Fansided

Northwestern Mutual Rose Bowl Odds & Prediction

By Mike Marteny

Dec 5, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal running back Christian McCaffrey (5) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Southern California Trojans in the fourth quarter in the Pac-12 Conference football championship game at Levi
Dec 5, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal running back Christian McCaffrey (5) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Southern California Trojans in the fourth quarter in the Pac-12 Conference football championship game at Levi /
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We have finally made it to the New Year’s Six Bowls! Unfortunately, that means that bowl season is nearing an end. Have your Bowl Mania picks been destroyed by upsets? Luckily you can still find places to play against the spread! I will continue with my picks until the very end. I am doing well in the points system, but I think I am struggling against the spread during bowl time. I am about six games behind, so maybe it gets better!

More from College Football Odds

In case you missed how the point scale works, here is a brief rundown:

5. A lock. I am comfortable making a sizable wager on this game.

4. Very confident. Not quite a lock, but I am comfortable making a decent sized wager on it.

3. Middle of the road. Good enough that I would make a small wager on it.

2. Could go either way. So much so that I wouldn’t bet on it.

1. Stay away from these.

Just in case you missed any:

Now for the Northwestern Mutual Rose Bowl!

Stanford(-6.5) vs. Iowa at Pasadena, CA(2):

Stanford(11-2, 9-1):

Wins: vs. Central Florida(31-7), at USC(41-31), at Oregon State(42-24), vs. Arizona(55-17), vs. UCLA(56-35), vs. Washington(31-14), at Washington State(30-28), at Colorado(42-10), vs. California(35-22), vs. Notre Dame(38-36), vs. USC(41-22)

Losses: at Northwestern(6-16), vs. Oregon(36-38)

Record vs. bowl teams: 8-2

Iowa(12-1, 8-1):

Wins: vs. Illinois State(31-14), at Iowa State(31-17), vs. Pittsburgh(27-24), vs. North Texas(62-16), at Wisconsin(10-6), vs. Illinois(29-20), at Northwestern(40-10), vs. Maryland(31-15), at Indiana(35-27), vs. Minnesota(40-35), vs. Purdue(40-20), at Nebraska(28-20)

Losses: vs. Michigan State(13-16)

Record vs. bowl teams: 6-1

The only two teams that Stanford played that didn’t play in the postseason were Central Florida and Colorado. They have had a tough schedule, and due to the emergence of Christian McCaffrey, have made it look relatively easy with the exception of the Oregon game. They haven’t faced a defense quite like Iowa though. Not since Northwestern. That game really wont tell us much since McCaffrey was not the focal point of the Stanford offense like he is now. The Cardinal are better with McCaffrey, Remound Wright, and Barry Sanders controlling the ground and Kevin Hogan managing the game. It’s not a bad thing.

Iowa impressed a lot of people with the fight they put up against Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship. I’m not one of them. Michigan State is a good team, but as  we saw last night, they are not elite. Two of Iowa’s wins against bowl teams were against 5-7 teams. That said, Iowa has done a solid job against some good running backs. They still haven’t faced someone with McCaffrey’s talent. He really can change a game.

Sure, Iowa destroyed a Northwestern team that beat Stanford. As we have also said, that was a different Stanford team. These are two similar teams, but Stanford is better at being Iowa than Iowa is.

My pick: Stanford

Next: The Picks For Every Bowl Game!

Stay tuned for the picks of every bowl game against the spread!