The Wisconsin Badgers started the 2022-23 season strong, but they have struggled in Big Ten play, going just 7-9 and sitting in the bottom half of the conference.
They’ll look to turn things around at home on Wednesday night against the Iowa Hawkeyes, who are coming off an embarrassing 20-point loss over the weekend at the hands of the Northwestern Wildcats.
Northwestern is one of the better teams in the Big Ten, but the Hawkeyes didn’t really compete, trailing by double digits for most of the second half.
Kris Murray and company will look to avenge that loss as road favorites against the Badgers, but the Hawkeyes are just 3-6 away from home on the season.
Let’s dive into the latest odds and a pick for this Big Ten battle:
Iowa vs. Wisconsin odds, spread and total
Iowa vs. Wisconsin prediction and pick
There’s one trend that has been interesting in the crowded Big Ten this season regarding each team’s play on the road.
Only Purdue and Northwestern are over .500 in their true road games this season, with the other 12 all sitting below .500 and only three of them have at least four road wins.
Insane. So, when you tell me the Badgers are dogs at home tonight, I’m going to jump at the opportunity.
Wisconsin is going to rely on its defense (28th in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom) to win this game.
Iowa, led by Murray (20.8 points per game), is a high-powered offense but it lost at home to the Badgers earlier this season.
Wisconsin is 6-6 against the spread as a dog this season, and even though it struggles offensively, the Hawkeyes don’t have much interest in playing defense, ranking outside the top-300 in the country in opponent field goal percentage.
Iowa is just 3-6 on the road this season, so I’ll trust the Big Ten home trend and take the one point with the Badgers.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
