The Ohio State Buckeyes (19-12) and Iowa Hawkeyes (18-13) meet in a Big Ten Tournament 2nd-round matchup on Thursday at Target Center in Minneapolis. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s'lines around the Ohio State vs. Iowa odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and best bets.
The 10th-seeded Buckeyes caught fire down the stretch, winning 5 of the final 6 games to actually work their way onto the NCAA Tournament bubble. Ohio State fired coach Chris Holtmann on Feb. 14 after a 16th consecutive road loss at Wisconsin. Jake Diebler took over as interim coach, and Ohio State stunned a top-5 Purdue team on Feb. 18, and the Buckeyes are now 7-1 against the spread (ATS) heading into the league tourney.
These teams met in Iowa City on Feb. 2, prior to the Holtmann dismissal, and Iowa won 79-77, although Ohio State covered as a 5.5-point underdog as the Under (158.5) cashed.
The 7th-seeded Hawkeyes are squarely on the bubble, too. Iowa has just 3 Quad 1 wins in 11 tries, and it has 3 Quad 2 losses, and 2 bad Quad 3 losses to Michigan and Maryland. Iowa might need to get to the Big Ten Final to have a shot at an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.