Iowa, Iowa State actually lucky in recent sports-betting news ... so far

August crashed into the state’s two major-college football programs with the force of a linebacker who bet the “under” on the game in which he was playing.

Too soon?

Seriously, though, Iowa State and Iowa have gotten off cheaply so far. None of their athletes have been accused of betting against their own teams. That said, the headlines aren’t great.

On Monday, the news came down about Iowa State starting quarterback Hunter Dekkers being charged with tampering with records, as a result of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s inquiry into sports gambling.

On Tuesday, it was learned Iowa kicker Aaron Blom faced the same charge, as did recently departed Hawkeye men’s basketball player Ahron Ulis and Iowa baseball player Gehrig Christiansen.

This was after Hawkeye starting defensive lineman Noah Shannon opted not to attend last week’s Big Ten media days in Indianapolis because he said he was involved in the investigation of sports gambling in Iowa.

Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said last week that Shannon has “not broken any laws or rules.”

In May, Iowa announced 26 student-athletes — from baseball, football, men's basketball, men's track and field and men's wrestling — were involved in the investigation. Most of their names haven’t been released.

Commonalities between the cases involving Dekkers and Blom included the players betting relatively small stakes, disguising their identities by using their mothers’ information to bet on the online sportsbook sites, and being accused of betting on games involving their own teams in which they didn’t play.

Let’s skip the moralizing or non-moralizing about whether the athletes should have the same access to sports-betting in general as the rest of the adult population in Iowa for now. Betting on games involving your own team is 1) a bright red flag no matter how they wagered and 2) really dumb considering how much it’s stressed to them not to bet on sports at all.

The average amount per bet by Dekkers is roughly $7.65, which suggests he was doing it for fun more than trying to secure a down payment on a Porsche. But the amounts in these cases don’t matter much.

According to the court document, Blom bet the “under” on the 2021 Iowa-Iowa State game, which closed at 45 points. Let’s assume Blom was respectful of his team’s defense more than he was wary of its offense.

Iowa won, 27-17. So Blom narrowly won the bet, much like a game-winning field goal that barely got over the crossbar.

Speaking about the subject last week, Ferentz said “I'm hopeful this is an opportunity for the NCAA to reconsider two things: What punishments might be that are fair and relevant to the world we're living in right now, and probably the bigger thing, there's an opportunity right now for a lot better education process."

It would seem urging them not to do it because of the consequences watchful and aggressive law-enforcement agents might bring would have been educational enough. Apparently not.

In practical terms, Iowa was lucky Blom was a backup. Now we’ll wait to learn if Shannon is in wrist-slap territory or not.

As for Iowa State, it’s kind of tough losing your starting quarterback in August. The Cyclones did sign junior college transfer QB Tanner Hughes in late May, three weeks after the school learned approximately 15 of its student-athletes from football, wrestling and track and field may have violated NCAA rules.

Ferentz said “not a large number” of his players are involved in the investigation. Two is large enough.

“I don’t think Alaska plays football,” he said, “but I think there’s college football players in 49 states who could be the same. That’s my take on this thing.”

What happens when it’s a player who has bet against his team and played in the game? What are the odds, pardon the expression, that it hasn’t happened recently in one of those 49 states?

It’s like a lot of other things in this life. It’s easier not to know.