The Rose Bowl

Rose Bowl Will Pit the Ducks Against the Badgers

The 2012 Rose Bowl game will bring together the Oregon Ducks and the Wisconsin Badgers. Most analysts believe the two teams are pretty evenly-matched. The Ducks finished their season with an 11-2 record along with a conference play of 8-1. Their decisive win over the UCLA Bruins assured them of their ticket to the Rose Bowl. The Badgers matched the Ducks with a 11-2 season and a 7-2 in conference play. Their shining moment came with a 42-39 win over Michigan State.

The Badgers will face a real threat with the running speed of the Ducks. LaMichael James, running back, along with quarterback Darron Thomas proved the offense of the Ducks to be nearly impossible, at different times of the season, for the opponents to deal with. However, Badgers quarterback Russell Wilson proved to have an outstanding year. The star player, also a baseball stand-out, completed 206 out of 284 passes for a total of 2,879 yards. This included 31 touchdowns. Although he may not be at the top of the list he may to be a candidate for the 2011 Heisman Trophy.

Most likely this bowl match will be brawn vs. speed. The Ducks will possibly suffer some with the loss of the 2010 All-American cornerback Cliff Harris. Coach Chip Kelly dismissed Harris from the team for violating team rules. He has been suspended indefinitely mostly for traffic violations. One driving offense took place last June when an Oregon state trooper pegged Harris for cruising at 118 miles per hour. The trooper also reported an odor of marijuana inside the car Harris was driving. Prior to this Harris had been cited for having marijuana in his possession. Harris tied for 11th place, in the nation, during his All-American season last year. He had a total of six interceptions.

While the Ducks have the speed the Badgers offense broke all kinds of records. Wilson and Ball proved to work together to make a very good team one of the best in the history of the school. They managed to score 61 touchdowns out of 70 attempts. Players Peter Konz and Kevin Zeitler did their part to bring about several school records.

The Ducks' defensive line has been one of the best in college football offering a total of 43 sacks. That put them as the top in the Pac-12 and finishing third best in the country. Still, they are facing the Badgers who has every guy weighing over 300 pounds with an average height of 6'6". The smaller Ducks might have some problems here. Coach Kelly shows he can bring about a great season; however, he has lost both times in the postseason. The Badgers head coach, Bret Bielema has not been the best in bowl games although he has won two of five games.

There is no doubt that James and the Badgers Montee Ball will help to offer an extraordinary game. Although the Ducks make have the upper hand this is not set in stone. This is partly due to the loss of Harris which might put both teams on the same level playing field.

The Rose Bowl Game

The Rose Bowl is often referred to as the 'Granddaddy of Them All.' It earned this title in NCAA college football because it is the oldest bowl game. The Rose Bowl was first played in 1902 and has been played every season since 1916. The game is usually played on New Year's Day unless that falls on a Sunday. If that is the case, the game is played the following Monday. The Rose Bowl is the most traditional of all the bowl games, fighting hard to maintain its status is the biggest game.

The Rose Bowl is played in Pasadena, California. It has been played at Rose Bowl stadium since 1923, except for 1942 when the game was moved to North Carolina following fallout from the Pearl Harbor attack. It pits the Big Ten champion against the PAC-12 champion. This tradition began in the forties and continued that way until the advent of the Bowl Championship Series.

The BCS was created to try and pit the top two teams in a National Championship Game. The Rose Bowl reluctantly agreed to join provided they could maintain their conference tie-ins unless one of those teams reached the title game. The Rose Bowl was designated as the title game in 2002 and 2006. The 2002 Rose Bowl game between Miami and Nebraska snapped their string of pitting games between Big Ten and PAC-10 teams. In 2007 the BCS added a fifth game that would be called the BCS Championship Game.

This game takes place at the same site as one of the other four BCS bowls. As a result in 2010, the Rose Bowl game was played on January 1 while the BCS Championship Game was played a week later at the same location.

The Rose Bowl is the largest stadium among the bowl games. The game is also part of the Tournament of Rose New Year's celebration. It includes a grand parade the day of the game. While the other major bowl games have shifted off from New Years Day to other prime time slots on different days, the Rose Bowl remains fixed in its New Years Day afternoon time slot. The Rose Bowl also avoided corporate sponsorship until 1999. Since then it has been sponsored by AT&T, Sony, and now by Citi.

When the Big Ten and PAC-10 (now PAC-12) champions clinch their conference titles, they are given roses on the field. This is a sign that they have earned their bid to Pasadena to play in the game. Each conference has different tiebreaker procedures.

Part of the agreement with the BCS requires that occasionally the Rose Bowl must take a team from a non-BCS conference if they automatically qualify and if the Big Ten or PAC-10 champion reaches the BCS Championship Game. That could happen for the first time this season.

USC has played in the most Rose Bowl games, playing there 33 times. Michigan leads the way for Big Ten teams with 20 appearances. Alabama has played there six times, the most for a team outside of the Big Ten or PAC-10. Arizona is the only team from the Big Ten or PAC-10 to never reach the Rose Bowl.

We will be publishing our Rose Bowl game preview alongside our Rose Bowl odds and Rose Bowl betting options in early December. Until then we have live NFL odds every week for you, plus don't forget about the biggest bowl game of them all the Super Bowl. We hope you have enjoyed our college football bowl game previews.