Roses are red...

The Wisconsin Badgers all but sealed up a Rose Bowl bid with a victory against the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday afternoon.

The Badgers (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten) defeated the Wildcats (7-5, 3-5 Big Ten) 70-23 to finish out the season. With the victory, Wisconsin joins Ohio State and Michigan State as co-Big Ten Champions, the first title for Wisconsin since 1999.

Montee Ball had another huge game for the Badgers, carrying the ball 20 times for 178 yards (8.9 yards per carry) and 4 touchdowns. He joins Ron Dayne as the only two Badgers in school history to record 4 rushing touchdowns in back-to-back games. James White was stellar as well, carrying the ball 20 times for 134 yards and a score.

Scott Tolzein came out hot in the first half, completing 14 of 18 passing attempts for 180 yards and 4 touchdowns. He added a pass for 40 yards in the second half to bring his game total to 230 yards. His performance was good enough to earn Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors. On the season, Tolzein completed 74.3 percent of his passes, smashing the Big Ten and team record of 67.8 percent set by Darrell Bevell in 1993. (Bevell won a Rose Bowl that season...)

Nick Toon had 5 receptions for 62 yards and 2 touchdowns. Lance Kendricks added 4 catches for 80 yards and a score, and David Gilreath caught 4 passes for 75 yards and a touchdown.

The Badger defense absolutely humiliated the Wildcat offense, forcing 7 turnovers in the game. Mike Taylor, Jay Valai, Anthony Fenelus, and Aaron Henry all recorded interceptions, Henry returned his pic 50 yards for a touchdown. Valai also forced a fumble.

JJ Watt was a force once again. Watt had 7 solo tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, a sack, 2 forced fumbles, a blocked extra point, and had 3 quarterback hurries that led to interceptions. (For those of you counting, that makes 5 turnovers directly related to Watt). Watt was rewarded for his performance with the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award.

With the victory (and losses by Boise State and LSU) the Badgers moved to number 5 in the BCS Standings. Barring anything crazy, the Badgers should be headed to the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, and would likely face TCU.

The Badgers finished the season on a hot streak, scoring 201 points and amassing 1715 yards over the past three games.

The Badgers also recorded their three highest scoring games in the modern era (since 1946) this season. (70 against Austin Peay, 83 against Indiana, and 70 against Northwestern)

They will need to keep that fire burning in the month off before a BCS bowl game.