Northwestern vs Iowa prediction & betting tips - October 26th | college football Week 9

The Northwestern Wildcats will face the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. Iowa (4–3) will host Northwestern (3–4) in a matchup between two teams that have had very middle-of-the-road seasons thus far. However, it has been more disappointing for the Hawkeyes who were in the AP Top 25 Poll at the start of the year.

Iowa is coming off a 32–20 loss to Michigan State last Saturday. The Hawkeyes have struggled with consistency all year and have not strung wins together since wins in Weeks 3 and 4.

Northwestern is in a similar situation coming off a 23–3 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers. The Wildcats have nearly perfectly alternated wins and losses all season, with one exception, where they lost back-to-back to Washington and Indiana. Both teams will look to build momentum this week as they try to have strong finishes to the season.

Northwestern vs Iowa prediction

Although Northwestern and Iowa have similar records, the sportsbooks and analytical models agree that Iowa is the favorite for this matchup. The Hawkeyes should win, but with how their season has gone, Northwestern can pull off an upset.

Northwestern has struggled mightily on offense all season. It has only broken the 30-point barrier twice and failed to reach 20 thrice. This has been the primary cause for the Wildcats to lose games this season because their defense has been strong in most games.

The Wildcats' defense has been better than expected given their record. They held teams to 26 points or less in all but one game, which was against No. 13 Indiana. However, as they struggle to put up points, they often lose to teams that have only 26, 24 or 23 points.

Iowa's offense is much better but lacks consistency. It has put up over 30 points four times but 20 or less thrice. It is not a coincidence that those are the three games the Hawkeyes lost. The defense has generally been quite strong, limiting opponents to 21 points or less in all games except two.

Based on those numbers, Iowa looks like the favored team and the Data Skrive model agrees. It favors Iowa to win 27 to 17 on Saturday.

Northwestern vs Iowa betting tips

Tip #1: Avoid the moneyline. The odds for Iowa are only -624, which is not worth betting on.

Tip #2: Bet over the total of 37.5 points (-113).

Tip #3: Wager on Northwestern's side of the 13.5 point spread (-110).

Northwestern vs Iowa head-to-head

Northwestern vs. Iowa is a historic matchup that will take place for the 83rd time on Saturday. Iowa (53-26-3) has the edge in the matchup. The Hawkeyes have won the past three matchups, including last year with a 10–7 victory. Northwestern last won in 2020 by a narrow score of 21–20.