BCS Bowl Predictions: Oregon and Wisconsin Will Pile Up Points in Rose Bowl

In any given year, any of the five BCS bowls can be affected by the insufferable numb-skullery we've come to associate with the BCS.

Thankfully, the formula that determines the Rose Bowl matchup remains simple. Unless one (or both) of the teams have a spot waiting in the BCS Championship Game, the Rose Bowl pits the Pac-12 champion against the Big Ten champion.

This year, my best guess is we're going to see a showdown between the Oregon Ducks and the Wisconsin Badgers. Both will have to win their respective conference championship games, but I don't think that's going to be an issue.

In the Pac-12 Championship Game, the Ducks will be going up against Rick Neuheisel's UCLA Bruins, who only qualified because Reggie Bush made a mess of things at USC a couple years ago. Win or lose, Neuheisel's going to be lucky if he still has his job after the conference championship game.

As it is, the Ducks should be able to crush the Bruins into dust to qualify for their second Rose Bowl in the last three years.

Concerning the Big Ten Championship Game, the Badgers are going to get another shot at the Michigan State Spartans, who beat the Badgers back in October. It was Wisconsin's first loss, and it came via a Hail Mary pass in the final seconds.

This time around, I'm thinking the Badgers are going to look much more like themselves. That is to say they're going to put a million or so points on the board and walk away with an easy victory.

When all is said and done, the Ducks and Badgers will have themselves a date in Pasadena on Jan. 2. Given the way both teams tend to conduct their business, they may as well leave their defenses at home.

At the moment, we're talking about two of the top four offensive teams in the country. Oregon is currently third in scoring with an average of 45.9 points per game, and Wisconsin is fourth with an average of 44.8 points per game.

Both squads boast numerous playmakers on offense, with Darron Thomas and LaMichael James leading the way for the Ducks and Russell Wilson and Montee Ball leading the way for the Badgers.

Between the two of them, the Badgers are the better defensive team, as they're allowing just 15.2 points per game this season. However, I'm of the mind that their stout defense will not be able to keep the Ducks under wraps.

The only time Oregon's offense looked overmatched was against the LSU Tigers, who have arguably the best defense in the country.

So unless something totally unforeseen happens between now and Jan. 2 (i.e. Russell Wilson getting abducted by aliens), I'm thinking this matchup is going to result in a high-scoring barn-burner. The over/under should be in the 80-point range.

As for who will win, well, that comes later.

Because, you know, the matchup kind of needs to be set in stone.