Iowa - South Carolina

the Outback Bowl Thursday, January 1st, 11:00am Tampa, Florida
Iowa (8-4)______Big10______150.39 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 Maine -414.18 W, 43-3 2 FL International -115.70 W, 42-0 3 Iowa State -302.37 W, 17-5 4 Pittsburgh 298.63 L, 20-21 5 Northwestern 140.28 L, 17-22 6 Michigan State 221.87 L, 13-16 7 Indiana -198.84 W, 45-9 8 Wisconsin 20.23 W, 38-16 10 Illinois -38.09 L, 24-27 11 Penn State 377.21 W, 24-23 12 Purdue -106.90 W, 22-17 13 Minnesota 19.84 W, 55-0	South Carolina (7-5)______SEC_____100.68 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 NC State 84.85 W, 34-0 2 Vanderbilt 26.46 L, 17-24 3 Georgia 232.43 L, 7-14 4 Wofford -417.59 W, 23-13 5 UAB -158.62 W, 26-13 6 Mississippi 183.12 W, 31-24 7 Kentucky -18.78 W, 24-17 8 LSU 61.99 L, 17-24 10 Tennessee -88.95 W, 27-6 11 Arkansas -38.58 W, 34-21 12 Florida 473.27 L, 6-56 14 Clemson 131.25 L, 14-31

Nothing too spectacular about these two's schedules. Both beat a solid opponent, Penn State and Mississippi, but lost to some bad ones too. South Carolina has the advantage in overall SoS.

Stats Matchup
Team	Iowa	South Carolina
Points (rank)	150.39 (#36)	100.68 (#45)
Record	8-4	7-5
Opp. Points (rank)	-109.03 (#64)	453.79 (#32)
Opp. Record	71-62	75-59
Points (% of Opp. Avg)	30.0 (123%)	21.7 (96%)
dPoints (% of Opp. Avg)	13.3 (48%)	20.3 (79%)
Rush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	189.3 (129%)	98.3 (70%)
dRush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	98.3 (68%)	128.7 (91%)
Pass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	184.6 (86%)	218.5 (112%)
dPass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	191.3 (87%)	160.3 (81%)
Tot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	373.9 (104%)	316.8 (94%)
dTot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	289.5 (79%)	288.9 (83%)
ST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	127.7 (100%)	123.8 (103%)
dST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	102.9 (84%)	106.8 (83%)
Penalties / Pen. Yds	3.9 / 33.0	5.4 / 45.0
TO's / TO Margin	1.8 / +6	2.8 / -9

Iowa likes to control the ball and will most likely win the time of possession by a healthy margin. They're also better in the turnover and penalty departments. There's just something about the Hawkeyes that I'm not sure of though... The Gamecocks aren't an attractive pick either, unfortunately. Tricky one.

The Line: South Carolina +4

The Call: Iowa by 7

The Result: Iowa 31-10

Iowa flew under the radar a lot this year, but they were a really good team. South Carolina has issues, to say the least - will they ever become an elite team, even for one season? I have doubts.