Bowl Slate Preview (Dec. 30)

It was a fantastic weekend of college football, and now we enter the home stretch with the next round of playoffs and the remaining Bowls. It’s the calm before the storm today with Iowa taking on Missouri in a standalone game before we kick off 4+ games tomorrow.

Today’s matchup has a lot of opt-outs, so it could get tricky. But there is always an angle, and we are going to find our way to profitability. Let’s get into it.

Music City Bowl

Iowa vs. Missouri

The Hawkeyes will be without their lone bright spot on offense in brand-favorite Kaleb Johnson, as he prepares for the NFL draft. QB Cade McNamara has decided to transfer after being benched earlier in the season, while several defensive pieces have also opted out.

On the Missouri side, stud receiver Luther Burden is opting out for draft prep, while their top offensive lineman will not be playing either. QB Brady Cook and their RB tandem of Nate Noel/Marcus Carroll are expected to suit up. This leaves the Tigers in a better position than Iowa in terms of player availability.

Brendan Sullivan will start at QB for Iowa, and he was actually somewhat adequate at the position once he took over for McNamara in Week 9. An ankle injury cost him the last month of the season, but he is back for this one.

Kamari Moulton (377 yards) and Jaziun Patterson (235 yards) will handle the backfield duties with Johnson gone. At receiver, Jacob Gill (32-382-2) and Reece Vander Zee (14-176-3) are the most relevant options from a fantasy perspective. Vander Zee is returning from a foot injury and is actually a highly athletic pass-catcher who could make some noise today.

Cook will get the start for Missouri as has been the case so many times before. He wasn’t healthy for the entire season but managed to throw for 2,248 yards and 9 TDs to 2 INTs while also scoring five times on the ground.

Carroll (578 yards) and Noel (804 yards) represent the clearest path to a victory for the Tigers and should be a priority for those playing the showdown slate. Burden is out as we mentioned above, along with Brett Norfleet. Believe it or not, Cook still has some viable weapons to work with, though. Theo Wease (55-809-3), Marquis Johnson (18-230-0) and Joshua Manning (13-192-1) make up a capable receiver room.

Without Johnson, I don’t know where the points will come from for Iowa. They’ve leaned on him so much this year, and he has done an admirable job of carrying them, so this one could get ugly very fast. I’m not overly impressed with Missouri either, and this season was definitely a disappointment compared to their expectations. This will provide them an opportunity to close out the year on a positive note, and it will certainly come down to which coach was able to motivate their team the most. At the end of the day, the Tigers have less opt-outs to important players, and that talent disparity should be the difference when the clock hits zero.