FAQ: Rose Bowl

The 2012 Rose Bowl is just hours away. We're sure you have so many questions. We're here to help. (For an Xs and Os breakdown, check out Stewart Mandel's game

The 2012 Rose Bowl is just hours away. We're sure you have so many questions. We're here to help. (For an Xs and Os breakdown,  check out Stewart Mandel's game preview.)

• What's all this, then? The Big One! It's not the title game this year, but the Granddaddy Of Them All is always a Big Damn Deal.

• Tell that to the 2007-2008 Fighting Illini. Point taken.

• Where will this game be played? SPOILER ALERT: Pasadena's Rose Bowl, regular-season home of the UCLA Bruins, hosts the Rose Bowl football game.

• When is it on television? Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on Monday, January 2. The game will be televised on ESPN.

• Whom does it feature? Conference champions from the Big Ten and Pac-12.

• What about this year? Big guns! Oregon and Wisconsin, both 11-2, had title game aspirations but are getting a pretty swell consolation prize.

• Wasn't much of a prize for the Badgers last year, har-har! Bret Bielema's boys came up short against TCU in this very same game a year ago, yes, and Oregon's a formidable opponent, to be sure, but the Badgers have seen year-over-year improvement themselves. Don't write this one off right away.

• Who will call the game? Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit in the booth, with Erin Andrews on the sidelines.

• Who sponsors the game? The official title this season is "The 98th Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio."

• On the final play of the game, will Brent Musburger intone that this is "for all of the Vizios"? Probably!

• Enough about the football. What about the loot? The Rose Bowl has its own official line of game pins.

• What mild indignities/wacky activities will visiting teams be subjected to while in town? More like whack-y activities, if you know what I mean: Oregon's Mark Asper saved a Ducks fan from choking during this year's Lawry's Beef Bowl, which is an elegant meat-eating contest, however genteelly it might be touted by game organizers: "The mythical Beef Bowl 'champion' (the team with the heartiest prime rib appetites on its special night) has won the Rose Bowl 39 times in the past 55 years for a .709 winning percentage."

• Please impart any miscellaneous knowledge you might have concerning the 2012 Rose Bowl. The 1922 Granddaddy, then more of a Grandbaby, ended in a 0-0 tie between Cal and Washington & Jefferson. Safe to say that outcome's not in the cards tonight.

Stay tuned for more postseason FAQ sheets, and stay on top of a hectic postseason slate with our complete

2011-2012 College Football Bowl Schedule

.