Vegas sets Gophers as 8.5-point underdog to Iowa
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-2, 3-1) are fresh off an upset of No. 25 Nebraska on Friday night and will now look for another upset win, this time over rival Iowa Hawkeyes (5-2, 3-1) in the annual battle for the Floyd of Rosedale.
On Sunday, the Hawkeyes opened as an 8.5-point favorite over the Golden Gophers with the total for the game set at 38.5 points.
It is the third time in their last four games that the Gophers are an underdog, as they were also underdogs to No. 1 Ohio State by 23.5 points and last week against Nebraska by 6.5 points. The Gophers are 2-4-1 against the spread this season. Last week’s win over Nebraska was the first time that Minnesota covered in a game since their 66-0 win over Northwestern State.
Iowa, on the other hand, is 4-2-1 against the spread this season, but failed to cover this past weekend, defeating Penn State 25-24 as a three-point favorite.
Next Saturday’s matchup will be the 119th all-time in the series, with Minnesota holding a 63-53-2 advantage all-time.
Iowa has won 19 of 25 matchups between the two programs since 2000, including eight of the last nine games, Minnesota’s 12-10 win in Iowa City being the only win for the Gophers.
Last season, Minnesota fell to Iowa 31-14 at home. The Hawkeyes, in their win over the Gophers, ran for 272 total yards while averaging 6.0 yards per carry. Minnesota’s own rushing attack struggled with just 79 total yards on 21 carries, an average of 3.8 yards per carry.
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