Cheer up, Badger fans.

Well, Bucky Faithful, it's ok. It was a game the Badgers weren't supposed to be in anyways, but Wisconsin more than held their own. The offense was in a position to win, late in the game, but came up short. It was a very respectable by Barry Alvarez and Co. in Pasadena against a very good Stanford team, and even though it's the Badgers' third straight loss in the Rose Bowl, they can certainly leave California with their heads held high. And there's plenty of things to be excited about for the 2013 season. Montee Ball will graduate, but the backfield will certainly be potent with the returns of James White for his senior campaign and Melvin Gordon is back too, who I think has a chance to really be something special. Plus, in the very limited time that Joel Stave saw in the Rose Bowl, I'm convinced that with him (or Bart Houston, if he pans out) under center, the Badgers' QB situation is only going to improve from the Curt Phillips/Danny O'Brien experiment. I think there's enough players returning on the line and defense as well to make Wisconsin very competent in new coach Gary Andersen's first year in the Big Ten.