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Iowa vs Vanderbilt Preview & Picks – Pavia To Lead Commodores To ReliaQuest Bowl Win

leigh-copson
16 Dec 2025
leigh-copson
Leigh Copson 16 Dec 2025
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  • Iowa vs Vanderbilt picks for Wednesday, December 31
  • ReliaQuest Bowl is taking place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida
  • Preview, predictions, stats & form
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Iowa vs Vanderbilt Preview & Picks

Vanderbilt are tipped to wrap up the season with a ReliaQuest Bowl win.

Commodores head coach Clark Lea will have few issues getting his players up for this game, and Diego Pavia’s confirmation that he will play is huge for them.

  • Vanderbilt are 10-2 in their 12 games
  • Vanderbilt are 9-1-0 ATS in their 10 victories
  • Iowa are 0-4 against ranked teams this season
  • The Over has cashed in 7 of Vanderbilt’s last 9 games

Head To Head

  • This will be the first time that these two schools have played each other

Iowa Form

Iowa ensured a bowl invite by winning eight of their 12 games during the regular season.

The Hawkeyes kicked off the campaign by winning two of three non-conference games, before opening their Big Ten slate with a 38-28 victory at Rutgers.

They fell 20-15 to Indiana a week later, but rebounded with three consecutive victories as they backed up a 37-0 win at Wisconsin with home wins over Penn State, 25-24, and Minnesota 41-3.

Iowa’s hopes of a surprise Big Ten appearance were ended in the first half of November though, as they lost 18-16 to Oregon and 26-21 at USC.

The Hawkeyes did finish the regular season on a positive note though, following up a 20-17 at home to Michigan State with a 40-16 success in Nebraska.

Vanderbilt Form

Vanderbilt missed out on a place in the college football playoffs, but still enjoyed a highly successful season as they won 10 games.

The Commodores opened the season with back-to-back non-conference wins, before kicking off their SEC schedule with a 31-7 upset of South Carolina on the road.

They then won a couple more non-conference games before suffering their first defeat of the season, a 30-14 loss at Alabama.

Vanderbilt rebounded with wins over two ranked teams, beating LSU 31-24 and Missouri 17-10, only to then suffer a costly 34-31 defeat on the road at Texas.

The Commodores did at least end the regular season with a couple of impressive wins, following up a 45-17 win over Kentucky with a 45-24 success at Tennessee.

Verdict

Vandy missed out on the playoffs and Pavia missed out on the Heisman Trophy.

However, this has still been a tremendous season for the Commodores, and we are backing them to end it on a high.

Best Bet1: Vanderbilt -4.5 Spread @-111.11 at Stake.us - 4 Units
Best Bet2: Over 46.5 Total Points @-111.11 at Stake.us - 2 Units
Vanderbilt -4.5
Spread
@-111.11 - 4 Units
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Bet at Stake.us
Over 46.5
Total Points
@-111.11 - 2 Units
55 Stake Cash no deposit & 550,000 Gold Coins & 5% Rakeback
Use promo code NEWBONUS

Sign up with the code NEWBONUS. When you verify your account get 25 Stake Cash for free PLUS 250,000 Gold Coins and 5% Rakeback! No deposit required. Login each day for the next 30 days and get an additional 30 Stake Cash AND 300,000 Gold Coins. 21+ only. T&Cs apply. Excludes WA, NY, NV, ID, KY, MI, VT, NJ, DE, WV, PA, RI & MD.

Bet at Stake.us

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