South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina Gamecocks The five-pack of New Year's Day bowls opens with the South Carolina Gamecocks taking on the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Outback Bowl. Odds makers are calling the 8-4 Hawkeyes favorites against the 7-5 Gamecocks. NCAA betting lines have Iowa at -3.5 with the total in the contest sitting at 53.5.

The Gamecocks and coach Steve Spurrier will be looking to avoid a third straight loss and another late season collapse as they bring in the new year in Tampa. Once again South Carolina started strong but faded down the stretch, losing three of their final five games.

Some critics are saying that Spurrier has lost control of his team and he is desperately trying to get it back.

"We are 7-5 and it is what it is," Spurrier said. "We will try our best to represent South Carolina better than we have these past two games. We are going to try to be a little bit more positive. Maybe, I've been a little negative at times."

The
Hawkeyes, at 8-4, are coming in moving completely in the other direction. Iowa is riding a three game win-streak and has won five of their last six games, including 24-23 over then-no. 3 Penn State.

"It was a lot of fun," coach Kirk Ferentz said about their up and down season. "It didn't start out easy. Credit goes to our players. They hung in there and in the end a lot of good things happened."

Running back Shonn Greene and one of the nation's best defenses has been the key for the Hawkeyes. Greene was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and the Doak Walker Award winner as the nation's best running back.

While Greene led a much-improved offense, the Hawkeyes may have been even more impressive on the other side of the ball. They held opponents to 13.3 points and 289.5 yards per game, ranking them 8th and 12th in the nation.

Look for the Hawkeyes to dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Take Iowa and give the 3.5 points.