Rose Bowl predictions: Who wins the College Football Playoff clash between Ohio State-Oregon?

We've had rematches in the College Football Playoff and Bowl Championship Series before, so Ohio State and Oregon facing in the Rose Bowl after an earlier meeting in the regular season isn't breaking new ground. But given the drama and high-level play from that matchup won by the Ducks, there is a lot of expectation that the sequel could be as good as the original, if not better.

The Buckeyes are off an impressive win against Tennessee that helped calm things down a bit after a loss to Michigan dropped them out of the Big Ten title game. The defeat opened the door for Penn State to play Oregon for the conference title, the Ducks prevailed, sending them into the playoff as the No. 1 seed.

The earlier game between these two came down to an Ohio State offensive pass interference penalty that preceded a final play where time expired before a potential game-winning field goal. Could there be the same kind of drama Wednesday? Our experts off their predictions.

Scooby Axson

The only solace Oregon has is that they have already beaten the Buckeyes earlier this year, but if the Ohio State team that showed up against Tennessee makes a repeat appearance in this contest then Oregon, no matter how explosive their offense can be, will be going home early. Will Howard is the X-factor in this game and might be the single reason why Ohio State wins or loses. In this case, Howard's' supporting cast gives him plenty of help. Ohio State 37, Oregon 32.

Jordan Mendoza

The scoreboard will be doing plenty of work when both of these teams meet again. Ohio State’s offense should keep the momentum from the first round, but the Ducks are still a lethal team. Dillon Gabriel leads a game-winning drive in the final seconds of another instant classic between the Ducks and Buckeyes. Oregon 38, Ohio State 37.

Paul Myerberg

An instant classic from the regular season gets a highly anticipated rematch. As in October, this one should plenty of scoring on both sides and potentially come down to which team has the final possession. While the Ducks are the no-doubt No. 1 in the playoff field and more than capable of running the table to become the first 16-0 team in modern Bowl Subdivision history, the way Ohio State played in the opening round against Tennessee makes it hard to pick against the Buckeyes. Ohio State 32, Oregon 31.

Erick Smith

Was that the Ohio State we will see the rest of the playoff or was the win against Tennessee just the Buckeyes taking advantage of a favorable matchup? It's easy to overreact, especially with Oregon being much more capable of moving the ball here. This should come down to the quarterbacks and whether Dillon Gabriel or Will Howard perform the best. We'll go with Gabriel to come out on top. Oregon 28, Ohio State 24.

Eddie Timanus

One was left with the impression after the first meeting that the Buckeyes would have stolen the victory if they’d had just a few more seconds. That might translate to this rematch, but the Ducks have also improved. Oregon will have made enough adjustments from the first meeting to answer all the Buckeyes’ talent. It'll happen again. Oregon 38, Ohio State 28.

Dan Wolken

The Buckeyes nearly won in Eugene earlier in the season, and it’s extremely hard to beat a team of that quality twice. Oregon would be a worthy national champion, but it feels like the Ducks just caught a bad draw here. Ohio State 38, Oregon 35.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rose Bowl: Ohio State, Oregon picks, predictions