Big Ten Best Bets

However, that’s about to change starting later this week. For example, in Iowa City we may see a bit of snow in the air on Friday and temps struggling to get to the 40’s on Saturday when the Gophers and the Hawkeyes do battle at Kinnick Stadium.

As the weather turns colder, one thing to watch from a betting perspective is the total on each game. Colder weather usually leads to unders in games, especially if you throw in some cold winds from the northwest.

The bookmakers are already hammering Iowa totals down and that’s the case again this week with the Iowa/Minnesota total opening at 37 points.

It will be something to watch the last month of the season for those who are interested in playing totals rather than sides.

Speaking of betting, let’s thank our friends at CircaSports.com for their support. You can go to https://www.circasports.com/iowa-app and download their gambling app in the state of Iowa and start betting on all the Big Ten games.

Last week was a pretty decent one for us. 5-2 straight up, 3-4 ATS, and 4-3 on totals.

That brings our season totals to:

STRAIGHT UP: 62-16

AGAINST THE SPREAD: 40-38

OVER/UNDER: 44-34

Let’s dive into the action this week.

MICHIGAN AT PENN STATE

This game is a pick’em with the total of 48.5

Michigan has covered the spread in four of their last five games. They have also gone over the total in three of their last five contests. Penn State has covered the spread in their last two games and gone under the total in their last three contests. MICHIGAN 20 PENN STATE 17

RUTGERS AT INDIANA

The Hoosiers are 7 point favorites with the total of 42

Rutgers have failed to cover the spread in four of their last five games and gone under the total in three of their last four contests. Indiana has failed to cover the spread in six of their last seven games. They have gone under in three of their last five. INDIANA 27 RUTGERS 24

NORTHWESTERN AT WISCONSIN

The Badgers are 25 point favorites with the total of 41

Northwestern has failed to cover in two of their last three games. They have gone under the total in three of the last four contests. Wisconsin has covered the spread in each of their last three games and have gone over the total in two of their last three. WISCONSIN 35 NORTHWESTERN 3

MARYLAND AT MICHIGAN STATE

The Spartans are 13 points favorites with the total of 62

Maryland have failed to cover the spread in their last five games and they have gone over in three of those five contests. Michigan State failed to cover last week for the first time in five weeks. They have gone over in their last two games. MICHIGAN STATE 38 MARYLAND 17

PURDUE AT OHIO STATE

The Buckeyes are 20.5 point favorites with the total of 62.5

Purdue has covered the spread in three of the last four games. After going under the total in their first six games, they have gone over the total in two of their last three. After covering the spread in four games in a row, Ohio State has failed to do so in their last two. They have also gone under the total in their last two contests. OHIO STATE 27 PURDUE 17

MINNESOTA AT IOWA

The Hawkeyes are 5.5 point favorites with the total of 37

The Gophers have covered four of their last five, but failed to cover the spread last week. They have gone under the total in five of their last seven games. Iowa has failed to cover the spread in their last three games. They have gone under in seven of nine games this season, including the last three. PICK COMING UP ON FRIDAY MORNING