Iowa Football Predictions for 2024: Iowa Football Total Wins Picks, Best Bets & Games To Watch

Expert college football handicapper Ron Marmalefsky looks at Iowa Hawkeyes college football and its chances in 2024. Ron provides expert picks for betting on Iowa in 2024.

Ron also offers total win predictions for Iowa in 2024 (a great betting NCAAF betting future), areas to watch, favorability of schedule, and offers best bets tips on Iowa.

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Grab the GoldSheet 2024-2025 Betting Guide

In a partnership with WagerTalk’s Ralph Michaels, the GoldSheet team has compiled a 60-page college football betting guide to help you prepare for the 2024-25 season.

Available free of charge, this preseason guide features our summer power ratings, projected point spreads and win probabilities for EVERY game of the upcoming season, plus coaching changes, quarterback transfers and much more. 

Iowa College Football 2024 Preview: What’s the Situation?

I love watching Iowa football.  The defense is so well coached, and I’ve always been a fan of watching good defense (I hate the 57-50 games in football). 

The offense?  Well, I’m also a huge fan of movie comedies, and Iowa’s offense proves that laughter is the best medicine.  A soft schedule had them overvalued in ’23 (see areas to watch).  Iowa’s not going away, so let’s see what’s up their sleeve in ’24.

2024 Iowa NCAAF AREAS TO WATCH:

Iowa was 10-2 before the Big 10 title game, yet their Power # went from 84 at the start to just 75 before that game vs. Michigan.  84 was a very typical starting point, but 75 was well below their typical ending point. 

Basically, the ’23 Iowa team was their worst in a decade, and the offense was to blame.  They couldn’t score, couldn’t pass, and their punter set the NCAA record for most punt yards, ever!  Of course he was good, and was drafted.  Cade McNamara got hurt early in ’23, but he’s back and with a “real” coordinator in Tim Lester.  I think the run game improves, as the yards-per-carry has been strangely below 4.0 for years. 

Given how good their defense has been, moving from 14+ points per game up to a still below NCAA average 21 points per game would be huge. 

Seven of the top eight tacklers are back.  They lose their top sacker and their star DB (DeJean), but this is a unit driven by LB play, and they all return.  Phil Parker enters his 13th year as coordinator, and he’s a star.  PK Stevens actually cost his team a game last year, but he’s generally an above average kicker.  The defense and special team units are always fundamentally sound.   

Iowa Football 2024 Predicted Total Wins Prediction

Having stability at Head Coach, defensive coordinator, and special team coordinator gives this program an edge in close games.  The record may drop, but this team is better than the ’23 version, with a much-need change at offensive coordinator, and tons of defensive experience. 

A soft 9-3 is my prediction (grid says 8-4).  One interesting final note: Iowa was FOREVER on the plus side of the turnover ratio ledger.  They were -4 in ’23, and -7 counting the 35-0 bowl loss.  I expect that to change.  

College Football Week 0 Predictions & Picks

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Iowa 2024 Football Expert HANDICAPPING TIP

Note that they are 29-18 ATS as a home favorite of more than 14 points.  They are historically a good road spread team as well.  As usual, I want to back them more than fade them.  Any fades will likely include rush formula data, and with an underdog.

2024 Iowa Football Schedule and Games to Watch

Ohio St returns to the schedule, which was soft for a few years, but is tougher now.  The Hawkeyes always seem to find a way to beat rival Iowa State.  Another (home) win gets them to 3-0 before they travel to Minny.  Iowa has LONG been a good road team (33-15 SU lately, 10-4 last three seasons), and they had a punt return TD negated in a two-point loss to the Gophers a year ago (bad referee call). 

Washington has a new coach, and nearly all new starting roster.  This is the kind of game Iowa must win to prove relevance.  The game at a rested Mich St will be interesting.  The underdog used to be the easy call in this series, and unless something changes, Iowa doesn’t usually win by much margin in conference play. 

It may surprise some, but Iowa is just 5-6 SU at home in the last 11 vs. Northwestern.  They only won last year’s neutral site game 10-7, due to a winning 50+ yard field goal with a few seconds remaining.  History offers ZERO help in figuring out games vs. Wisconsin.  This is another home game where it will be interesting to precheck Iowa’s ’24 offensive #’s, and what’s going on with Wisconsin in their 2nd season under Luke Fickell.  Things remain tricky the rest of the way. 

They travel to UCLA and to Maryland, then close hosting Nebraska, where games are always tight.  

Grab the GoldSheet 2024-2025 Betting Guide

In a partnership with WagerTalk’s Ralph Michaels, the GoldSheet team has compiled a 60-page college football betting guide to help you prepare for the 2024-25 season.

Available free of charge, this preseason guide features our summer power ratings, projected point spreads and win probabilities for EVERY game of the upcoming season, plus coaching changes, quarterback transfers and much more. 

WagerTalk Live Odds Screen CFB

WagerTalk’s live college football odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the run spreads, totals and betting percentages for all college football games.

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