Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin has an excellent defense, but faces one of the best QB / WR combinations in the country in Stanford's Todd Husak and Troy Walters. Husak has been preying on Pac-10 defenses all season, and will prey on Wisconsin's as well unless the Badgers are able to put pressure on Husak up front. Expect the Badgers, and stud sophomore DB Jamar Fletcher to jam Walters at the line of scrimmage, making it more difficult for him to get into his patterns, and providing the Badger front seven with a little more time to get to Husak. Stanford surrenders almost 490 total yards per game. If it's business as usual for the Cardinal defense, then Wisconsin should be able to control the football on the ground, and therefore the clock, with Heisman Trophy-winning RB Ron Dayne. Since Brooks Bollinger assumed full-time duty at the QB position, the Wisconsin offense has been unstoppable, averaging 37.8 points per game. Bollinger is effective throwing the ball downfield to his wide receivers without forcing the ball into coverage. Bollinger has thrown only two interceptions all season.

Stanford Cardinal
Stanford's defense has had a tough season, surrendering 31.5 points per game to opponents. Luckily for the Cardinal, the team's offense is scoring at the torrid rate of 37.2 points per game. Coach Tyrone Willingham runs a wide-open West Coast style offense, and will need his team to execute to perfection against the fifth-ranked pass defense in the country. Against Oregon State, the ninth-ranked pass defense in the country, the Cardinal could manage only 21 points. With Wisconsin's confidence in its secondary, the Badger defense takes a lot of risks, and Husak will have to capitalize on single coverage on Stanford's outside receivers and make big plays downfield. The most intriguing matchup will be Walters against Fletcher, and if Stanford is to have a chance in this game, Walters will need to get the better of Fletcher. To take some of the pressure off the team's passing game, RB Brian Allen needs to have a big game. Allen has big-play ability, and is capable of forcing the Wisconsin LBs to play closer to the line of scrimmage, opening up the underneath patterns for Stanfords WRs and TEs.

Keys to the game
1. Whether Stanford can contain Dayne. The most prolific running back in Division I history is capable of being a one-man wrecking crew, as several of Wisconsin's opponents this season can attest. For the Cardinal to have any chance in this game, Stanford needs to stack the line of scrimmage and keep Dayne from breaking any long runs. This will expose the team's already suspect secondary to single coverage on the outside, but an effective pass rush on Bollinger will help compensate for single coverage.

2. Whether Fletcher will neutralize the Husak/Walters connection. Jamar Fletcher is arguably the best cover corner in college football. Fletcher also has the game to run with speed receivers or get physical by jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage. How Walters fares in this game will largely determine whether Stanford will be successful moving the football. If he can capitalize on the single coverage he will often be facing, Stanford could hang around with a chance to win late.

3. Whether either team will do a good job taking care of the football. Wisconsin has a big-play defense which finished the season with 17 interceptions and a plus-11 turnover ratio. This is largely because the Badgers use their athletic ability to pressure opposing QBs and to make plays in the secondary. Stanford, however, only turned the ball over 20 times all season, and finished the season plus-10. Whichever team does a better job taking care of the football will win this game.

War Room Edge: Wisconsin Badgers
In the team's first Rose Bowl in almost three decades, expect Stanford coach Tyrone Willingham to have his troops ready to play. Stanford surprised everyone coming out of the Pac-10 this season, but the Cardinal will run into a Wisconsin team that seems to get better each week. The Badgers have balance on the offensive side of the ball aside from RB Dayne, and should dominate this game largely because of the team's defensive dominance and Stanford's defensive ineptitude. One more fact of interest: Ron Dayne has run for over 200 more yards individually than the entire Cardinal team has run for combined.

Material from The War Room. Visit their web site at http://www.nflwarroom.com