College Football’s Best Bet of Week 12: Going Under in the Big 10
The Game:
Minnesota Golden Gophers at Iowa Hawkeyes
The Play:
Under 44.5
Minnesota is still (9-0) undefeated after a thrilling upset victory last weekend over the Penn State Nittany Lions and they can thank their defense for that perfect mark. In Minnesota’s last five games, they have given up a total of 67 points or roughly 13 points per game. The Golden Gophers are led defensively by junior defensive back Antoine Winfield, Jr. who is having an all-conference season. Winfield has 72 tackles and an amazing seven interceptions so far this season. Both teams will try to pound the ball with their running attacks in this one; Minnesota’s running back Rodney Smith leads the team with 940 yards and Iowa has a nice duo of backs as Toren Young and Mekhi Sargent have combined for almost 900 yards, averaging about five yards per run.
The last time these two rivals faced off in Iowa City it was a defensive game with only 27 total points scored, and in two of the last three times they have squared off, the under has hit. Not only that, but recent history favors the under as well: Since September, six of the eight games played by the Hawkeyes have gone under. In Iowa’s six wins so far, they have given up just 54 points and in five home games they are giving up just 10 points per game.
Combine that with the fact there is a ton on the line for Minnesota and you should expect a physical, smash-mouth defensive war. Also, when looking ahead, the Gophers have back-to-back road games before they close the season at home versus Wisconsin. They will do what they can to stay undefeated this week, which means formulating a gameplay where points are going to be hard to come by for everybody.
16 Minnesota Golden Gophers
13 Iowa Hawkeyes
Harry Gagnon spent 14 years as a Vegas Sportsbook Supervisor and holds a Communications degree from SUNY-Oswego. You might know him better as part of the Degenerate Trifecta on the award nominated betting podcast “Against All odds with Cousin Sal” on the Ringer Podcast Network. Feel free to find him on Twitter (@AAOHarry) and tweet him a message if you want to talk casinos, sports, or just shoot the breeze about betting in general cause, hey, that’s what Twitter is for, right?
