2015 Bowl Games: Picking all 41 college bowls and championship game against the spread

Nov 14, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; General view of the Rose Bowl exterior before the NCAA football game between the UCLA Bruins and the Washington State Cougars. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual:
Stanford vs. Iowa
Pasadena, California | Rose Bowl
Jan. 1, 5 p.m. on ESPN

The “Granddaddy of Them All” has the chance to be a real classic this year, with two tough-as-nails teams from the traditional conferences of the Big Ten and Pac-12 ready to lock up.

Stanford and Iowa are teams that really are mirror images of each other. Both run the ball well, albeit Stanford a little better. Both play excellent defense, albeit Iowa a little better. Both are conservative in play-calling and use fundamentally sound football to win games.

Iowa’s lone loss of the season came in the Big Ten title game to Michigan State. Somehow that made the committee see fit to leave them out of the playoffs. (Yeah, scratching my head too). Stanford stumbled in their opener against Northwestern, and again in conference play against Oregon, but still managed to absolutely dominate USC in the Pac-12 title game.

The difference in this game will be who plays run defense the best, and right now you’d have to lean towards Iowa in that department.

Line: Stanford, -6.5

Nobody believed in Iowa all season long, and their weaker schedule was a reason why. Still, they held Michigan State to 16 points and nearly won that game. Take the Hawkeyes to beat any spread over 4.

Next: Sugar Bowl