This article is part of our College Football Picks series.
College Football Best Bets: Iowa vs. Iowa State
It's beautiful, man! Once again, it is time for the least-elegant college football game conceivable. The Iowa Hawkeyes. The Iowa State Cyclones. You see this game is on the schedule and if you are of a certain persuasion your immediate thought is, "I can't wait to see the total on that game." Well, I won't make you wait any longer.
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Iowa vs. Iowa State Betting Odds
Spread: Iowa -2.5 (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Total: 35.5 (FanDuel Sportsbook)
Moneyline: Iowa -130 (DraftKings Sportsbook), Iowa State +120 (BetMGM Sportsbook)
Ooh baby, it's as glorious as we could have dreamed. That total delivers upon the understood ethos of the Iowa-Iowa State matchup. However, let's not get too focused on that. The spread on this one speaks to a game that the oddsmakers think will be quite close, and they tend to know what they are doing.
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Iowa vs. Iowa State Betting Picks
This line is even funnier because the Hawkeyes scored 40 points in Week 1. Of course, that was against Illinois State, and the game was 6-0 at halftime. I know Brian Ferentz is gone, but Kirk Ferentz remains. Iowa scored 41 on Western Michigan last season and still averaged 15.4 points per game. By the way, in Week 1 the Cyclones beat North Dakota, one of the better FCS teams, 21-3.
SP+ has Iowa's defense ranked first (still built mostly on last season but nevertheless) and Iowa State's 18th. Last year the Hawkeyes won this game 20-13. The year prior, the Cyclones won it 10-7 in what was this rivalry's true masterpiece. The last time either of these teams scored more than 27 against one another was in 2017. This game is a bit tricky to get a read on because both teams played FCS opponents in Week 1, and both teams won comfortably. Then again, there is the adage that it isn't who you beat, but how you beat them. Using that principle…
Iowa vs. Iowa State Best Bet: Iowa -2.5 (DraftKings Sportsbook)
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Iowa vs. Iowa State Predictions
I will note that last week, as the Hawkeyes were beating Illinois State 40-0, Ferentz was serving a one-game suspension. They were also without ostensible top receiver Kaleb Brown, also suspended for an unrelated matter. Will this game be low scoring? I mean, it would be an affront if it wasn't, though betting on what you want to happen as opposed to what you think will happen is often a losing game. This game could easily get under the 35.5 total, but that limbo bar just felt too low.
Cade McNamara got it going in the second half for Iowa. I expect a defensive battle, and I don't see either team hitting 30 points for another year in a row. That being said, Iowa won by a touchdown last year, and it won 27-17 in 2021. Now, that feels a little high for this rivalry, but if McNamara was indicating anything to us in Week 1, maybe this ends up a 24-14 Hawkeyes win. Fittingly low scoring, but not an offensive trainwreck.
