Rose Bowl: Stanford Marches After Halftime Over Wisconsin, 37-20

Compare their marching bands. Wisconsin: traditional, mistake-free, little flash. Stanford: original, occasional sloppiness overcome by merry creativity.

The bands' halftime performances mirrored their football teams on Pasadena's Rose Bowl turf in this match-up of the fourth seeded at-large Cardinal from the Pac 10 versus the Badgers, champions of the Big Ten. The Badgers played solid, non-turnover, minimal penalty football, whereas the Cardinal occasional sloppiness was overcome by a big plays at key times. As the game went on, Stanford's play converged on perfection, and Wisconsin was overwhelmed in the second half.

The first half featured solid bowl control by Wisconsin, but a missed Badger field goal kept the game scoreless early. Stanford's Jeremy Stewart broke loose for a 60 yard TD scamper, and the Cardinal grabbed the 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The Badgers responded with a drive of their own, capped by a 30 yard field goal, to cut the lead to 7-3. Stanford also drove for a field goal before the end of the first quarter increase the lead to 10-3.

In the second quarter, the Badgers continued to control time of possession, and a John Clay 1 yard run finished off the drive to tie the game at 10-10. Stanford's star QB didn't have a stellar first half, but a 25 yard pass to Zach Ertz returned the Cardinal to the lead, 16-10, after a missed PAT. Wisconsin ended the half with a field goal, and seemed to be in reach of victory, trailing by 16-13 at halftime.

But, in the second half, Stanford took control, and scored the third quarter's only touchdown to give the Cardinal a 23-13 lead going into the final frame. Two more fourth quarter touchdowns put Stanford in control 37-13, before a late Wisconsin touchdown made the score 37-20.

Questions about the future of Stanford's coach and QB will have to wait. The Cardinal are headed to the Semi-Finals in St. Petersburg, which would be their only tournament game outside the Pac 10 boundaries, to meet the winner of the Fiesta Bowl.

UPDATED TOURNAMENT RESULTS:

FIRST ROUND:

In Arlington, TX:

7 Oklahoma 48
10 Connecticut 20

In Charlotte: (results available after the completion of the games of 4Jan)

8 Arkansas
9 Virginia Tech

BCS BOWLS (Quarterfinals):

Sugar: (results available after the completion of the games of 10Jan)

1 Auburn
Oklahoma or Virginia Tech

Rose:

4 Stanford 37
5 Wisconsin 20

Fiesta: (results available after the completion of the games of 10Jan)

2 Oregon
Arkansas or Oklahoma

Orange: (results available after the completion of the games of 4Jan)

3 Texas Christian
6 Ohio State

Semi-finals in St Petersburg FL:

Sugar Bowl winner versus Stanford
Fiesta Bowl winner versus Orange Bowl winner

BCS Championship in Glendale AZ