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Odds & Trends: Iowa-South Dakota State
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IOWA CITY, Iowa - After what has seemed like an unusually long offseason, Iowa Football kicks off its campaign Saturday playing host to South Dakota State at Kinnick Stadium. It's the first-ever meeting between the programs.
Handicapping contests pitting Power 5 schools against those from the FCA can be tricky. It's made more difficult this Saturday without any data on what these teams are in 2022. We're left to project what they might be based on the past.
That said, plenty of people will want a piece of the action after being on the sidelines for the last eight months. So, let's take a look at the matchup from a gambling perspective in our weekly Odds & Trends piece:
Point Spreads: Finding this game at your favorite place to shop could prove tricky. Again, there are plenty of unknowns when Power 5s face the FCS, and sports books typically don't like them.
It opened at Iowa -15.5 off-shore earlier this week, and that's where it popped at Vegas Insider a few days later. It remained there at Wynn Sportsbook on Thursday afternoon but jumped to 20.5 at BetRivers, Sugar House and Unibet.
Elite Sportsbook in Riverside, Iowa, did not offer the game on-line as of Thursday.
Money Lines: The VI consensus opened with both Iowa and SDSU at -110. It remained there as of Thursday on the consensus and all books offering the game.
Over/Under: Also referred to as "the total", this number represents the amount of combined points scored by the two teams. As of Thursday afternoon, VI consensus puts it at 44.5, where it opened. All books included at VI showed it at 44.5 Thursday afternoon.
Public Percentages Wagered: Books track the percentages of bets placed on each team in a given game.
As of Thursday afternoon, we could not find a site that tracked action on this game.
These percentages often shift as the game draws closer. The "sharps" (professional gamblers) frequently come in late with their bets.
SDSU Trends
-Jackrabbits are 4-0 Against The Spread in their last 4 games in September.
-SDSU 6-0 ATS in its last 6 non-conference games.
-Jackrabbits are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games overall.
-SDSU is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 road games.
-Over is 5-0 in Jackrabbits last 5 games in September.
-Over is 8-1 in SDSU's last 9 non-conference games.
-Under is 4-1 in Jackrabbits last 5 road games.
Iowa Trends
-Hawkeyes are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games in September.
-Iowa is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 non-conference games.
-Hawkeyes are 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 games overall.
-Under is 4-0 in Iowa's last 4 non-conference games.
-Over is 4-1 in Hawkeyes last 5 games overall.
-Over is 4-1 in Iowa's last 5 home games.
-Under is 41-18-3 in Hawkeyes last 62 games in September.
Matchup Trends
-First Meeting.
