Sports betting companies have noted the college football schedule for Penn State in 2010 including some nationally televised games. The game at Iowa on October 2nd will be very important in the Big 10 race and should have very close sportsbetting odds.
Sports betting companies list Penn State as a darkhorse candidate this season to win the national championship. That game at Iowa will be huge for Penn State’s chances. The Penn State-Iowa game is expected to be televised as is the game on October 30th against Michigan. Both games are set for evening kickoffs. The game against the Wolverines is set to be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC. Penn State is expected to be on prime time television at least twice this season. Penn State and Ohio State are the only Big 10 schools with more than one prime time game on ESPN or ABC this season.
The Penn State-Iowa series has been very competitive in sportsbetting. The all-time series is tied, 11-11, with the visiting team winning 14 of the 22 meetings. Last season each team finished 11-2 and in the top 10 in the final polls, with Iowa at No. 7 and Penn State at No. 9. Penn State has won 7 of the 11 games at Iowa City but they lost 24-23 in their last visit, in 2008. The Hawkeyes won 21-10 in Beaver Stadium last year.
Penn State and Michigan will be playing at night for the second time. In 2006 it was Michigan winning 17-10 at State College. Penn State has won the last two games against Michigan. They won 46-17 at home in 2008 and 35-10 last year in Ann Arbor. After this year’s game on October 30th, the Nittany Lions and Wolverines will not play again until the 2013 season.
Penn State is a popular team for television networks. The Nittany Lions have seen every one of their games televised over the past six years. A total of 190 of their last 192 games overall have been televised. In fact, Penn State has the most televised contests of any Big 10 team since 1995. And the Nittany Lions have four of the top five highest rated games in ESPN history.
Sports betting companies give Penn State a lot of respect. The Nittany Lions are 51-13 (79.7) since the start of the 2005 season. Penn State returns 13 starters from last season’s team for 2010, 7 on offense and 5 on defense. They open the season on Sept. 4 vs. Youngstown State and they visit national champion Alabama on Sept. 11th.