Before I fell in love with college football betting, I wanted to continue studying journalism in graduate school. One of the universities to which I applied was Northwestern. When I was denied, I called the director of admissions, who greeted me with a simple explanation. “Hey Michael, I remember your application,” she began. “You were more than qualified, but you want to do sports, and we don’t do sports.”
Today, Northwestern finally has a sports journalism program, and here I am writing about the Wildcats football team.
Here are our best college football free picks and predictions for Northwestern at Iowa, with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 ET at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, October 31. Let’s see if I can get through this preview without my numerous and long-held anger issues surrounding the Wildcats from coming to the surface.
Northwestern Wildcats at Iowa Hawkeyes betting preview
Weather
It’s going to be just chilly enough to crush a young journalist’s dreams this weekend. Saturday. Expect a high of 57 degrees with a south wind a 12 mph and a 6 percent chance of precipitation and/or lifelong depression. Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key Injuries
Northwestern: No injuries to report.
Iowa: Matt Lorbeck DL (Questionable), Taajhir McCall DL (Out), Djimon Colbert LB (Out).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The road team is 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings between these schools. Find more NCAA football betting trends for Northwestern vs. Iowa.
Against the spread (ATS) pick
No one is going to hang a banner for beating Maryland, but give Northwestern full credit for dominating the Terps 43-3 in their season opener. The Wildcats were content to out-physical the Terps on the ground, and they did just that, rushing for a total of 325 yards and four touchdowns. Defensively, Northwestern intercepted Taulia Tagovailoa three times, and defensive back Brandon Joseph paced the team with seven tackles.
The Hawkeyes blew a perfect opportunity to start the season unblemished when they hit the road last weekend to meet Purdue, which was playing without all-everything wideout Rondale Moore. Instead, the Hawkeyes were outscored 13-0 in the second half and lost 24-20. It was a mixed bag for Iowa defensively, as they allowed 282 yards passing and three scores but also picked off Purdue twice.
I don’t expect the Wildcats to have the same sort of success they had against Maryland, but I do think they have the defense to take advantage of any miscues from the Iowa offense and possibly win this game outright.
PREDICTION: Northwestern +2.5 (-110)
Over/Under pick
Neither one of these teams are explosive on offense, and this should be a defensive battle for all four quarters. The Under is 11-4 in the last 15 meetings of this series and 7-1-1 in Iowa’s last nine games as a favorite.
The money has already moved the Total in that direction, and I still believe it’s the right side.
PREDICTION: Under 46.5 (-110)
Team total pick
The Hawkeyes will certainly score more than the three points that Maryland was able to muster against Northwestern. Still, I’m not convinced either team will be lightning up the scoreboard in Iowa City, and I need to see more from the home team after the Hawks were held scoreless in their previous two quarters of play.
You owe me this, Northwestern.
PREDICTION: Iowa team total Under 23.5 (+115)
Northwestern vs Iowa betting card
- Northwestern +2.5 (-110)
- Under 46.5 (-110)
- Iowa team total Under 23.5 (+115)
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Use our NCAA parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
Where can I bet on college football?
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