2017 Goodyear Cotton Bowl

On Friday the Goodyear Cotton Bowl pits the Ohio State Buckeyes from the Big 10 Conference against the Southern California Trojans from the Pacific 12 Conference.  So here is my analysis of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl based on the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.  The model uses data provided at www.cfbstats.com.

Prediction
Given the overall productivity of the two programs, the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model gives the edge to the Ohio State Buckeyes.  Below is a look at each of these two football programs during the 2017 regular season.

Ohio State Buckeyes
The Buckeyes finished the regular season at 10-2, and defeated #7 ranked Wisconsin (27-21) in the Big 10 conference championship game to be currently 11-2 overall, while played against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, meaning that Ohio State's SOS was plus or minus one standard deviation of the "league's" average SOS.  For this season the Buckeyes' best victory was over #4 ranked Penn State by a score of (39-38).  The Buckeyes' worst loss was to #63 ranked Iowa by a score of (17-55).  Ohio State has the #2 ranked team in total production with the #5 ranked offense and the #19 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

Southern California Trojans
The Trojans finished the regular season at 10-2, then defeated #48 ranked Stanford in the Pac 12 conference championship game by a score of (31-28) to be 11-2 currently.  The Trojan played against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, meaning that Southern California's SOS was plus or minus one standard deviation of the "league's" average SOS.  This season the Trojans' best victory was over #41 ranked Utah by a score of  (28-27).  Southern California's worst loss was to #39 ranked Washington State by a score of (27-30).  Southern California has the #19 ranked team in total production with the #10 ranked offense and the #73 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2017 Bowl Games
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Cure Bowl
Las Vegas Bowl
Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
Cheribundi Tart Cherry Roca Baton Bowl
DXL Frisco Bowl
Bad Boy Mower Gasparilla Bowl
Bahamas Bowl
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Birmingham Bowl
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl 
Dollar General Bowl
Hawaii Bowl
Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl 
Quick Lane Bowl
Cactus Bowl
Walk On's Independence Bowl
New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Foster Farms Bowl
Academy Sports & Outdoor Texas Bowl 
Military Bowl 
Camping World Bowl
SDCCU Holiday Bowl 
Valero Alamo Bowl
Belk Bowl
Hyundai Sun Bowl
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl 
NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl