Iowa (6-6) vs. #17 Texas (9-3)
Iowa entered the season as a national title darkhorse, and ended it about as disappointing as Florida State or Miami, although the Hawkeyes haven't come under anywhere near the amount of fire. Things looked good after a 5-1 start, but after a close loss to Indiana, the Hawkeyes fell apart, beating only Northern Illinois and looking pretty uninspiring against Michigan, Wisconsin, and Northwestern. Star QB Drew Tate had a disappointing senior campaign (2349 yards, 16/12 TD/INT), and while the season could've gone better with some breaks against Indiana or Minnesota, it's still been a very disappointing year for Iowa.
Last year's national champs, the Texas Longhorns, lost an early showdown with Ohio State, but won the other 9 of their first 10 games and remained in the periphery of the title picture. But any national title hopes went down with QB Colt McCoy after a late hit against Kansas State, and after losing there and against Texas A&M, Texas didn't even win the Big 12 South. Oklahoma may have been the rightful division winner, since the Longhorns got statistically spanked in beating the Sooners, but McCoy at 100% could've easily led Texas to wins in those last two games.
Thus, the big question of the game becomes Colt McCoy's health. Well, theoretically. It probably doesn't matter, as Texas has a top-25 yardage defense, a top-30 rushing game, and Iowa's pass defense is a decent clip worse than Texas A&M's. The Longhorns should win this one, even though Clemson and Purdue should've won their bowl games too.
My Pick: Texas
Confidence (out of 5): 3
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