A huge trend is happening in the Big Ten so far this year and if you aren’t aware of it you are missing out. Home teams have been dominating in Big Ten play and it is something that can’t be explained. The Big Ten has traditionally been tough to play on the road but things are just getting out of hand this season. There have been 42 conference games this season and only 5 teams have won on the road. Michigan St, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Rutgers are the only teams with one road win in conference. If you are looking for some insight into this week’s games start there as this trend is crushing it and home teams are winning 88% of the time. That is correct at 88%.
Will the trend continue this weekend? There are some awesome matchups in the Big Ten this weekend and none better than tomorrow night with Wisconsin going to #15 Michigan State and #19 Michigan headed to Iowa.
Wisconsin (11-6) vs #15 Michigan St (13-4)
Wisconsin comes into this one after defeating Maryland at home down the stretch with a late three to take a win from Maryland. The Badgers shoot the ball very well from deep and I expect them to try and use that to their advantage in this one in East Lansing. The problem for Wisconsin is they have to travel to a Michigan State team coming off one of their worst performances under Tom Izzo as a coach. It is a tough spot for the Badgers here as Michigan State has all the firepower in the world and average 79 points a game while the Badgers only average 67. The Badgers have a very good defense that ranks in the top 20 in the country however against this Spartans team who just saw their 8 game win streak halted in a blow out against Purdue. I don’t see the Badgers covering this on the road.
Betting nugget: Spartans are 5-0 Against the spread in their last 5 home games
My Pick: Michigan St. -8.5
#19 Michigan (11-5) vs Iowa (12-5)
Michigan comes into this one ranked 19th in the nation and coming off a loss on the road to Minnesota. Michigan’s leading scorer Jon Teske has a tough matchup on both ends trying to slow down Luka Garza who is averaging 22 points a game. Iowa has been playing well and they just beat up on Northwestern which was one of the rare road wins for a Big Ten team. Michigan and Iowa have split their last 4 matchups with Iowa winning the last two in a row. The trend of road teams struggling everyone understands now. Michigan just hasn’t been the same team on the road this year and I expect this game to be no different.
Betting Nugget: Hawkeyes record is 6-1-1 Against the spread in their last 8 games
My Pick: Iowa -3.5
Other Big Ten Matchups this weekend
Ohio State at Penn St.
Purdue at Maryland
NW at Illinois
Indiana at Nebraska
Minnesota at Rutgers
I hope you all enjoy the weekend and all your favorite teams win. Remember to checkout @betsunwrapped on Twitter and check out www.sportcastr.com there you can get live content from all our USN contributors on tons of matchups and games. Just type in the search bar USN and a list of our contributors are there to follow. See you soon.
Corey Easley is a Contributor for the Unwrapped Sports Network website. Follow him @Cmoney52 on Twitter.