Ohio State Will Take Down Hawkeyes With Ease

Iowa vs. Ohio State, 6:00 ET

We didn't see much action on the hardwood last night with just one play, but it was a winner and that's all we are looking for. In Conference Tournaments, we are a modest 2-0 with a win on Wofford Monday, and a win with Gonzaga last night. I am hopefully going to keep this unbeaten run alive until we can get to the NCAA Tournament. We will see what happens, but I'm putting it on the line here as Iowa takes on Ohio State in the Big 10 Tournament. 

Iowa comes into this one with a winning record, but it is by the smallest of margins. They are just 16-15 for the season and went a discouraging 7-13 in the Big 10 play. When your school is more known for a female basketball superstar than any male counterpart I have to imagine it just isn't that great of a program. Shots at the Hawkeyes aside, this has been a tough year for them. They are averaging 82 points per game, which is nice, but they are allowing almost 80 points to opponents as well - hence the .500 record. Looking through their schedule, there aren't really any overly impressive victories. They beat Rutgers, but despite having two lottery picks that team was very average and disappointing. They beat Nebraska on the road, and Indiana at home, but those are really the only games that I see them having played against a decent opponent and winning. They lost against every ranked opponent and the only neutral court wins this year were against Washington State and Utah. Aside from that, the only road wins were against Rutgers and Nebraska. 

Mar 9, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery and forward Payton Sandfort (20) walk off the court after defeating the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Ohio State isn't exactly a dominant force this season either, but they were slightly better with a 17-14 record. I won't sit here and praise them for that and they won't make the NCAA Tournament, but they did at least put together a decent campaign, it was really their games against the Big 10 where they struggled and they dropped 11 of 20 games for a 9-11 record. They started the season strong, beating a ranked Texas team (though we came to find out Texas wasn't great either). They beat Kentucky on a neutral court, hung with Michigan, Oregon, and Wisconsin in losses. They beat Purdue at Purdue, Maryland at home, and USC on the road. Each of those wins has varying significance and difficulties associated with them, but there really is no question in my book they've been the more competitive team. 

In one game against Iowa this season, Ohio State hosted the Hawkeyes and made light work of them. They beat them by almost 20 points. In the game shot just 28% from three and only 58% from the free throw line. I don't know that you would consider Ohio State's performance much better with just 31% from deep, but they were at least 74% from the charity stripe. Ohio State dominated the rebounding battle, but this feels like more than a one game issue for Iowa. I think the Hawkeyes are bad on the road, and although Ohio State has trouble closing out games against good opponents, I don't think Iowa falls into that category. Give me the Buckeyes to cover the -5.5 here. 

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