Big Ten Tournament: Ohio State vs. Iowa odds, picks and predictions
The Ohio State Buckeyes (19-12) and Iowa Hawkeyes (18-13) meet in a Big Ten Tournament 2nd-round matchup on Thursday at Target Center in Minneapolis. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's lines around the Ohio State vs. Iowa odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and best bets.
The 10th-seeded Buckeyes caught fire down the stretch, winning 5 of the final 6 games to actually work their way onto the NCAA Tournament bubble. Ohio State fired coach Chris Holtmann on Feb. 14 after a 16th consecutive road loss at Wisconsin. Jake Diebler took over as interim coach, and Ohio State stunned a top-5 Purdue team on Feb. 18, and the Buckeyes are now 7-1 against the spread (ATS) heading into the league tourney.
These teams met in Iowa City on Feb. 2, prior to the Holtmann dismissal, and Iowa won 79-77, although Ohio State covered as a 5.5-point underdog as the Under (158.5) cashed.
The 7th-seeded Hawkeyes are squarely on the bubble, too. Iowa has just 3 Quad 1 wins in 11 tries, and it has 3 Quad 2 losses, and 2 bad Quad 3 losses to Michigan and Maryland. Iowa might need to get to the Big Ten Final to have a shot at an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
These teams have alternated wins and losses in the past 5 meetings, while Ohio State is 3-1 ATS in the past 4 meetings. The underdog is 5-2 ATS in the past 7 in the series, too.
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Ohio State vs. Iowa odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 6:04 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Ohio State -135 (bet $135 to win $100) | Iowa +110 (bet $100 to win $110)
- Against the spread: Ohio State -1.5 (-115) | Iowa +1.5 (-105)
- Over/Under (O/U): 154.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
Ohio State vs. Iowa picks and predictions
Prediction
Ohio State 78, Iowa 74
Moneyline
OHIO STATE (-135) is a fine play as a moderate favorite, if you don't feel like fiddling around with the tiny amount of points. However, unless you strongly feel Iowa (+110) is going to lose by just a single point, it makes no sense to play the ML and not laying the small points.
Against the spread
OHIO STATE -1.5 (-115) simply needs to win by a bucket, and it is much cheaper than simply betting straight up.
Ohio State has come alive since jettisoning Holtmann, as it heads to the Twin Cities searching for a 20th win on Thursday. Who saw that coming a few weeks ago?
Iowa +1.5 (-105) has managed to go just 4-9-1 ATS in the past 14 games, which simply won't do. It split its 2 neutral-site games, going 1-1 SU/ATS.
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Over/Under
UNDER 154.5 (-105) is the lean, but go with a half-unit play at most.
The Under cashed in the regular-season finale at Rutgers, with the Under going 4-2-1 in the final 7 outings. The Under also cashed in the only regular-season battle against Iowa.
For the Hawkeyes, the Under cashed in the regular-season finale against Illinois, but the Over is 6-3 in the past 9 outings, so be careful.
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