Michigan vs Iowa Odds, Lines and Spread (Feb. 17)

• The Michigan vs Iowa odds favor the Hawkeyes by 6-points on Thursday (Feb. 17) at 7pm ET
• The over is 11-3-1 in Iowa home games this season
• Read below for the Michigan vs Iowa odds, analysis, and betting prediction

Two teams with NCAA Tournament aspirations meet on Thursday (Feb. 17), but only one might wind up experiencing March Madness. Michigan visits Iowa, with the Wolverines currently entrenched in Bubble Watch. They’ve dropped three of their last six games, and will play seven straight contests versus teams ranked higher in the Big Ten standings to close out the regular season.

The Hawkeyes on the other hand, have won three straight and while they currently appear destined for a 7 or 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, they can certainly improve their position with a strong finish.

Michigan vs Iowa Odds

Odds as of Feb. 16th at BetMGM.

Iowa opened as a 6-point home favorite in a game that features a total of 151. Tip-off is scheduled for 7pm ET at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, IA, with ESPN providing the broadcast coverage.

The latest March Madness bracket projection has Iowa on the #5-seed line while Michigan is down at #8. Oddsmakers still see the Wolverines as a bigger threat to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, though, listing Michigan’s Final Four odds at +2150 versus Iowa at +3750.

Michigan Wolverines Betting Analysis

The Wolverines (13-10, 7-6 Big Ten) are no guarantee to make March Madness despite ranking 38th in KenPom’s overall efficiency metric and 36th in the NET rankings.

Two games ago, they posted a signature 24-point victory over #5 Purdue, but followed that up with a disappointing effort at home against #18 Ohio State. They fell 68-57 to the Buckeyes, putting up their third-lowest point total of the season. Eli Brooks led the offense with 17, but the team shot just 42% from the field, and 23.5% from beyond the arc.

Final from Crisler.

EB: 17P / 4R / 5A
DJ: 8P / 10R / 8A

〽️🏀 | #GoBlue#ForCompetitorsOnly pic.twitter.com/KvfaXEZoJ5

— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) February 13, 2022

Michigan won the rebounding battle by six, but committed too many fouls and had no answer for Ohio State’s shooters. They yielded a 50% field goal percentage to the Buckeyes, and sent Ohio State to the free throw line 12 more times than they got there themselves.

Defense is typically a strength of the Wolverines program, but this season has been an outlier. They rank eighth in the conference in scoring defense, and force turnovers at one of the lowest rates in the country (13.5%).

How do you defend this?@H_Dickinson24 // @umichbball pic.twitter.com/YVPZX5u7Ud

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 12, 2022

Offense has been inconsistent at best, averaging 72 points per game despite multiple 85-point outbursts this month. They rank third out of 14 Big Ten teams in field-goal percentage, but seventh in three-point efficiency and ninth in total rebounding.

Iowa Hawkeyes Betting Analysis

The Hawkeyes offense meanwhile, has been firing on all cylinders recently. They’re averaging 104 points over their past two games, and are fresh off a 98-75 blowout win over Nebraska.

Sophomore sensation Keegan Murray led the way against the Cornhuskers with a career-high 37 points. He’s currently the third highest scoring player in the nation, and a top contender for the Big Ten Player of the Year Award. It was his third game this season with at least 35 points, and he’s a big reason why Iowa leads the conference in points per outing.

Keegan Murray is the only player in the country to average 23+ points and 8+ rebounds this season. 💯 pic.twitter.com/OIDO2pVF79

— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) February 15, 2022

Murray and Co. shot 51.3% against Nebraska, producing four double-digit scorers in total. The Hawkeyes aren’t known for their defense, but they did an admirable job limiting the Cornhuskers to 43.5% from the field, while forcing 15 turnovers.

Keegan Murray combined for 67 points over the last two games, scoring 30 at Maryland and 37 versus Nebraska.

The last Hawkeye to score 30+ points in back-to-back Big Ten games was @mattgatens (30 vs. Indiana and 33 vs. Wisconsin) 10 years ago in 2012. #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/gQZYatALN1

— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) February 14, 2022

Iowa ranks 13th in the conference in scoring defense, yielding an average of 71.3 points per game. In addition to leading the Big Ten in scoring, they also rank third in three-point efficiency, and lead the nation in both assist-to-turnover ratio, and turnovers per play.

Michigan vs Iowa Pick

Not surprisingly, given their season-long offensive and defensive stats, the over has been a popular play in Hawkeye games. Four of their past five outings have soared over the total, as have 9 of their 13 conference games. The over is 11-3-1 in Iowa home games, and 10-4-1 in Hawkeye contests with a total north of 150.

𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘀, yesterday was fun!

Back at it on Thursday night 🔜 vs. 〽️ pic.twitter.com/t6EVcJWzjX

— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) February 14, 2022

The Wolverines will need to do their part to help push this game over, and they’ve shown this year they’re at least capable of that. The Michigan betting public has seen their Wolverines hit the over 12 times in 23 games. They’ve reached 76 points in five of their past nine games, and couldn’t ask for a better matchup against an underwhelming Iowa defense – last game notwithstanding.

Pick: Over 151 (-110)