Our 2013 bowl predictions continue on Tuesday, January 1st with the Rose Bowl, and we are set to make our Rose Bowl predictions, tips, and keys to the game for the duel between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Stanford Cardinal.

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2013 Rose Bowl: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Stanford Cardinal
2013 Rose Bowl Location: Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, CA
2013 Rose Bowl Date/Time: Tuesday, January 1st, 5:00 p.m. (ET)
2013 Rose Bowl On TV: ESPN, Watch ESPN

Key #1: The Badgers have to prove that they are a lot better than an 8-5 team
It almost seems like an insult that an 8-5 team is playing in the Rose Bowl this year. Granted, we know that the only reason that Wisconsin even had the chance to play in the Granddaddy of them All this year is because of the way that the Big Ten happened to shake out with both the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes on bowl probation. It’s tough to say that this is your average 8-5 team, though. The team lost its five games this year by a combined 19 points, and all but one of those losses came against teams that went on to win at least nine games. And, one of those losses against the Nebraska Cornhuskers was avenged in the Big Ten Championship Game. The schedule actually ended up being a lot tougher than we thought at the outset of the year, and there is a real chance for Wisky to prove that it is worthy of finishing ranked in the Top 25 if it can pull off this upset. There’s a reason that this team is playing in its third straight Rose Bowl in spite of the fact that it has used six different quarterbacks in that stretch.

Rose Bowl Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
Wisconsin Badgers +5.5
Stanford Cardinal -5.5
Over/Under 47.5
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Key #2: The offensive line for the Badgers and the defensive line for the Cardinal have to put on shows against the other
This is a heck of a battle between two units that are just flat out awesome. The offensive line for the Badgers is always one of the best in the nation, and this year has been no exception. In spite of the fact that the team has absolutely no passing game whatsoever, this OL just continues to be one of the best in the nation. RB Montee Ball, RB James White, and RB Melvin Gordon are great, but they wouldn’t get to 3,099 yards combined without a great front five. These three backs averaged 6.14 yards per carry this year, and that doesn’t happen for even the best backs in the game without an outstanding line. The defensive front for Stanford doesn’t get much help from the linebackers in the form of blitzes, but that doesn’t make this group ineffective by any stretch of the imagination. The Cardinal allowed just 88.0 yards per game this year on the ground, and that was the third best mark in the entire nation. Whichever team wins the battle in the trenches is going to be the team that has the upper hand in this game.

Key #3: One of these teams has to produce some form of a passing game
The Badgers have been through a ton of quarterbacks this year. QB Danny O’Brien simply stunk, and he was done after just a few games this year. After that, QB Joel Stave took over and completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 1,104 yards before getting hurt. Now, it’s up to QB Curt Phillips, who has started the last three games for Wisky. The team hasn’t played all that well offensively with Phillips in the lineup, and probably for a good reason. He’s a senior that had only thrown 12 passes in his career prior to this year without throwing a touchdown. On the other side of the field, Stanford has quarterback issues as well. QB Josh Nunes completed just 52.8 percent of his passes and threw seven picks against 10 scores before Head Coach David Shaw pulled the plug on him. Now, it’s up to QB Kevin Hogan, who is the future of the Stanford offense to get the job done. A highly touted recruit, Hogan hasn’t disappointed, but he hasn’t been asked to do much. He mostly throws very simple passes and gets the job done with his legs, which is why his completion percentage is so high at 72.9 percent. That being said, one of these teams badly needs to come up with a great game from their quarterback, and whichever one comes up with it will have the better chance of beating the college football betting odds in this one.

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The BCS gets started on Saturday afternoon in the traditional Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The “Granddaddy of Them All” this year doesn’t feature a Pac-10 team for the second time in the last six years. Instead, the TCU Horned Frogs become the first team from a mid major conference to crash the party in Pasadena in the modern era. They’ll have to put their undefeated regular season record on the line against the Wisconsin Badgers, who won the Big Ten in a three team tiebreaker. These two squads know that they have a lot to prove in this one, but which team will beat the Rose Bowl lines? You can’t afford to miss these keys to the Rose Bowl.

Key #1: Wisconsin needs to physically overwhelm the Horned Frogs
If there is potentially one knock on this TCU team this year, it is that it is a relatively undersized bunch that hasn’t had to deal with the physical nature of the major conference foes. Sure, beating the Oregon State Beavers, Utah Utes, etc. is nice, but this is a tremendously different type of challenge. The Badgers have three rushers that would be starters and lone backs on most other teams in the country in the form of RB John Clay, RB Montee Ball, and RB James White. These three are all just bruising backs that run behind one of the biggest offensive lines in the country. There is no doubt that the Badgers are going to be coming after the heart of a TCU defense that ranked No. 1 in the land both overall and in scoring, allowing just 11.4 points per game on the campaign. Clay, Ball, and White can all end with 1,000 yards on the season on the ground, and if they do pull it off, they would be the second trio in the history of college football to accomplish the feat. They would also be the first trio of pure running backs to all have at least four digits in yards as well, as the Nevada Wolf Pack did it with QB Colin Kaepernick and two backs.

Key #2: Andy Dalton has to be a real winner
All too often in these battles between the big boys and the little giants, the quarterback ends up being the man that makes the big difference. Remember QB Jared Zabransky against the Georgia Bulldogs? Or what about “Z” the next year in the Fiesta Bowl? Two totally different games, two totally different results. Another case of horrible play was Hawaii’s QB Colt Brennan against the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl. Dalton is the winningest quarterback in TCU history, and he is going to have to prove it in this one. The Wisky defense has stopped some of the best passing attacks that the Big Ten has to offer, and though these Horned Frogs prefer to run the ball, Dalton is going to have to make his throws. The senior completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 2,638 yards and 26 TDs this year, but more importantly, he only threw six picks. Dalton absolutely cannot turn the ball over in this game, or the Badgers are going to eat TCU for lunch on the other side of the ball.

Key #3: Scott Tolzien is going to have to make a few plays
When you have 44 rushing touchdowns between the three backs behind you, you don’t really have to do a whole heck of a lot. However, if the rushing game doesn’t do the job, Tolzien is going to have to make a few plays to keep things moving. Wisconsin quarterbacks aren’t rich in history, especially in bowl games, but Tolzien can be the exception to the rule in the biggest bowl game that this team has been at in quite some time. Tolzien threw for 2,300 yards and completed 74.3 percent of his passes, and just a few big shots will loosen up the purple and black defense and could set up a tremendous day for this offense. Don’t forget about how good WR Lance Kendricks and WR Nick Toon really are. Kendricks only caught 39 passes on the year, but he averaged 16.1 yards per catch and had five scores. Toon came back from an injury early in the season, and he came on strong with 33 grabs, 413 yards, and three TDs.