Iowa Hawkeyes Odds

Iowa Hawkeyes 2024 Season Preview

If you’re an avid college football fan, you know what Iowa football is about. The Hawkeyes always field an elite defense, an excellent special teams unit, and an almost non-existent offense.

Despite averaging only 15 points per game last season, head coach Kirk Ferentz recorded his third double-digit win season in five years. The Hawkeyes are a consistent force in the Big Ten.

Iowa could be a sleeper for the title this season – perhaps if new offensive coordinator Tim Lester can make the Hawkeyes average offensively. The Hawkeyes have the sixth-shortest betting odds to win the Big Ten conference – you can track Iowa's conference title odds all season – and they rank 26th nationally in our college football betting power ratings.

Here’s how to bet on Iowa football this year and other information.

Betting on Iowa

There are several ways to bet on Iowa football this season, including game-to-game markets such as moneylines, point spreads and totals (the over/under).

For more odds, check out our college football odds page.

Betting Iowa Moneylines

The Hawkeyes have posted a 90-39 record since 2013, meaning they’re also 90-39 on the moneyline during that period – a moneyline wager is a bet on a team to win the game.

Here’s how a hypothetical moneyline bet might show at a sportsbook like DraftKings or FanDuel:

• Iowa ML: -150
• Illinois ML: +130

The minus (-) and plus (+) signs distinguish the favorite from the underdog; Iowa is the favorite in this hypothetical and is thus expected to win.

It’s easiest to understand American odds in $100 increments.

A wager on Iowa’s moneyline at -150 odds means a $150 wager on the Hawkeyes would net $100 in profit, excluding the initial $100 wager that would also be returned in the event of a victory.

Conversely, a $100 wager on Illinois’ moneyline at +130 odds would net $130 in profit, excluding the initial $100 wager that would be returned upon winning.

For what it’s worth, Iowa has been a very profitable moneyline team during this decade-long stretch. If you bet $100 on Iowa’s moneyline in every Hawkeyes game since 2013, you would be up over $2600.

For more moneyline odds, check out our college football odds page.

Betting Iowa Point Spreads

Most bettors play team on the point spread rather than the moneyline, given it’s the ultimate equalizer in sports betting – even the best college football teams are expected to beat the spread only half the time.

A point spread wager is a bet on a team’s margin of victory or defeat. Here’s how a point spread bet might look at sportsbooks like bet365 or BetMGM:

• Iowa -6.5 (-110)
• Minnesota +6.5 (-110)

There are two parts to every point spread: the spread itself, representing the margin of victory, and the odds, which is what your payout would be. In our hypothetical example, Iowa is a 6.5-point favorite, meaning the Illini must win by seven points or more to cover the spread. And if you’re betting that at -110 odds, you must wager $110 for every $100 you want to win.

Conversely, Minnesota would have to either win outright or lose by six or fewer points to cover their underdog spread. Again, you’d have to wager $110 for every $100 you want to win.

If you’re still confused, I suggest reading up on how to use American odds or checking out our odds calculator before placing any future wagers.

Betting Iowa Totals

The third major market in sports betting is the total, also known as the over/under. In this wager, you’re predicting whether the total number of points scored by both teams in the match will be higher or lower than whatever the sportsbook lists.

For example, take this Iowa vs. Nebraska total from late November of the 2023 season, where the total was set at 25.5 points:

• Over 25.5 (-110)
• Under 25.5 (-110)

Given Iowa’s elite defense and horrific offense, Hawkeye totals are typically very low.

If you bet the over, you would need at least 45 total points between the Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers for your bet to cash. If you bet the under, you would need 45 or fewer points.

Like the point spread, there’s a corresponding payout with the over and under. In this case, you’d need to wager $110 to win $100 on either the over or the under.

In this real-life example, the teams combined for 23 total points in a 13-10 Iowa win, cashing the under. If you had bet $110 on under 25.5 points for this game, you would have netted $100 in profit.

Iowa Player Props & More

College football player props are limited state-by-state, so it’s often challenging to find prop bets in this market.

If player props are available, you would see things like yardage over/under for specific players (passing, rushing, receiving), to score touchdown props for quarterbacks, wide receivers, and running backs, alongside much more.

If college football props aren’t available in your state, I’d highly recommend checking out a platform like PrizePicks. This site is regulated as a Daily Fantasy Sports site and allows you to pick and pair player props for payouts.