The Iowa Hawkeyes (21-12, 10-10) are back in the NCAA Tournament & take on the Clemson Tigers (24-10, 12-6) in Tampa, FL at 5:50 PM on Friday. FanDuel has the odds at Iowa -2.5 with an over/under of 129.5. The Hawks are -146 favorites despite being the 9 seed. You can get Clemson at +122 if you’re a “hedge your happiness” type.
The over/under is especially notable because of the pace with which these teams play. Iowa’s adjusted pace landed at 357th out of 365 teams, according to KenPom ($). Clemson
is ranked 333rd. They are 2 of the 4 slowest teams in the tournament. As a result, the Tigers/Hawkeyes matchup is the only one in the 120s, at 129.5. Northern Iowa/St. John’s is the second lowest line at 131.5.
The action for the first round kicks off tomorrow with Big Ten brethren, and 8-seeded Ohio State taking on 9-seeded TCU in Greenville, SC. The Buckeyes are 2.5-point (-144) favorites with an O/U of 146.5. TCU is +120 dogs at the time of this writing.
The next Big Ten game features 4-seeded Nebraska taking on 13-seed Troy at 11:40a in Oklahoma City. Neither of these teams has won an NCAA Tournament game which means one of them will be making school history. FanDuel’s line on it is Nebraska -12.5 (-1250) and an over/under of 137.5. A Troy win would yield +740 odds.
Here’s how the rest of the Big Ten’s Thursday games shake out:
- #5 Wisconsin (-10.5 | -480 ML) v #12 High Point (+360 | O/U 163.5), 12:50p in Portland, OR
- #3 Michigan State (-16.5 | -3000 ML) v #14 North Dakota State (+1200 | O/U 143.5), 3:05p in Buffalo, NY
- #1 Michigan (-30.5 | -100000 ML) v #16 Howard (+8000 | O/U 151.5), 6:10p in Buffalo, NY
- #3 Illinois (-25.5 | -6500 ML) v #14 Penn (+2000 | O/U 151.5), 8:25p in Greenville, SC
I’m thrilled that Iowa isn’t playing till 5:50p on Friday, because it will offer me plenty of time to take in the joy of the tournament. I feel like their recent entries into the tourney have been so early & put me in a sour mood for the remainder of the weekend. Anyways, theirs is the first of 3 Big Ten contests on Friday. Here are the other two:
- #7 UCLA (-5.5 | -245 ML) v #10 Central Florida (+198 | O/U 152.5), 6:25p in Philadelphia, PA
- #2 Purdue (-25.5 | -20000 ML) v #15 Queen’s University (+3500 | O/U 163.5), 6:35p in St. Louis, MO
Another fun thing Fan Duel is offering is odds on reaching each round. Here’s how it’s shaking for Big Ten Teams:
Those Sweet 16 odds for Iowa feel… disproportionate.
If you’re wanting to wet your beak on the women’s side, FanDuel is offering the following odds for the Hawkeyes:
- National Champion: +10000, T-8th best
- Region 4 winner: +700
- Elite 8: +110
- Sweet 16: -460
They take on Farleigh Dickinson at 3:00p on Saturday in Iowa City.
More to come for both games. Let’s go Hawks!
