Mike Hlas, CR Gazette –
Eight for Iowa, 4.5 for Iowa State.
Here’s how it works. You bet in a legal sports book (Nevada is the only state that has such things at this time) that a team will win more or less games than the number posted before the season.
Last year, for instance, the over-under on regular-season wins for Iowa was 8.5. Had you bet the over, you’d have lost. Iowa went 7-5 in the regular-season.
Wisconsin 9.5
Ohio State 9
Michigan 8.5
Nebraska 8.5
Iowa 8
Michigan State 8
Penn State 6.5
Purdue 6.5
Illinois 6
Northwestern 6
Minnesota 4.5
Indiana 4
So, who do you like to go over and who do you like to go under? You need to study the schedules to make this less of a guess. But without doing so I’ll make two quick pics on gut feelings. I’ll take Illinois under 6 because first-year head coaches of Big Ten teams often (not always, Brady Hoke, but often) have rugged first seasons. And I’ll take Indiana over 4 because the Hoosiers have a fairly soft first three games and should begin to make headway under Kevin Wilson.
But looking at all 12 numbers, I see nothing that seems like a great pick. What am I missing?
