Zane Douglas, sports editor (8-3)

Iowa State 23, Oregon 17

I’m going pretty safe with this pick, going with the higher ranked team by a low margin with a relatively low score, but it’s what I think will happen.

I think there are a lot of things to like about this matchup for Iowa State, but a couple of the biggest ones are just how good Oklahoma’s offense looked against Florida and how good the Big 12 has looked during bowl season.

The Cyclones’ defense is legit and the Big 12 may be better than anyone thought coming into this bowl season (yes, I know Florida was missing a bunch of players), so I’m sticking with the safe option despite Oregon’s impressive win over USC.

The Cyclones take this one and finish their season 9-3.

Matt Belinson, assistant sports editor (6-5)

Iowa State 30, Oregon 17

Iowa State didn’t quite get the job done in the Big 12 Championship after a bad first half of play with some unlucky calls and bounces not going its way.

The Cyclones showed fight and more importantly, showed that they have their best football yet to play. I think Oregon is about to get that.

I know my relatively low score prediction might not indicate that, but I think Iowa State will end up dominating this game. 

Tyler Shough is young and very prone to turnovers. Oregon has not played a team with the level of talent Iowa State has. All of that smells like a dominating win for Iowa State.

Stephen McDaniel, assistant sports editor (9-2)

Iowa State 28, Oregon 21

Iowa State couldn’t get it done in the Big 12 Championship game, but it’ll get it done in its first-ever New Year’s Six bowl game.

Even when things were looking down for the Cyclones against Oklahoma, Iowa State still managed to turn things around and nearly made the comeback of the season.

I think Oklahoma is a way better team than Oregon, but that’s not to take anything away from the back-to-back Pac-12 Champions.

I see Iowa State getting off to a slow start, but once it shakes off the nerves, Matt Campbell’s squad will take control of the game, especially with how well the Cyclone defense plays in the second half.

Tyler Shough and the Ducks will stick around, but I see the veteran-led Cyclones taking advantage of Oregon’s young quarterback.

Zach Martin, columnist (6-4)

Oregon 24, Iowa State 21

I’m probably in the minority here, but for all of the great and amazing things the Cyclones have done this year, this game trips them up a bit.

They’ll be very, very nervous I feel through the opening quarter. The Ducks make these New Year’s Six bowl trips often, their opponent does not. Experience matters.

This is not to say the game won’t be competitive, because of all the New Year’s Six games, this is going to be the closest in terms of margin of victory. It should be a great game to view.

With that said, the Oregon offense has playmakers at wide receiver that can make life a living nightmare for a leaky Iowa State secondary, plus I love any defense coached by Andy Avalos.

All of that leads to a victory for the Ducks and another bowl loss for the Cyclones.