Big Ten Championship Game Predictions: No. 2 Michigan Wolverines vs. No. 13 Iowa Hawkeyes

Who does our staff think will win Saturday's game between the Wolverines and Hawkeyes?

Author:
Andrew Lind
Dec 3, 2021 5:26 PM EST

After an emotional win over rival Ohio State, Michigan is playing in its first Big Ten Championship Game and looking for its first conference title since 2004, when Lloyd Carr was still the head coach.

Interestingly enough, that was the last time Iowa won the Big Ten, too, as the two teams split the conference title. It’s time for one of those teams to end the lengthy drought.

Here’s how our staff at BuckeyesNow expects the game to go down:

MICHIGAN vs. IOWA – Saturday, 8 p.m. on FOX
Spread: Michigan (-11)
O/U Total: 43.5

Brendan Gulick: Michigan 24, Iowa 10

I really wish I had more faith and Iowa’s offense. Their defense is certainly good enough to give Michigan a really good game. But it’s hard for me to pick Iowa when they have consistently underwhelmed offensively all year.

I think Michigan will be in for a pretty physical game this week, but after finally getting over the hump against the Buckeyes last weekend, they have all the confidence in the world heading Indianapolis for the first time under Jim Harbaugh.

I don’t really buy into the emotional let-down thing after winning a big game. They’ll be ready to go. As much as it pains me to say this as a Buckeye, I have a hard time believing that the Wolverines won’t win the Big Ten championship on Saturday night.

Andrew Lind: Michigan 31, Iowa 17

Michigan is coming off its first win over Ohio State in more than a decade, and while I think that emotional high could impact the Wolverines on Saturday evening, Iowa simply doesn’t do enough offensively to keep up.

I expect defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo to terrorize the Hawkeyes offensive line, just like they did to the Buckeyes one week ago, while Hassan Haskins has another multi-touchdown performance on offense in a relatively easy win.

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