B1G opener: Rutgers VS Iowa prediction thread

[DDThompson]

42-14 Iowa

Taking bets on how long until they show a barn or hog lot.

Opening introduction scene:

Skyscrapers of NY/NJ pan to farms and cornfields.

City vs Country

Slickers vs. Bumpkins

 

[spliff45]

Merriweather out at least a week per Hlas. Hurt his foot in practice on Friday

 

[clim3]

Iowa 28-14

 

[clim3]

Merriweather out at least a week per Hlas. Hurt his foot in practice on Friday

He didn’t play super great last week. Hopefully the back up is ready

 

[JoeyLabasForPresident]

38-13 Hawks

I’m not betting and I’m not sure how I can explain not expecting them to cover and picking a final score in which they cover, but there it is.

 

[thedukeofearl]

 

[DDThompson]

Rutgers 30 Iowa 27

Close

 

[CP87]

A lot of big covers by Iowa recently (covered 6 of their last 8 spreads of 7+). Then again, maybe Vegas is factoring that into the #.

They have now covered 7 of their last 9 spreads of 7+ as favorites.

They have been one of the top teams in the nation at covering as favorites since 2015. Even many within our own fanbase have not seemed to notice, and they still trot out the narrative that Iowa struggles as a favorite, or "always loses one they shouldn't" (guess what, most teams that are favored in the majority of their games will lose at least one).

You know what Iowa has not been great at lately? Winning games as underdogs, or even beating the spread as dogs. When was the last time they were dogs in a game with big implications and won? Sure, they have had the Mich (2016) and OSU (2017) and Miss St. (2018) wins as dogs, but none of those games had big implications. And then last year all of Wisc, PSU, NW, and Purdue had big implications, and they lost all (and failed to cover in all).

Would love to see that trend change next week. Not sure if they will be a dog to ISU, but if they leave Ames with a win, I think that will bode very well for the season.

 

[DDThompson]

They have now covered 7 of their last 9 spreads of 7+ as favorites.

They have been one of the top teams in the nation at covering as favorites since 2015. Even many within our own fanbase have not seemed to notice, and they still trot out the narrative that Iowa struggles as a favorite, or "always loses one they shouldn't" (guess what, most teams that are favored in the majority of their games will lose at least one).

You know what Iowa has not been great at lately? Winning games as underdogs, or even beating the spread as dogs. When was the last time they were dogs in a game with big implications and won? Sure, they have had the Mich (2016) and OSU (2017) and Miss St. (2018) wins as dogs, but none of those games had big implications. And then last year all of Wisc, PSU, NW, and Purdue had big implications, and they lost all (and failed to cover in all).

Would love to see that trend change next week. Not sure if they will be a dog to ISU, but if they leave Ames with a win, I think that will bode very well for the season.

Perception buster