The second bowl of the season (and of the day) is the Idaho Potato Bowl which has the Utah State Aggies of the Western Athletic Conference against the University of Toledo Rockets of the Mid American Conference. Here is a quick overview of these two teams performance this season using the NCAA FBS production model and as always a game "prediction" based on the model. I will also be tracking the results as the bowl season progresses, so check back often to see how the model does.
The Toledo Rockets finished the regular season at 9-3 against an average strength of schedule (69.42) as compared to the rest of the league. Toledo's most impressive win was against #11 ranked Cincinnati and their worst performance of the season was against #76 ranked Ball State. Toledo currently is the #57 most productive team in the nation with the #37 ranked offense and the #80 ranked defense.
The Utah State Aggies finished the season at 10-2 against an average strength of schedule (76.25) relative to the rest of the FBS teams. The Aggies most impressive win came against #17 San Jose State and their two losses were to #25 Wisconsin (by 2 points) and #22 BYU ( by 3 points). Utah State is currently the #6 most productive team in the nation with the #17 ranked offense and the #7 ranked defense. This is a really good team and has been over the last few years.
Do not be surprised if this game is rather one-sided with Utah State's superior offense and defense stopping the Rockets on both sides of the ball. As you have guessed, the model predicts that Utah State will be victorious against the Toledo Rockets in the Idaho Potato Bowl.