Rose Bowl 2013 picks and predictions: College football experts unified behind Stanford

The Stanford Cardinal and Wisconsin Badgers face off in the 2013 Rose Bowl Game January 1 in Pasadena. Stanford (11-2, 8-1) comes into the Rose Bowl on a seven-game winning streak, capped with a victory over then-undefeated Oregon and back-to-back wins over UCLA to take the Pac-12 Championship. The Cardinal field one of the nation's best defenses, a unit which has allowed just 17.5 points per game and held every opponent under 25 points since October 7.

Wisconsin is playing in their third consecutive Rose Bowl as Big 10 Champions, despite going just 4-4 in the conference and 7-5 overall. The Badgers received a berth in the league championship game, despite finishing third in their division, because of postseason bans for Ohio State and Penn State, then annihilated Nebraska 70-31 to earn their spot. Wisconsin, which lost five games this year by 15 total points, is playing its first game since head coach Bret Bielema left for Arkansas. Former head coach and current athletic director Barry Alvarez will coach the team in Pasadena.

All six CBS Sports college football experts select Stanford to win the Rose Bowl, and five of six expect the Cardinal to cover the 6.5-point spread. Yahoo's Pat Forde and Graham Watson also both select Stanford to win. ESPN fantasy college football analyst Will Harris goes contrary to popular opinion, picking Wisconsin to win by a point, 14-13 but placing little confidence in that prediction.