Iowa was an inch away from ending up in the College Football Playoff this year, but after losing a close one to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship Game, the Hawkeyes will have to “settle” for the Rose Bowl after an undefeated season. If the fan-based reaction is any indication, Iowa players should be pretty excited about getting to face Pac-12 Champion Stanford in Pasadena.
Rose Bowl 2016 picks and predictions: Stanford picked to out-muscle Iowa
It’s a battle of two lineman-centric teams.
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Stanford’s season started rough with a 16-6 loss at Northwestern. However, the Cardinal bounced back to blow out USC a few weeks later, then proceeded to beat UCLA, Washington State and USC again en route to a conference title, plus a win over Notre Dame. Losses to Northwestern and Oregon are certainly respectable, but they also kept the Cardinal out of the Playoff. Still, Stanford’s offense has a lot of weapons, with quarterback Kevin Hogan and running back/all-purpose star Christian McCaffrey leading the way.
Stanford checks in as 6.5-point favorites with OddsShark, and is the pick from eight of SB Nation’s 10 college football analysts. The Cardinal are the pick from ESPN, as well.
| Matt Brown | Bill Connelly | Wescott Eberts | Bud Elliott | Steven Godfrey | Spencer Hall |
| Stanford | Stanford | Stanford | Stanford | Stanford | Stanford |
| Jason Kirk | Rodger Sherman | Pete Volk | Luke Zimmermann | Easy Call | OddsShark |
| Iowa | Iowa | Stanford | Stanford | Stanford | Iowa |
This game figures to be an old-fashioned slug fest between two teams who are known for developing offensive linemen and run pro-style offenses. A lot of this game could be played in a phone booth. However, both teams have offensive weapons this year to spread the field. McCaffrey is an obvious gamebreaker, and Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard showed off his strong arm with an 85-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tevaun Smith in the Big Ten Championship Game. We could be in for an exciting game, both for those who like old school football and those who like big plays.
SB Nation analyst Pete Volk explains why he picked the Cardinal:
I picked Stanford because of how much better the Cardinal offense has been this year. Christian McCaffrey’s a special player, and I don’t think Iowa has enough on offense to match that. I expect the game to be close, but the Hawkeyes might need special teams plays or favorable turnover luck to keep up.
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