Bowl Predictions 2012: Stanford Would Crush Michigan State in Rose Bowl

The Stanford Cardinal can only hope that they will meet up with the Michigan State Spartans in the 2012 Rose Bowl, as it will undoubtedly be an easy bowl game win.

It's going to take a win over Notre Dame and a miracle loss by Oregon to get them there, but let's hypothetically  break down this matchup, because anything is possible.

No offense to the Spartans, but they just aren't good enough to hang with the Cardinal, and I think both teams know it.

Granted they each have one more game and a conference championship to get through, but if this matchup does take place, which I feel it will, I think we'd be looking at a blowout.

To be fair to the Spartans, they would deserve every bit of the attention and respect that they would receive for making it to the Rose Bowl.

It's easy to forget that MSU has been considered a basketball school for the greater part of its history, so the fact that head coach Mark Dantonio could potentially lead them to two straight Big Ten championships is extremely impressive.

They wouldn't be able to hold a candle against Stanford though.

Michigan State's biggest issue would be keeping up with the Cardinal team that is averaging an even 45 points per game, 276.6 through the air and an impressive 209.1 on the ground.

While MSU's defense is highly ranked at No. 5 in the nation and only giving up 15.3 points per game, they haven't even come close to facing a quarterback the caliber of Andrew Luck.

While Luck played poorly in his team's first and only loss against the Oregon Ducks, his 2,937 yards and 31 touchdowns speak for themselves.

Stanford's offense shouldn't have a problem putting up points against Michigan State's defense, as good as they are, and then the pressure would shift to Spartans quarterback Kirk Cousins.

While Cousins has had a great season with 2,521 yards and 19 touchdowns, he is highly regarded as more of a game manager, and he doesn't have the type of big-play ability that it would take to keep up with Stanford.

With an average of 136.5 yards per game on the ground, the Spartans rely heavily on their running game and ball control to win them games, and that's not a formula that will work against any Pac-12 team, let alone Stanford.

There's still some season left, but don't be surprised if you see this matchup when you turn on your television on January 2, 2012 and tune into Pasadena.

Now you can't be surprised when it's a blowout either.