Rose Bowl 2016: Latest Iowa vs. Stanford Odds, Predictions and More

The No. 5 Iowa Hawkeyes and No. 6 Stanford Cardinal had their sights set on a national championship. While that didn't come to fruition, the Rose Bowl is a pretty nice consolation prize.

Iowa was undefeated all season until the final minutes of the Big Ten Championship Game when the now-No. 3 Michigan State Spartans defeated the Hawkeyes with a late score, 16-13.

Stanford lost to the unranked Northwestern Wildcats in the first week of the season and probably would have found itself in the College Football Playoff if not for an upset loss to the Oregon Ducks, who were unranked at the time.

The Cardinal did win the Pac-12 Championship, which propelled them in to the Rose Bowl. Iowa may be backing into the game, but this matchup is between two great teams who should entertain the fans with their contrasting style of plays.

Here is a deeper look at the matchups with odds and predictions for the game:

Date	Time (ET)	Location	Matchup	Odds	Prediction
Jan. 1	5 p.m.	Pasadena, Calif.	(5) Iowa vs. No. 6 Stanford	Stanford -6.5	Iowa, 27-23

For the second straight week, Iowa is playing as a top-five team going up against a lower-ranked team as the underdog. 

Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard looked at the fact his team was chosen to play in the game over the Ohio State Buckeyes as a win for team perception, per Mitch Sherman of ESPN.com: "It shows that we've got a little bit more respect than we had in the past," Beathard said.

Iowa fans certainly see their team as the favorite and are clamoring for tickets, per Chad Leistikow of the Des Moines Register:

Having fan support on a neutral field is nice, but will it be enough to help stop Stanford's Heisman Trophy finalist, running back Christian McCaffrey?

After 461 all-purpose yards Dec. 2 in the Pac-12 Championship Game, McCaffrey broke Barry Sanders' NCAA single-season all-purpose yards record.

In case you missed it, here are his highlights from his amazing performance, per Stanford Football's Twitter account:

On the season, he's rushed for 1,847 yards to go along with 540 receiving yards and 13 total touchdowns. He has rushed and passed for, caught and returned a touchdown.

If he is announced as the Heisman winner Saturday, he'll set another record, per ESPN Stats & Info:

As good as McCaffrey is, the one thing he can't do is play defense. Unfortunately, for the Cardinal, not many on their team perform well in this aspect of the game.

Stanford allows 23.1 points per game, but in the past four games where the Cardinal have gone 3-1, it's climbed to 29. They scored 36 against Oregon and lost. ESPN has the Cardinal ranked 53rd in team defense efficiency.

Iowa's defense is ranked 17th and has not allowed an opponent to score more than 20 points in eight of its past 10 games.

Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde is excited to see what will happen when finesse meets power:

It's not like Iowa can't score. The Hawkeyes put up 32.1 points per game and scored at least 40 points in three Big Ten games.

They also are coming off a tough loss that should motivate them to play well while looking for their first Rose Bowl win since 1959. That's something Fox Sports 1 host Colin Cowherd hinted could be the biggest difference in the game:

McCaffrey and quarterback Kevin Hogan should put up good numbers for Stanford, but Beathard (2,570 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions) and the defense will do enough, while limiting mistakes, to give the Hawkeyes a close victory.