(5) Stanford (11-2) vs. (4) Michigan State (12-1)

Jan. 1, 5:00 p.m. (ET) on ESPN

In the 100th Rose Bowl, we will get two teams that personify this historic bowl game. Both teams are defensively minded and will look to run the ball, we’ve got good ol’ fashion smash mouth football in Pasadena.

Stanford won their first Rose Bowl in 40 years when they beat Wisconsin 20-14 last season. The Cardinal earned its trip to Pasadena with a 38-14 win over then-No.11 Arizona State in the PAC-12 title game, though it may have been in Pasadena for the national championship on January 6th if it were not for a few letdowns. They were upset twice by unranked teams: 27-21 at Utah and 20-17 at USC. Stanford seems to stack up well against Michigan State’s stout run defense after averaging 234.2 yards on the ground in its last five games. Senior running back Tyler Gaffney ran for 133 yards and three touchdowns in their conference title game, and he’s averaged 144.5 over his last eight. Gaffney also ranks seventh in the country with 1,626 rushing yards and is tied for fifth with 20 touchdowns. He shined on a Thursday night in Palo Alto for the nation to see against then-No.3 Oregon when he carried the ball a staggering 45 times while running for 157 yards and touchdown. Gaffney didn’t do it alone, however, his offensive line is one of the best in the country. The star of the line is unanimous first-team All-American, David Yankey. He will look to do more than protect Gaffney, he will also look to keep starting quarterback Kevin Hogan from getting grass stains on that Rose Bowl jersey. Hogan will be tasked with helping move the ball on Michigan State’s imposing defense. The junior quarterback threw for 2,487 yards, 20 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He has also found a favorite receiver this year with Ty Montgomery who caught 58 passes for 937 yards and ten touchdowns. However don’t expect Stanford to throw the ball a whole lot, Hogan has attempted 20 or fewer passes in seven contests this season as Stanford relied heavily on the ground game. The Cardinal’s 293 pass attempts are by far the fewest in the PAC-12. Just like Michigan State, defense is what Stanford takes pride in. They are ranked 14th in total defense allowing 339 yards per game and are 10th in scoring defense giving up only 18.6 points per game. First-team All-American Trent Murphy will lead the charge in stopping the Spartan’s attack. Murphy is third in the nation with 21.5 tackles for a loss and leads the nation with 14 sacks. Stanford will be looking for back-to-back Rose Bowl victories for the first time since 1970-71 and win 12 games for the second straight year. The Cardinal have key wins against Oregon (10-2) and Arizona State (10-2) and their two losses are to Utah (5-7) and USC (9-3).

Unlike Stanford, Michigan State hasn’t been to the Rose Bowl in 26 years since beating USC 20-17 in 1988. To make it here they defeated then-No.2 Ohio State 34-24 in the Big Ten championship game to win their first outright conference title since that Rose Bowl year in 1988. As for head coach Mark Dantonio, he hasn’t coached in the Rose Bowl since he was a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 1984. The last time the Spartans were ranked this high in the AP poll was when they were No.3 to begin the 1967 season. Needless to say, this is a big deal for Michigan State. They are coming off nine straight since suffering their loss to Notre Dame, and in each win from then they’ve continued to look better and better. They’ve achieved this goal by playing some of the best defense in the country. They rank first in the nation with 248.2 yards allowed per game, including an FBS-low 808 on the ground. The Spartans did not allow a touchdown in five of its six games prior to facing Ohio State. Senior corner Darqueze Dennard was named first-team All-American and won the Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back, while sophomore defensive end Shillique Calhoun was honored as the Big Ten’s top defensive lineman as he gathered up 7.5 sacks this year. The Spartans will be without a key member of their defense, however, after senior linebacker Max Bullough was suspended for violating team rules. Dantonio has not said what rules the two-time captain violated to miss the Rose Bowl. Bullough had 76 tackles and 9.5 tackles for a loss this season, earning him third-team All-American honors and first-team All-Big Ten honors. He also has 299 career tackles and has made 40 consecutive starts. Michigan State’s offense tends to get overshadowed by their defense. Sophomore quarterback Connor Cook has really shined this year after winning the starting job. He has 2,423 yards passing to go along with 20 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He also threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns in the conference championship game to earn MVP honors. Junior running back Jeremy Langford has flown under the radar for most people, but has quietly been one of the most productive backs in the country. Langford has rushed for 1,338 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. He also had a great eight game streak of rushing for over 104 yards while averaging 128.4 rushing yards per game and 13 touchdowns. The Spartans will need Connor Cook and Jeremy Langford to keep up the consistency if they want to win their first Rose Bowl in 26 years. Michigan State has key wins against Ohio State (12-1) and Iowa (8-4). Their only loss came early in the year to Notre Dame (8-4).

Tiago- Stanford

Matt- Michigan State

Tom- Stanford