Michigan State is unbeaten and ranked in the top 10 but they are nearly a touchdown underdog in NCAA online betting at Iowa on Saturday. You might think that the college football betting line is a little weird for this game but Iowa is extremely tough at home and they already have a win against Ohio State this season. This is the fourth straight week that Iowa is playing a ranked team. The Hawkeyes just don’t get any breaks. Iowa is 5-2 on the season and 2-1 in the Big 10. This game against Michigan State will be shown on ABC and the Hawkeyes are a 6.5 point favorite at SBG.
Spartans Finding Ways to Win
Michigan State looked like they would lose last week at Northwestern as they trailed 17-0 but they rallied to win 35-27. Does their luck run out this week at Iowa? The odds makers sure think so.
Iowa is Normally Money at Home – The Hawkeyes have won 48 of their last 58 games (.828) in Kinnick Stadium. They did lose last week at home to Wisconsin though but just barely. Iowa is 16-3 at home since the start of the 2008 season.
Ricky Stanzi
The Hawkeyes lost 31-30 to Wisconsin last week but it was not the fault of their quarterback. He threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions. He leads the Big Ten and is 12th nationally in pass efficiency.
Iowa’s Defense
The Hawkeyes are still 11th nationally in scoring defense (15.7) and eighth in rushing defense (92.1). They collapsed last week though against Wisconsin so it will be interesting to see how they bounce back this week.
The Series
Iowa won last year 15-13 at Michigan State as Stanzi threw a TD pass to Marvin McNutt on the last play of the game. Iowa holds a 21-18-2 advantage in the series. The Hawkeyes have won eight of the last 12 meetings. The home team had won nine straight meetings before last season. Let’s look at more NCAA online betting numbers for Saturday’s game. The Spartans are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 conference games. The Spartans are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games as an underdog but they are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 meetings at Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite. Total trends indicate that the Over is 42-17-1 in the Spartans last 60 road games. The Over is 3-1-1 in the Hawkeyes last 5 games overall.