Liberty Bowl: Memphis vs Iowa State Odds, and Picks (Dec 29)

• Memphis won five of their last six games, climbing to 9-3 on the season.
• Iowa State upset Kansas State on the road in their closer, improving to 7-5.
• These two teams last met on December 30, 2017, in a game Iowa State won 21-20.

The college football season has reached the bowl games! Let’s preview the upcoming 2023 Liberty Bowl between the Memphis Tigers and the Iowa State Cyclones. They’ll each aim to close the season on a win.

How to Watch

• ESPN

Preview

Memphis had another very solid season, but came up a bit short of the AAC title game. They enter this bowl game with a 9-3 record and a chance to claim their 10th win of the year for the third time in the past ten seasons. The Tigers have a dangerous offense led by QB Seth Henigan, who plans to return to Memphis for his Senior year. The Tigers will aim to win this game and take some momentum into next year.

Iowa State finished 6-3 in Big-12 play, despite a very difficult schedule. After going 1-2 in non-conference play, the Cyclones bounced back and continued to get better as the season progressed. In their final two games, they lost to #3 Texas by just 10 points, and then beat #25 Kansas State on the road. They’ll look to keep their hot play going in this bowl game against Memphis. Their defense needs to be at its best here.

Prediction

Iowa State’s hot play down the stretch caught the eyes of many, which resulted in them entering this game as the heavy favorites. While I’m not certain Iowa State will lose, I am pretty sure this game won’t be that unbalanced. Memphis has also been playing well, and has a legitimately difficult to stop offense. It could go either way in the final moments, but I definitely like the Tigers chances of winning this bowl matchup.

NCAAF Picks:

• Memphis 28, Iowa State 27 ()