EDITORIAL BY GRAYDON FOX

Overview:

On Friday, December 28^th, the (8-4) Iowa State Cyclones will take on the (10-2) Washington State Cougars in the Valero Alamo Bowl.

The Crowd:

The Crowd projects a final score of Washington State 33.2 – Iowa State 27.1 with an over/under of 60.3.

Lou Holtz and Mark May:

Lou is predicting a final score of Washington State 31 – Iowa State 20.

Mark is predicting a final score of Washington State 47 – Iowa State 27.

2018-19 Statistics (130 total teams):

Passing offense: Washington State 379.8 YPG (1^st) > Iowa State 234.8 YPG (62^nd)

Rushing offense: Iowa State 124.3 YPG (114^th) > Washington State 82.1 YPG (129^th)

Scoring offense: Washington State 38.3 PPG (15^th) > Iowa State 26.8 PPG (82^nd)

Scoring defense: Iowa State 22.5 PPG (36^th) > Washington State 23.1 PPG (39^th)

Passing defense: Washington State 208.8 (47^th) > Iowa State 228.8 YPG (62^nd)

Rushing defense: Iowa State 122.3 YPG (21^st) > Washington State 136.6 YPG (37^th)

Turnover Margin Per Game: Washington State +0.2 (50^th) > Iowa State 0.0 (66^th)

Strength of Schedule:

Iowa State is (8-4) with victories over Akron, #25 Oklahoma State, #6 West Virginia, Texas Tech, Kansas, Baylor, Kansas State, and Drake.  They were defeated by Iowa, #5 Oklahoma, TCU, and #15 Texas.

Washington State is (10-2) with wins over Wyoming, San Jose State, Eastern Washington, Utah, Oregon State, #12 Oregon, #24 Stanford, California, Colorado, and Arizona.  They were defeated by USC and #16 Washington.

Betting Trends: 

-Iowa State is 6-6 against the spread this season while Washington State is 9-3.

-Iowa State is 4-8 against the over/under this season whereas Washington State is 6-6.

Bottom Line

I’m convinced Washington State would’ve won eight straight to close out the season if they didn’t have to play Washington in a blizzard.  Cougars’ quarterback Gardner Minshew put up ridiculous numbers this season and Iowa State doesn’t have the premier pass rushers to make him uncomfortable in the pocket.  Iowa State’s defense is stingy in the red-zone so this may be a more low scoring game than anticipated.

Washington State wins 31-24

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