WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and SportsBadgers smelling roses; headed to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl

Badgers smelling roses; headed to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl

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INDIANAPOLIS (WKOW) -- Montee Ball ran for three touchdowns including the decisive 7-yard score with 3:45 to go, leading No. 15 Wisconsin past No. 11 Michigan State 42-39 in the inaugural Big Ten championship game.

Wisconsin (11-2) is now headed to its second straight Rose Bowl.

Ball ran 27 times for 137 yards and caught a TD pass, giving him 38 touchdowns this season. That's one short of Barry Sanders' single-season record.

Russell Wilson was 17 of 24 for 187 yards with three TDs and no interceptions. He set a new NCAA record with a TD pass in his 37th straight game. Texas Tech's Graham Harrell had the previous mark of 36.

The Big Ten's first championship game made the idea of a conference title tilt seem like a good one.

Michigan State (10-3) rallied from a 21-7 first-quarter deficit to take a 29-21 halftime lead and still led 39-34 after Dan Conway's 25-yard field midway through the fourth quarter.

But Wilson and Ball answered with a score and a 2-point conversion.

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INDIANAPOLIS (WKOW) -- Wisconsin is gearing up to take on Michigan State in the first Big Ten Championship game Saturday night.

For Michigan State, beating Wisconsin once isn't good enough.

The Spartans will have to do it all over again Saturday when Kirk Cousins hopes to lead No. 11 Michigan State to its first Rose Bowl appearance since 1988.

No. 15 Wisconsin is chasing back-to-back conference titles for only the third time in school history.

The inaugural Big Ten title game is a rematch of one of college football's most exciting games of 2011. The Spartans won 37-31 after Michigan State receiver Keith Nichol pulled in a last-second pass and lunged across the goal line

Wisconsin (10-2) is the only Football Bowl Subdivision team ranked in the top five in scoring offense (44.8 points) and scoring defense (15.2).

Stay tuned to live preview reports from Indianapolis on 27 News at 6, and reports after the game on 27 News.

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