Rose Bowl 2012: 5 Reasons the Wisconsin Badgers Will Beat the Oregon Ducks

The college football regular season may have come to an end, but now is when the good stuff begins. The college football bowl schedule was just released, and there are a ton of great matchups. There should be several great games with a bunch of intriguing storylines.

The 2012 BCS Rose Bowl is one of those great matchups, and if you like scoring, this is the game for you. It will feature the Pac-12 champion Oregon Ducks and the Big Ten champion Wisconsin Badgers. Both teams are fantastic offensively and should keep viewers and fans very happy with a bunch of points scored.

The game may take place nearly a month from now, but that leaves us plenty of time to preview the game from all angles.

Here are the reasons the Wisconsin Badgers will beat the Oregon Ducks.

Montee Ball

Montee Ball has had somewhat of a good season this year. He's only rushed for over 1,700 yards and 32 touchdowns.

In the last five games alone, he's ran for over 900 yards and totaled 17 touchdowns. The guy has been on fire lately and doesn't look like he'll be stopped anytime soon either. Not even the solid defensive line of Michigan State was able to slow him down. In the two games against the Spartans, Ball had 283 total yards and six touchdowns.

Oregon can have LaMichael James and De'Anthony Thomas. I want the guy who nobody has been able to shut down this year.

Ducks Defensive Line Will Be a Non Factor

The Oregon Ducks defensive line is one of the best in college football, as it has 43 sacks on the season. That's the best in the Pac-12 and the third best in the country.

The problem is it's going up against an offensive line of the Badgers where every guy is over 300 pounds and around 6'6 in height. Those are some mammoth human beings who will make it difficult for the smaller Ducks line to break through. 

Wisconsin gives up less than two sacks a game.

Oregon's defense has relied heavily on a great pass rush and looking at the size factor, it may have to find a way to win without one this time.

Chip Kelly's Bowl Record

Chip Kelly is in his third season as the head coach for the Oregon Ducks and has reached a BCS bowl for the third straight year. The problem is, he's great in the regular season but has lost both times in the postseason.

The Ducks lost the Rose Bowl a couple of years ago and of course the national championship last year.

They always say that first one is always the hardest to get. Wisconsin's head coach Bret Bielema hasn't exactly been great in bowl games either, but at least he's won two of five games.

Some coaches are just meant for the regular season. Not saying that this is the case with Kelly, but until his teams fare better in the postseason, it's hard to pick him.

Physical Always Beats Finesse

We've been down this road before several times in college football. You have a team that can score oodles of points, but when they run into a physical team, it forgets how to play football.

Just look at Oregon the last couple of seasons. Lost to Ohio State, Auburn and LSU in the last three years. All three of those teams are physical, and the Buckeyes and Tigers held them under 20 points. The Tigers held them under 30 and forced four turnovers.

Wisconsin falls under the physical category, and the Ducks will find out just like they did against so many other teams in the past.

Russell Wilson

Isn't this what Russell Wilson made the transfer for? He wanted to have a great senior season and possibly win a national championship. He won't get to fulfill all of his dreams, but he has the opportunity to win the Rose Bowl which isn't a bad second option. 

He's completing 72 percent of his passes, thrown for 2,879 yards and has 36 total touchdowns. He's also only thrown three interceptions.

Wilson is on a mission this season and has yet to let the Badgers down.

I'd take him over Darron Thomas at the quarterback position and pick him to win this game for Wisconsin.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]