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The Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Northwestern Wildcats. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Iowa Northwestern prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Iowa Northwestern.
It's an amazing time in the history of Northwestern basketball. The Wildcats are almost certainly headed to their second NCAA Tournament in school history. They had never made the NCAA Tournament until 2017. Northwestern hosted the first-ever Final Four in 1939. Oregon beat Ohio State in Northwestern's gymnasium to win the first NCAA Tournament championship. Northwestern spent over three quarters of a century chasing down that first NCAA bid. Then coach Chris Collins went through five hellish years in which the program — so optimistic about building momentum from that NCAA trip in 2017 — face-planted and failed to do anything of significance. Collins faced a grumbling fan base entering this season. He definitely needed to change the conversation. Here he is, the author of a renaissance six years after his first breakthrough season.
College basketball insiders credit the turnaround of the program to Collins' astute decision to hire former Southern Illinois head coach Chris Lowery. The defensive tactical acumen of Lowery, combined with a sharp eye for details in player development, has made Northwestern a far better prepared team this season. NU has a legitimate chance to be the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which has never happened before.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Iowa-Northwestern College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: Iowa-Northwestern Odds
Iowa Hawkeyes: -1.5 (-110)
Northwestern Wildcats: +1.5 (-110)
Over: 145.5 (-110)
Under: 145.5 (-110)
How To Watch Iowa vs. Northwestern
TV: Big Ten Network
Stream: Fox Sports App
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET, 3:30 p.m. PT
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*Watch Iowa-Northwestern LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Iowa Could Cover the Spread
This is a good Iowa team which went through a nasty little stretch in late December and early January, but found its footing and hasn't looked back. Iowa lost as a 31.5-point home favorite to Eastern Illinois. That was rock bottom. Iowa also lost in a blowout at Nebraska. The team was stumbling. Coach Fran McCaffery was able to get his team to gather itself and fight back. Iowa is currently playing its best basketball of the season. The Hawkeyes have won five of their last six games, and the only loss in that six-game sequence was to Purdue, the first-place team in the Big Ten.
Northwestern is having a great season, but NU lost to Iowa earlier this season. Also, after a few big wins, Northwestern is probably due for some regression, also an emotional hangover effect. This is a good spot for Iowa.
Why Northwestern Could Cover the Spread
If you have been following Northwestern basketball, you know how special and incredible this season is. Chris Collins' career seemed to have completely stalled. Northwestern seemed like a demoralized program which had run out of ideas and inspiration … and then this season unfolded. Northwestern looks night-and-day different from how it did one year ago. With recent home-court wins over Purdue and Indiana, Northwestern has taken second place in the Big Ten standings. Moreover, the win over Indiana gave Northwestern the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Hoosiers if those teams tie for second at the end of the regular season. This is not a normal, unreliable Northwestern team. This is the second-best team in the Big Ten Conference in 2023.
Final Iowa-Northwestern Prediction & Pick
This is a game you should stay away from. It's as close to a coin flip as it gets.
Final Iowa-Northwestern Prediction & Pick: Northwestern +1.5
