Tennessee football: SEC, top 25 picks and bets for Week 2 of 2021
No. 10 Iowa Hawkeyes at No. 9 Iowa State Cyclones (ABC)
Saturday, Sept. 11 at 4:30 p.m. ET; Jack Trice Stadium; Ames, Iowa
Line: Iowa State -4.5; Over/Under: 46
Moneyline: Iowa State -195; Iowa +165
Kudos to the Big Ten for giving us some of the best matchups the first two weeks of the season. As Tennessee football gets set to honor Johnny Majors with a game against the Pittsburgh Panthers, two schools Majors coached at, the Iowa State Cyclones could honor him with a huge win. ISU was Majors’ first head coaching job.
Matt Campbell truly has built ISU into a solid program, and on the heels of a 9-3 season and top 10 finish last year, he’s ready to take another step this year. Well, it didn’t seem like he was ready last week, though, after they struggled to beat the Northern Iowa Panthers, an FCS school, 16-10.
Meanwhile, the Iowa Hawkeyes, a model of consistency under Kirk Ferentz, had a splash of a start with a dominant 34-6 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers, a top 25 program. They get their second straight top 25 matchup this week. Can they do it again?
Prediction
Normally, you’d worry about a hangover for a team like Iowa with such a big win last week. Against an in-state rival, though, that’s not the case. This line is horrendous, and Iowa should be favored. Don’t just bet against ISU on the spread, take Iowa in the upset. Oh, and ISU had 16 points last week while Iowa allowed 6, so this game hits the under as well.
Iowa: 24 Iowa State: 10 (Iowa +4.5; Under 46)