quick catches.
The Badgers have a trifecta running attack they opens up the style of run game they can run. Montee Ball, James White and Melvin Gordon have all proven to be dangerous weapons on the ground. In a game against Nebraska the trio ran for 527 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Badgers definitely have their backs against the wall when it comes to establishing the run game. Stanford’s defense has held five teams to 50 yards or less. They also have more games where they forced negative yards compared to games that they’ve allowed 200 yards on the ground. Stanford has also held off the run games of some of the best teams in the NCAA including UCLA (held to 73 yards), Oregon (held to 198 yards) and Notre Dame (held to 150 yards). This could potentially force Wisconsin to pass the ball more often than they would like to.
Stanford are the favorites to win this game with a -3.5 point spread according to BetOnline.Com. The money line for Stanford -175. The money line for Wisconsin is at +155. The over/under for this game is at 47 points. The game starts at 5 p.m. ET time and you can catch it on ESPN.
