College football picks against the spread: Bowl season, week 4
By Brad Rowland
College football picks against the spread for this week’s bowl games.
The College Football Playoff Semifinals are in the books and that means that we are (very) close to the end of the 2016 season. Before we arrive at the National Championship Game, though, there is a jam-packed slate of action on Jan. 2 and we are here to bring you some winners. Before we get to the games, let’s take a look at where we’ve been during both the bowl campaign and the overall season at-large.
- Bowls: 10-14-1
- Season: 82-80-2
Outback Bowl (Jan. 2, 1:00 pm ET) – Florida and Iowa UNDER 41 points
This number is appropriately low and I don’t even care. Neither of these offenses are even borderline competent and, in the case of Florida, defense is a legitimate strength. We’ve seen Iowa play in this range before and there is an argument that only Michigan has presented a defense on the same level as Florida’s against the Hawkeyes this season. I know it won’t be fun to sweat, but I think it’s the right side.
Outback Bowl (Jan. 2, 1:00 pm ET) – Iowa (+3) over Florida
These are correlated selections and I’ll admit that. Frankly, I would’ve taken either team if given three points, and I’m expecting a low-scoring game. This pick probably wouldn’t exist if we weren’t picking every game on Jan. 2, but the Hawkeyes have the ability to keep things close and potentially win outright. Florida’s offense is that putrid and we’ve seen Iowa play “up” to their competition already this season.
Next: Cotton Bowl