The Big Ten will feature arguably the game of the week when Penn State takes to the road to face the Iowa Hawkeyes in a battle of Big Ten unbeaten. And with Penn State and Iowa each ranked in the top four of the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and AP Top 25, the stakes have never been higher in this series.
The early odds released by Tipico show that Penn State will be a slight underdog in Kinnick Stadium in Week 6, which shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Both the Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes have had pretty similar starts to the season, with both handling Indiana fairly easily and each scoring a victory over a ranked non-conference foe (Iowa topping Iowa State and Penn State coming out on top of Auburn in Week 2).
Defense figures to be the consistent theme of this Big Ten matchup with both Penn State and Iowa bringing some of the nation’s top defenses outside of Georgia to the playing field. Iowa has allowed just 11.6 points per game, which ranks second-best in the nation behind Georgia’s astounding 4.6 points allowed per game. Penn State is just behind Iowa for third in the nation, allowing 12.0 points per game after a shutout of Indiana in Week 5.
As such, the point total for this game is relatively low compared to other matchups around the nation this weekend. The number on Tipico is currently set at 41.5. Penn State has yet to allow a team to score more than 20 points (Auburn is the only team to reach 20 points), and Iowa has yet to allow a team to score more than 17 points in a game. In Big Ten play, Penn State has allowed 10 points (all to Wisconsin) in two games and Iowa has allowed 20 points (6 to Indiana, 14 to Maryland).
We’ll monitor the lines all week to see if there is any movement. But Penn State may like the idea of being the underdog this weekend. If the Nittany Lions do manage to get out of Iowa with a win this week, there is a very good chance Penn State will not be an underdog again this season outside of a road trip to Ohio State at the end of October.
All Betting Lines are Courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook.
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