Penn State at Iowa Betting Preview

Penn State Nittany Lions at Iowa Hawkeyes
Saturday 10/9, 4:00 p.m. ET

Three things you should know before betting on Penn State-Iowa: 

1. Last year, the Hawkeyes earned a 41-21 victory over the Nittany Lions as 1-point road favorites. That win for Iowa snapped a six-game Penn State winning streak in this head-to-head series. This year, the stakes in this contest are higher than ever. Both of these programs are currently undefeated, meaning they each have Big Ten Championship aspirations. It's also entirely possible that the winner of this game eventually gets a spot in the College Football Playoff. 

2. Both of these teams are 4-1 against the spread entering this contest, but Iowa is 8-2 against the spread when favored by 10 points or less at home since the start of the 2016 season. The Hawkeyes are also 7-1 straight-up and 6-2 against the spread when coming off a blowout win of 35 points or more against a Big Ten opponent under head coach Kirk Ferentz. If that's not enough, Iowa is also 21-11 straight-up and 22-9-1 against the spread in games with a total of 42 or less under Ferentz. 

3. Last year, these teams combined to score 62 points in a game with a total of 45.5. This was the second time in the last three meetings between these two that the game went Over the total. With Ferentz at the helm, the Over is 11-3 in games in which Iowa is favored by three or fewer points at home. The Over also happens to be 4-1 when Penn State has played in games with a total of 42 or less with James Franklin as head coach. It's also worth mentioning that Iowa and Penn State are second and third in the nation in scoring defense, respectively. The Hawkeyes are allowing just 11.6 points per game, while the Nittany Lions are giving up 12.0 per contest.