Iowa vs. Mizzou Betting Preview - Music City Bowl

Missouri takes on Iowa in this year's Music City Bowl.

Betting Preview

No. 23 Missouri (9-3, No. 19 CFP) needs a victory for back-to-back 10-win seasons for the third time in school history and the first since 2013-14. The Tigers sold out their ticket allotment and asked for more.

Iowa (8-4) rebounded from a 4-3 start by winning four of its last five to earn this berth. Ferentz credited his Hawkeyes for finishing strong to reach a 12th straight bowl. They started this year by being shut out in the Citrus Bowl.

Top Players and Who's Out

The Missouri quarterback leads the bowl-veteran Tigers. He will become the first quarterback in Missouri history to start four straight bowls. He is 26-13 as a starter, trailing only Chase Daniel’s 30 wins for the most at Missouri. Cook has completed 63.3% of his passes for 2,248 yards this season. He also can run, with 73 carries for 169 yards.

Cook won’t have one of his favorite targets. Luther Burden III, who had 61 catches for 676 yards and six touchdowns despite facing double- and triple-team coverage, announced on Dec. 2 he would skip the bowl to prepare for the NFL draft.

Iowa averaged 199.9 yards rushing a game, the most for the program since the Hawkeyes averaged 214.2 yards rushing in 2002.

But the Hawkeyes won’t have Big Ten rushing leader Kaleb Johnson. The running back also announced at the start of December that his next stop will be the NFL draft in April. He ran for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns in 12 games, averaging 128 yards, which ranks him sixth nationally. Kamari Moulton will be starting, and he averaged 5.4 yards per carry, with 377 yards and two TDs this season.

Line Analysis and Action

Action was balanced with Missouri moving from a -3 favorite to -2.5.

Sagarin suggests Iowa should be a favorite as they give us a number of 0.34.

Comparables

The wrong team favored in this line range heavily favors the dog.

• Colorado State +2.5 Miami-Ohio (Colorado State 0.84 Wrong Team Favored) - Favorite covers.
• Georgia +2.5 Texas (Georgia 0.40 Game Played in Atlanta - Wrong Team Favored) - Texas 60% to 72% action - Dog covers.
• Georgia Tech -2.5 to -3 Syracuse (Syracuse -3 Wrong Team Favored - Dog covers.
• North Carolina -2.5 Minnesota (Minnesota 0.92 - Wrong Team Favored) - Dog covers.

• Oklahoma State +3/+2.5 West Virginia (OKS -3.4 Wrong Team Favored - 6 Point Overlay) - Dog covers.

Our Pick

Iowa +2.5