What Do the Early Iowa Football vs Michigan Wolverines Betting Odds Tell Us?

The Iowa Hawkeyes are taking center stage this week. Things get much more intense with a road trip to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines.

It's both teams' Big Ten openers, which gives neither any time to feel out conference action before getting right into a matchup that could very well carry conference and College Football Playoff implications.

Unsurprisingly, the Iowa Hawkeyes are a slight underdog on the road at Michigan. That's not the story. The story is that this spread and the odds are much tighter than previous years have seen in this matchup.

Iowa Football vs Michigan Betting Odds, Spread, Total

Looking at this series from an objective point of view, it hasn't been overly kind to Iowa in recent years. Michigan has been playing on a different level than Iowa, which has seen this game be one-sided in the odds and on the field. This one is much tighter.

Iowa vs Michigan Spread, Money Line, Total

Spread: Michigan -4.5 (-110), Iowa +4.5 (-110)

Money Line: Michigan -192, Iowa +160

Total: Over 37.5 (-112), Under 37.5 (-110)

Odds are courtesy of DraftKings

The Iowa vs Michigan odds tell us a classic story

First things first, let's look at the spread on this one. Michigan is getting the nod as the favorite, but if you are of the belief that home-field advantage is worth about three points, that means Vegas is looking at this thing much closer to a toss-up than a 4.5-point spread.

And that makes sense. Iowa snuck by Iowa State 16-13 in its only Power Four game in three weeks, while Michigan took down Oklahoma 17-10. Both were tight games, which leads to the thought that this game is unlikely to get out of hand.

What stands out even more is where the point total sits. This total opened up at 39.5 and has already seen a two-point drop to 37.5 total points. How do you argue that, though?

Iowa has allowed 13 points through three games, an average of 4.33 points per game, which is tops in college football. Michigan is allowing 13 points per game, but what stands out is holding Oklahoma to 10 points.

This game is going to be played in the teens, or lower 20s at most, which is what both of these teams want to do. It's going to be a case of who can play the low-scoring, ugly, defensive game better on Saturday.

Consensus line based on BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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