2020 Rose Bowl: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Oregon Ducks Odds & Game Pick

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The granddaddy of them all will get underway on New Year’s Day when the eighth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers take on the sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks. The Ducks convincingly won the Pac-12 Championship, and they earned their spot in arguably the best non-College Football Playoff (CFP) game this season. For both programs, Wednesday’s game will likely be the last for two program legends in the Badger’s Jonathan Taylor and Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert. Let’s take a look at this matchup of college football goliaths to see where we can find an edge.

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Details

• Current Line: Oregon -3
• Over/Under: 51.5 (via PointsBet)
• Location: Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California
• Start Time: 5:00 PM EST
• Last Meeting: January 2nd, 2012 — Oregon def. Wisconsin 45-38

Overview

While it’s still not 100 percent clear if Taylor will enter April’s draft, the two-time Doak Walker Award winner is more likely than not to be heading that way. He will also notch his second-consecutive 2,000-yard season if he picks up just 91 yards. For Taylor’s Badgers, a 7-0 start ignited CFP ambitions for a team that looked to have it all, led by one of the most elite defensive units in the country. A Week 8 loss to Illinois, however, kicked off a two-game slide that significantly put those chances in question. Then they lost again, this time in blowout fashion to Ohio State. To their credit, this Badgers team never wavered, rattling off four straight wins to close out the regular season, including wins against Iowa, Purdue, and on the road against Nebraska and Minnesota. Junior quarterback Jack Coan won the job in summer camp and never looked back, throwing for 17 touchdowns and four interceptions on the season as he became the de facto leader for his team moving forward to his senior year. Even though the Badgers fell once again to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship, they earned their way to Pasadena by largely dismantling the rest of their side of the conference.

For the Ducks, a spot in the CFP was realistically within their reach, as their sole loss on the season came in Week 1 against a strong Auburn team on a neutral site. That was until a Week 13 Saturday night visit to Tempe when the wheels came off. They dropped a 28-31 game to the Sun Devils that put the playoff out of reach once again for a cannibalistic Pac-12. Almost as planned, the Ducks destroyed the higher-ranked Utes in the Pac-12 Championship game as nearly a touchdown underdog, showing what they could do when focused in big games. At the quarterback position, Herbert returned for his senior season, and despite a rocky start, improved in almost every statistical category including yards (3,333 vs. 2,985), touchdowns (32 vs. 28) and interceptions (five vs. eight). Sophomore running back CJ Verdell also stepped up big for the Ducks this season, rushing for 1,171 yards and eight touchdowns, including three in the Pac-12 Championship games against an elite Utah front seven.

Bottom Line

With both teams losing offensive studs this offseason, I expect the Ducks’ and Badgers’ gameplans to be centered around giving each (and their fanbases) the proper sendoff with special packages and plays that tailor to the two stars’ strengths. For the Wisconsin offense, a midseason slump was followed up with an explosion of points, including an average of 40 per game over their last three regular-season contests. On the other side, while the Wisconsin defense has proven adequate against lesser opponents, I think the combination of Herbert and Verdell can exploit their weaknesses and drive the total well over 50 points.

Pick: Over 51.5

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