The Minnesota Golden Gophers take on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Minnesota Iowa prediction and pick. Find how to watch Minnesota Iowa.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers have exceeded expectations. Minnesota has scored comeback wins over the Northwestern Wildcats and Michigan State Spartans this month. The Gophers had been a Big Ten doormat in previous seasons, but now they are in the middle of the pack and have a legitimate chance of finishing the regular season with a winning record in conference play. This team doesn't give up when things are going wrong. It is not a dominant team or a polished team, but it is a very resilient team. When Minnesota trails by several points midway through the second half, it digs in and competes even better. Previous Minnesota teams — if placed in that same basic situation — would lose heart and fade away. Minnesota is definitely going in the right direction. It's less a matter of skill and more a matter of having a cohesive group which plays together and sacrifices for each other. This is a mixture of coaching and coachable players, of culture and motivation. This is a unified team which relishes challenges and wants to be successful. Not all teams are like that.
Iowa is drifting through a difficult season under Fran McCaffery. The Hawkeyes continue to be a team which struggles to play defense under Fran. They know how to score but find it hard to get defensive stops, particularly in big situations. Iowa's lack of defense is not only the reason why the Hawkeyes are going to miss the NCAA Tournament this season; this deficiency is why Iowa has never made the Sweet 16 this century. The last time Iowa reached the Sweet 16, the second weekend of the NCAAs, was in 1999 when the Hawkeyes lost to eventual national champion Connecticut in the West Regional semifinals.
Here are the Minnesota-Iowa College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Basketball Odds: Minnesota-Iowa Odds
Minnesota Golden Gophers: +5.5 (-102)
Iowa Hawkeyes: -5.5 (-120)
Over: 152.5 (-115)
Under: 152.5 (-105)
How To Watch Minnesota vs Iowa
Time: 3:00 pm ET / 12:00 pm PT
TV: Big Ten Network
Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Minnesota Could Cover the Spread
The Golden Gophers have been one of the best teams in the nation and in the Big Ten in winning against the spread. That alone is reason enough to pick them against the spread in this game. The other really key point to make about Minnesota is that if it trails by several points — to the extent that it is not covering the spread — midway through the second half or with four or five minutes left in regulation, the Gophers usually reduce their negative margin and make the game closer. Minnesota has been so consistently good at reducing margins and going from a point-spread loser to a winner in the last several minutes of games. When a team has the knack for doing this and delivers against the spread this regularly, it's hard to bet against that team.
Why Iowa Could Cover the Spread
The Hawkeyes are at home, coming off a loss to Penn State. They will be mad. They will be motivated. They are slightly more likely to play a good game than they would be if they were on the road or coming off a win, in which case they would be a little more complacent, just enough to potentially change the equation. Also: Iowa won at Minnesota earlier this season. The Hawkeyes like this matchup.
Final Minnesota-Iowa Prediction & Pick
This is not an easy matchup to figure. The Big Ten has been very hard to predict this season. Stay away and wait for a live play.
Final Minnesota-Iowa Prediction & Pick: Iowa -5.5
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