Iowa Football: Hawkeyes’ win total among best bets in college football

Can the Iowa Hawkeyes get to double-digit wins during the 2023 college football season? The path is there and the talent on both sides of the ball is present. The question is if they can put it all together.

After pulling out eight wins in 2022 with an anemic offense, one would think the Hawkeyes should be able to improve on that again this season. CBS Sports is one of those believers. They list the Iowa Hawkeyes’ “over” on their win total (via SportsLine consensus) as one of the best bets in all of college football.

Iowa over 8.5 wins (-115)

The Hawkeyes finished 7-5 last regular season with losses to Ohio State and Michigan. Neither are on the schedule this year. Iowa also lost to Iowa State last season for the first time since 2014. With the Cyclones looking uncertain at quarterback for this year’s early season Cy-Hawk battle, Iowa has an excellent chance to recoup a victory there. The Hawkeyes figure to be stingy defensively, per usual, and the offense has nowhere to go but up. With Michigan transfer Cade McNamara in at quarterback and the offensive line poised for improvement, Iowa should at least have a pulse on offense. That will be enough to carry the Hawkeyes to nine victories against this slate. – Cobb, CBS Sports

In our Big Ten football record predictions for 2023, the Hawkeyes ended up at 10-2 and that easily clears this win total. Iowa’s toughest tests come in the form of a Week 4 road trip to Penn State and a Week 7 trip to Wisconsin. It is not impossible, and could even be more likely than not, that those are the sole two games that the Hawkeyes are underdogs.

A schedule consisting of seven games at home inside Kinnick and a game at Wrigley Field against Northwestern that will be overtaken by black and gold bodes very well for Iowa to hit nine or more wins in 2023.

Interestingly enough, Big Ten West foe Minnesota is among the best bets to make as well, but their bet is to finish with less than seven wins, which would be a year of regression for the Gophers.

An offer for Hawkeyes fans

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