Following a wild weekend of bowl action, we get a short reprieve before the traditional New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day spots ramp things up again.
In the Von Hugendong Bowl Mania group, Matman Robinson continues to hold onto the lead built during the early days of the postseason, but the gap has shrunk considerably.
Things will certainly be going down to the wire once again.
Let’s have a look at the only bowl game taking place on Monday.
TransPerfect Music City Bowl
Iowa vs. #19 Missouri (Monday, 2:30 PM ET – ESPN)
As if Iowa’s offensive issues weren’t on display enough during the regular season, college football fans will be graced by an offensive outfit for the Hawkeyes that is missing its most impactful player, running back Kaleb Johnson, for this game. Johnson led the Big Ten and finished the regular season seventh in the country with 1,537 yards, but understandably has opted out of playing in Nashville to prepare for the NFL Draft. The Hawkeyes will likely employ a running game by committee, but it will need to produce nonetheless. Following high expectations after coming in from Michigan, Cade McNamara has entered the transfer portal and sparingly used Brenden Sullivan is expected to start at quarterback for Iowa.
Scoring a ton of points was never going to be the way Iowa won this game, anyway. The Hawkeyes do have a competent defense and will be challenged with slowing down dual threat Brady Cook and a cast of wideouts looking to make a name for themselves with Luther Burden III opting out of this game for the Tigers. Though Cook will be tasked with doing more with less, in a sense, this will be his last game in a Missouri uniform and despite unimpressive numbers this season, was a solid three-year starter at the program. I expect that Cook will want to go out with a bang and is good enough to break down Iowa’s defense despite the offense missing some key pieces that helped the team get to nine wins. If the Tigers can manage to eclipse the 20-point mark, they will win this game and notch one for the southerners in the imaginary Big Ten vs. SEC bowl challenge.
My Pick: 26-18 Missouri
Bowl Mania Confidence: 14 points
