The top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes are heavily favored in college basketball betting as they host Iowa on Wednesday.
The Buckeyes are 18-0 overall and 5-0 in the Big 10. Although the Buckeyes are number one in the country and heavily favored in college basketball lines at Sbg global.com, Ohio State has not been that great against the spread this season.
Ohio State 7-8 ATS
The Buckeyes are just 7-8 against the spread this season and only 4-6 against the college basketball lines at home. Head coach Thad Matta is aware that his team has just been barely getting by recently. The Buckeyes have won four straight close games with the average margin of victory just under four points per game. The Buckeyes are not playing great defense and they would seem to be ripe for an upset. Iowa may not be the team to pull it off though. The Buckeyes won at Iowa City earlier this month 73-68 as Jared Sullinger had 24 points and 12 rebounds. The Buckeyes normally don’t lose at home against Big 10 teams that are unranked teams as they have won 35 straight.
Iowa 7-9 ATS
The Hawkeyes are winless in the Big 10 this season at 0-5. They lost against Minnesota on Sunday in a game in which they trailed 30-19 at the half. Iowa has lost five straight overall and the last three have come by an average of 15.3 points per game. The Hawkeyes are 0-5 in the Big 10 for the first time since the 1916-17 season. Freshman Melsahn Basabe had 20 points and 13 rebounds on Sunday. Only three other players scored points which indicated another problem that Iowa has and that is depth. Winning on the road is never easy, especially when you don’t have a bench.
Game Notes
The Buckeyes have beaten Iowa the last five times and seven of the last eight. They have also won the last five at home vs. the Hawkeyes. Even though Ohio State has been successful straight up, the Buckeyes are 0-4 in college basketball betting in their last 4 games overall. In this series, the Hawkeyes are 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings. This game will be shown on the Big 10 network so the total might get some action. The Under is 4-1 in the Hawkeyes last 5 road games. The Over is 7-1 in the Buckeyes last 8 vs. the Big Ten. In this series, the Over is 6-1 in the last 7 meetings at Ohio St.