The 2013 Outback Bowl will see two teams that had high expectations prior to the season compete in the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Michigan Wolverines. The game will be played on New Year's Day with a start time of 1:00 p.m. and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds have South Carolina favored by 4 points in the game.

Michigan played a pretty tough schedule this season and finished with an 8-4 record overall. Those losses came to Alabama, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Those three teams have a combined record of 36-1.

And if you add in Nebraska, the fourth team to beat the Wolverines this season, their combined record is 46-4. Michigan obviously isn't making any excuses for their lackluster season, but they can still end the year on a high note with a win in the Outback Bowl against South Carolina tonight.

Denard Robinson is expected to be under center for the Wolverines in this one. He'll clearly share some time with Devin Gardner as well. They'll look to play both in today's game and probably will even have them on the field at the same time.

South Carolina lost Marcus Lattimore to a season-ending knee injury again this season, which certainly dampers their ability offensively. Yet, they still will send out a very talented team on both ends of the football. The Gamecocks scored 31 points per game this season while giving up just 17, which ranks 13th in the country. They'll look to try and score points on a Michigan defense that is much improved overall and gave up just 18 points per game this season.

Michigan enters the contest with a bevy of seniors on the team looking to get a win in their final game. Sure, the SEC is known as the best conference in all of football, but in bowl games Michigan holds a 7-3 advantage over the SEC.

They'll be looking to run a balanced offense in this game, knowing South Carolina owns one of the best pass rushes in all of college football. Look for Michigan to concentrate running the football in this game as well. They averaged 187 yards per game on the ground this season. Offensively they scored 30 points a game as well.

Jadeveon Clowney is a freak and look for him to lead the Gamecock defense to a solid outing in this one. Michigan isn't the greatest passing team in the world and with a South Carolina heavy pass rush, look for them to pressure the Wolverines all game.

This is going to be a fun matchup to watch. Michigan has some suspended players in this game, but we don't think it's going to be a huge issue. The Wolverines have been practicing a full month with guys at the new positions. Look for a nice game in this one.

Free Pick: South Carolina 31, Michigan 30

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