Michigan Football is at Home and Favored — But Iowa is the Popular Pick

Michigan is expected to win the game, but not if you look at national analysts.

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After a 3-0 start to the season, Michigan returns to the Big House for the fourth week in a row and the Wolverines will take on another top-25 team. Two weeks after beating Oklahoma, 17-10, Michigan could be in store for another low-scoring affair as the Iowa Hawkeyes come to town.

Like Michigan, Iowa is also 3-0, but we don't know a ton about the Hawkeyes yet. Iowa has beaten both Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa, and its only Power Four competition was Iowa State. The Cyclones landed over 80 players from the transfer portal after Matt Campbell left for Penn State, yet Iowa needed a game-winning field goal to take care of ISU.

Despite Michigan's convincing win over the Sooners, being at home, and the favorite to win the game — the Wolverines aren't a popular pick among analysts. There are some, like Joel Klatt, who sees the Wolverines winning a close one, but others see Iowa coming into the Big House and getting the win.

Here are some notable national outlets that have placed predictions. We have their predictions, with our take at the end.

CBS Sports Roundtable

CBS Sports Roundtable aired on CBS Sports Network to give their take. Three out of the four of them picked Iowa, while the former UCLA coach believes the Wolverines will win.

Brian Kelly - Iowa

"This one's easy for me. When your quarterback's the leading rusher in a game like this against Iowa and Phil Parker's defense, I just lean toward the guys that have always done it...And if it's the quarterback as your leading rusher, I'm gonna go with Iowa."

Aaron Taylor - Iowa

"That's a concern that I have as well. When you look at these two teams, man, the blueprint and what they're trying to be is identical. They want to bully at the lines of scrimmage and throw just enough to beat you. To Bryce Underwood's credit, I think he probably had his best game he's ever had last week throwing the ball....We're gonna see if Iowa can stop the run. I believe they do, and the run game will be the difference."

Brian B.J. Jones - Iowa

"But I look at Hank Brown, this quarterback, 12 for 12 a week ago, and I understand the competition but through three games, he has the best completion percentage of any Iowa quarterback since Drew Tate in 2005. That's saying something for Iowa because they've struggled at that QB position. I think it's gonna come down to someone making a pass play. Is it gonna be Underwood? Is it gonna be Hank Brown?"

Rick Neuheisel - Michigan

"This is gonna be a slobber knocker game field position, and you mentioned Phil Parker and Kirk Ferentz being very comfortable in that. You know who else is very comfortable in the head is Kyle Whittingham. Yeah, he's done it with all kinds of different quarterbacks, right, all kinds of different offensive coordinators....Give me the Wolverines in a low-scoring game "

FOX Sports

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In a post on X, the FOX Sports roundtable picked a few different games. Like the CBS Sports Roundtable, three of four picked the Hawkeyes to win.

• RJ Young - Iowa
• Michael Cohen - Iowa
• Laken Litman - Michigan
• Ben Portnoy - Iowa

CBS Sports

Brad Crawford of CBS Sports picked his teams on upset watch this weekend. Of course, Michigan was on there and Crawford believes the Wolverines might be the most overrated ranked team.

"Who is the most overrated top-20 team right now? It might be the Wolverines, who nearly , scored 17 points during a win over Oklahoma and overcame a shaky start to thump UTEP after a 28-point third quarter over the weekend," Brad Crawford wrote.

"Nothing is going to come easy for Bryce Underwood and this up-and-down offense against the Hawkeyes, who have two shutouts and have given up a single offensive touchdown. Hank Brown is doing just enough in the passing game to keep defenses honest, and this one's likely a race to 14 points."

On3's J.D. PicKell

20-17 Iowa

PicKell doesn't trust Michigan's offense to not turn the ball over, and cites Iowa as being the more mature team. He trusts Hank Brown to take care of the ball more than he trusts Bryce Underwood. He believes Michigan is the more talented team, but the more mature team will get the win.

Our take on Michigan - Iowa

Is it possible for Iowa to come into the Big House and beat Michigan? Absolutely. We've seen Michigan not play up to its standards twice this season. The entire game against Western Michigan was bad football and the first half was careless football by the Wolverines.

But Michigan has a statement win and it came in Week 2 against Oklahoma. The Sooners didn't look good last week against New Mexico, but Oklahoma made it to the College Football Playoff last season. That's a good team in Norman and Michigan held it to 10 points.

Obviously, Michigan has to protect the football. The Wolverines have been too careless and it's resulted in shooting themselves in the foot. However, we've seen Bryce Underwood make drastic improvement from Week to Week 3. He's more patient and Jason Beck has put him in better spots.

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We also can't forget that, while Iowa comes into the Big House with the No. 1 defense, who has it played? A Group of Six program, an FCS program, and a Big 12 team that could be middle of the pack. And against Iowa State, Iowa needed a game-winning field goal.

Quarterback Hank Brown has yet to make a road start in his career. He's never been sacked. This has the makings of Michigan rattling him early and getting him uncomfortable. Oh, and the Wolverines have been great against the run.

There is no denying that this should be an old-fashioned Big Ten showdown. It's going to be all defense in the game, but can Iowa's offense move the ball against the Wolverines? Michigan could struggle moving the ball as well, but that's where playing in your own stadium factors in.

This team has certainly faced adversity this season. Let's see if Michigan can move the needle one more time.

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