Prizing:

1st Place: $50 Amazon gift card

2nd-5th Place: $10 Starbucks gift card

Overview:

On Monday, January 2nd, at 1:00 P.M. the Florida Gators will take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Outback Bowl.

The Crowd:

“The Crowd” projects a final score of Florida 28.5 – Iowa 23.1 with an over/under of 51.6.  The Vegas Line has a final score of Florida 21.8 – Iowa 18.8 with an over/under of 40.5.

2016-17 Statistics (127 total teams):

Passing offense: Florida 215.3 YPG > Iowa 161.3 YPG

Rushing offense: Iowa 171.9 YPG > Florida 129.8 YPG

Scoring offense: Iowa 26.8 PPG > Florida 23.4 PPG

Scoring defense: Florida 17.9 PPG = Iowa 17.9 PPG

Passing defense: Florida 156.3 YPG > Iowa 199.7 YPG

Rushing defense: Florida 142.3 YPG > Iowa 153.2 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: Iowa +0.6 > Florida +0.1

Strength of schedule:

Florida is (8-4) with wins over UMass, Kentucky, North Texas, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Georgia, South Carolina, LSU, and Arkansas.  They were defeated by Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida State, and Alabama.  Iowa is (8-4) with wins over Michigan, Miami (OH), Iowa State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois, and Nebraska.  Their losses came against North Dakota State, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Penn State.

Summary:

Both teams struggled against the upper echelon teams on their schedule.  I expect this to be a low-scoring game with two of the top ten defenses in fewest points allowed going head to head.  Florida has struggled to score points all year in fact they averaged 15 points per game in their last five.  The Gators were stricken with so many injuries at the end of the year which strongly contributed to their blowout losses to Alabama and Florida State.  Iowa will have to run the ball effectively to have any chance in this one because their passing game has been ineffective for the majority of the season.  With improved health, the Gators will finally have their elite defense back intact.  I think Florida will stuff the run and make Iowa one dimensional on offense.  Offensively, the Gators will be opportunistic and capitalize when they need to.  Another important factor is the location which essentially is a home game for Florida which gives them another advantage.

**LISTEN HERE** to the latest edition of “The Berger Shop” podcast, sponsored by The Crowd’s Line.  This week’s episode features an in-depth discussion about the return of Tiger Woods with golf pro Jason Birnbaum.

Note:

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