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ESPN’s FPI predictor released its early analysis of the Music City Bowl that will match Missouri and Iowa on Dec. 30 in Nashville.
The matchup is one of those tricky (and endearing) weekday afternoon affairs that we only get during the holiday bowl season. The Tigers and Hawkeyes will be playing on a Monday afternoon, with kickoff shortly after 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN from Nissan Stadium.
Missouri carved out a strong 9-3 season under Eli Drinkwitz. The Tigers even had faint College Football Playoff hopes well into November, but those hopes were dashed when they lost a heartbreaker at South Carolina on Nov. 16. That gave Missouri 3 losses, and that was the end of any Playoff talk in Columbia.
So, the Tigers head into their bowl game with a chance to get double-digit wins for the second straight season under Drinkwitz, who led Missouri to 11 wins in 2023. The only thing standing in Mizzou’s way is an 8-4 Iowa team that won 4 of its last 5 games to end the regular season.
With 2 teams so similar in records and playing on a neutral field, it’s no surprise that ESPN’s FPI predictor is pretty split on this matchup. The FPI gives Missouri a 52.8% chance to prevail and get to 10 wins in 2024. Iowa, on the other hand, is given a 47.2% shot to end its season with a victory.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
