Money Pouring in on Underdog Gophers vs Iowa

The Minnesota Gophers will be in Iowa City on Saturday to play the Hawkeyes, looking for their first win at Kinnick Stadium since 1999. Whoever wins stays alive for the Big Ten West Championship. The loser will be left to think about an underwhelming bowl game.

After a 4-0 October, the maroon and gold laid a rotten egg in their first matchup of November, an ugly 14-6 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini. That loss, combined with Minnesota’s history at Kinnick, lead to an Iowa (-7) opening line. As of Thursday night, it (BetOnline) had moved two full points, to Iowa (-5).

Why does that line keep moving toward the Gophers? Because everyone’s betting on them. According to Pro Football Focus, 2/3 of the bets and the money down for Saturday’s game have been on Minnesota beating the spread.

Money continues to pour in the #Gophers vs Iowa pic.twitter.com/pESLa7A8mg

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) November 11, 2021

Why?

Money is pouring in on Minnesota because bettors believe the sportsbooks are overanalyzing last week’s loss. In each game after a poor performance, the Gophers have come out the next week with their dukes up.

After they were nearly upset in embarrassing fashion by Miami (OH) in week 2, Minnesota ran a stampede over the Buffs of Colorado 30-0 in Boulder in week 3. Then, after somehow falling to Bowling Green in week 4, PJ Fleck and Co rattled off 4-straight Big Ten victories over Purdue, Nebraska, Maryland and Northwestern.

Like the betting money, I expect the Gophers to bounce back against an Iowa Hawkeyes team (and their backup QB) that’s more beatable in 2021 than anytime in recent memory. Keep the points. I’ll take the maroon and gold straight-up.

Minnesota wins: 27-17

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan