Picking Every Bowl: Rose Bowl, Ohio State vs. Utah

Rose Bowl presented by Capital One
January 1
Ohio State (10-2) vs. Utah (10-3), Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, Calif., 5 p.m., ESPN
Ohio State -4 – O/U 64

The “Granddaddy of them all” should be one of the best bowl games this season. Utah started 1-2, but finished by winning six straight and nine out of its last 10 games. Included in those wins are two blowout victories over Oregon — the only team that had defeated Ohio State prior to its loss to Michigan in the regular season finale. The Buckeyes will be hamstrung by a host of NFL opt-outs, including two of its top three receivers. But given that Ohio State is similar to teams like Georgia and Alabama in its recruiting prowess, the Buckeyes still have a lot of talent that just hasn’t had the opportunity to shine yet. Having to go “man up” today will knock the Buckeyes back a notch, and Utah will play out of its mind to try and win on college football’s biggest stage. The Utes have one of the best defenses in the country, and this is a team that solved one of Ohio State’s biggest frustrations this season. It’ll be a great game and one that every true college football fan will want to watch. Late in the game, Ohio State’s CJ Stroud will go head-to-head against the Utes’ defense, and Stroud and the Buckeyes will come out on top.
Prediction: Ohio State 31-28
Result: Ohio State 48-45

Record:
Bowl season: SU – 25-11; ATS – 21-14-1; O/U – 15-21-0
Overall: SU – 617-192; ATS – 388-334-7; O/U – 346-371-12

About Douglas Blaine

Capnpen is a writer who was a newspaper and magazine journalist in a previous life. A college journalism major, he now works as an English teacher, but gets his writing fix by blogging about a variety of topics, including politics, religion, movies and television. When he's not working or blogging, Capnpen spends time with his family, plays a little golf (badly) and loves to learn about virtually anything.

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