Utah vs Iowa prediction, odds, pick for College Basketball
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It’s time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Utah-Iowa prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Utah-Iowa.
This isn’t a battle of heavyweights, but it’s a great occasion to measure two teams and see how they fare against each other. It’s Big 12 versus Big Ten. One season ago, it would have been Pac-12 versus Big Ten. Either way, it’s an intersectional encounter matching two power conference squads trying to improve their portfolios before conference play gets going in the new year.
Utah and Iowa are in very similar positions. They have eight wins apiece, but mostly in cupcake games against clearly inferior opposition. In most of the bigger, tougher games they have played, they lost. Utah lost to Saint Mary’s and Mississippi State. Iowa lost to Michigan and Iowa State after falling to Utah State earlier in the season. These teams have not done huge damage to their March Madness aspirations, but neither have they clearly lifted themselves into prime position to get an NCAA at-large berth. Winning this game naturally would provide the winner with more leverage, and the loser would have that much more ground to make up in January and February on the road to Championship Week and the conference tournaments.
Utah basketball needs this to be a season in which the Utes step up. They struggled in the Pac-12, and coach Craig Smith knows that he needs to take the next big leap forward before too long. Impatience is beginning to seep into the program. Fans who yearn for the Rick Majerus days of the late 1990s are expecting too much, but expecting NCAA Tournament appearances — not Final Fours — is entirely reasonable in Salt Lake City. Smith needs to be able to produce several weeks of basketball which clearly convey the reality that Utah is turning the corner, but the Utes have to be able to win games against formidable power conference opposition to be able to do that.
At Iowa, coach Fran McCaffery has not struggled to make NCAA Tournaments. He can do that and has done that often. Iowa is laboring under the burden of not having made the Sweet 16 this century. The Hawkeyes want to be able to rise in the ranks, but that has proved to be difficult. First things first this season: Iowa needs to merely give itself a chance to get into the Big Dance once again. Only then can this program make noise in March.
Bettors need to take note: This game is not an on-campus game. It is being played not in Iowa City and Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Here are the Utah-Iowa College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Utah-Iowa Odds
Utah: +1.5 (-112)
Moneyline: +102
Iowa: -1.5 (-108)
Moneyline: -122
Over: 164.5 (-115)
Under: 164.5 (-105)
How to Watch Utah vs Iowa
Time: 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT
TV: Big Ten Network
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why Utah Will Cover The Spread/Win
Utah has tested itself against opponents with different playing styles. Even though it didn’t win against Mississippi State and Saint Mary’s, Utah learned how to adjust to different kinds of schemes and lineups. That should help the Utes figure out an Iowa team which isn’t especially imposing.
Why Iowa Will Cover The Spread/Win
Iowa outplayed Iowa State for a large portion of last week’s rivalry game. Though Iowa did not win, the Hawkeyes showed a level of play which is greater than anything Utah has displayed this season. Iowa should also have a partisan crowd in South Dakota. That could help in a close game.
Final Utah-Iowa Prediction & Pick
The lean is to Iowa, but the game is a coin flip. Pass.
Final Utah-Iowa Prediction & Pick: Iowa -1.5
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