Beautiful weather expected for Monday's Rose Bowl

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PASADENA, Calf. - The Southern California weather forecast is almost perfect for football fans in Pasadena for the 98th Rose Bowl football game. Wisconsin takes on Oregon next Monday.

A high-pressure ridge lasting through the weekend with work with an off-shore flow to bring on above-normal temperatures for the holiday weekend. Game time temperatures for Monday’s game are expected to be in the upper-70s. No rain is expected.

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University of Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema says the Badgers must play their own brand of football to win Monday’s Rose Bowl against Oregon. And that means keeping the ball longer. The Badgers had the nation’s sixth-longest average time-of-possession last year, at 32 minutes and 57 seconds a game. This year, it’s down a bit at 31:58. That’s the 22nd longest, but Bielema says the significance has not been diminished. But on the other side, Oregon players say time-of-possession means nothing -- It’s what you do with the ball that matters most. The Ducks are last in the country with an average possession time of 25 minutes – but they have the third-highest scoring at just over 46-points a game. Wisconsin averages almost 45 per contest. The Ducks say it’s more important to keep their no-huddle offense in tune. Oregon has had 75 touchdown drives this season – and 41 of them have taken two minutes or less.

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When Badger athletes succeed, so do their classmates. UW-Madison said today that its presence at the Rose Bowl and the NCAA basketball tournaments resulted in record sales of Bucky Badger merchandise in the last fiscal year. The UW received gross royalties of $3.3 million dollars, shattering the old mark of $2.8 million set in 2008. Half those royalties are devoted to financial aid for undergraduate students with the biggest need for tuition help. Cindy Van Matre, the UW’s licensing director, says shirts-and-hats with Bucky and the Motion-“W” logo are now available around the world – and the record sales are a huge testament to the success of the Badgers, the UW, and the Wisconsin brand in general. Over 150 students received assistance this past year from the “Bucky Grants” funded by the merchandise sales. The Badger football team will play its second straight Rose Bowl on Monday against Oregon. UW officials say it has encouraged more donations to the school. And the number of student applications jumped 12-percent after the Badgers appeared in last year’s Rose Bowl. That’s partially because of an admissions event held on the Santa Monica Pier at the game site in southern California. Another such event is planned for tomorrow, right before a large Badger pep rally.

Tags: sports, proam, football, badgers