The Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Iowa Nebraska prediction and pick.
Iowa basketball has gone through a whirlwind month in December. The Hawkeyes lost to Duke but then crushed rival Iowa State by 19 points. They lost an overtime duel to Wisconsin, which was no cause for any shame at all — Wisconsin is a good team — but then suffered the worst loss of the college basketball season from a betting standpoint. There is no bigger favorite in college basketball to lose this season. That's a fact.
Iowa was a 31.5-point favorite against Eastern Illinois on December 21. Somehow, the Hawkeyes lost, and the biggest shock of all was that the game wasn't all that close. Iowa lost by nine points on its home floor, 92-83. If you follow college basketball on an annual basis, you know that mid-December games — when college students are either taking final exams or preparing for Christmas with their families, or both — often create crazy and unexpected results. That said, a 31.5-point favorite losing at home is still remarkable and very rare. Iowa somehow has to shrug off that game and bounce back here against Nebraska.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Iowa-Nebraska College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: Iowa-Nebraska Odds
Iowa Hawkeyes: -3.5 (-118)
Nebraska Cornhuskers: +3.5 (-104)
Over: 149.5 (-112)
Under: 149.5 (-108)
Why Iowa Could Cover the Spread
This is a very flawed Nebraska team which has lost six games and is battling just to stay above the .500 mark at 7-6. Nebraska did have that one really impressive and surprising 10-point win at Creighton, but the Huskers recently got blown out by an average Kansas State team. They have lost to Oklahoma — a team unlikely to make the NCAA Tournament — by 13 points. They lost by 20 to a St. John's team which is unlikely to make the NCAA Tournament. The Creighton result looks much more like an outlier at this point than a representative occurrence. Nebraska just isn't very good … again.
Iowa, meanwhile, is going to be hopping mad after that embarrassing loss to Eastern Illinois. This is a talented team which hit the snooze bar against Eastern Illinois. The Hawkeyes do not figure to be caught napping this time around.
Why Nebraska Could Cover the Spread
The Iowa loss to Eastern Illinois is certainly an eye-opener. Iowa obviously has some talent and potential; otherwise, the Hawkeyes would not have blown out Iowa State or taken Wisconsin into overtime or done anything else of note thsi season. However, any team which can drift through the motions and lose as a favorite of more than 30 points does not deserve to be trusted and should not be thought of as a reliable team.
One also has to make note of the fact that in addition to beating Creighton on the road, Nebraska took Purdue to the final seconds before losing by just three points to the Boilermakers, 65-62, in a game which was close down the stretch. If that version of the Nebraska basketball team shows up here, Iowa is in deep trouble. Purdue is the No. 1 team in the country and one of only three unbeaten teams left in college hoops alongside New Mexico and UConn. If Purdue struggled at Nebraska, Iowa will lose at Nebraska.
Final Iowa-Nebraska Prediction & Pick
This is a game in which you should stay away. Why trust Iowa after the Eastern Illinois loss? Why trust Nebraska basketball in anything? Just sit back, watch, learn, and maybe wait for a live play.
Final Iowa-Nebraska Prediction & Pick: Iowa -2.5
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