It's time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Minnesota-Iowa prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Minnesota-Iowa.
The Iowa Hawkeyes under Fran McCaffery aren't all that different this season from past seasons. Iowa hoops under Fran has blown hot and cold. When the Hawkeyes are on, they are a tough team to handle. When they are bad, they are absolutely awful and can lose to just about any opponent. We have seen the best and worst of the Fran Hawks in recent weeks. We have seen Iowa beat Indiana by 25 points. We have seen the Hawkeyes get roasted by Wisconsin and toasted at UCLA. Iowa usually gives up a lot of points but sometimes is able to score more than what it allows. It is entertaining basketball, but it lacks the rugged, nasty edge of a blue-collar Tom Izzo Michigan State team or a sharpened Brad Underwood Illinois team. Those basketball programs have the capacity to go deep into the NCAA Tournament. Iowa does not, at least right now. It's not entirely an accident of fate that Iowa hasn't made the Sweet 16 since 1999. The Hawkeyes have had real deficiencies they haven't managed to fully address. They are in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament berth, but that's about it, and they need to collect some wins with more consistency if they want to feel optimistic heading into Selection Sunday.
Minnesota is toiling in mediocrity in the Big Ten. The Golden Gophers just can't seem to turn the corner. There is legitimately good high school basketball talent in the state of Minnesota, but the Gophers can't seem to either get enough of that talent or develop it into a winning Big Ten product. This program is languishing, with no real changes in sight. The trajectory of Minnesota basketball certainly isn't going upward, that's for sure. All the Gophers can do is put their heads down, work hard, and try to win a Big Ten rivalry game against Iowa. Beyond that, the long-term outlook isn't sunny in these weeks before Groundhog Day.
Minnesota: +8.5 (-108)
Moneyline: +300
Iowa: -8.5 (-112)
Moneyline: -385
Over: 151.5 (-110)
Under: 151.5 (-110)
Time: 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
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TV: Big Ten Network
Should the Iowa Hawkeyes be favored by 8.5 points over anyone right now? This team is so noticeably inconsistent, so obviously weak on defense, and so notoriously average that it just doesn't deserve the level of respect the markets are showing it right here. We know Minnesota is not a particularly good team, but is Iowa the dependable, rock-solid team one can trust with a betting stake? Certainly not. Minnesota losing by eight and yet still covering the spread is hard to ignore as the best play in this game.
Iowa has its problems, but Minnesota is clearly worse than the Hawkeyes, and this game is being played in Iowa City. Iowa can really put it on teams which aren't that good or aren't ready to play (or both), and Minnesota is definitely not very good. The flaws of Iowa won't matter against a more flawed opponent from Minnesota.
Our lean is to Iowa, but we don't trust either of these teams. Pass.
