If you are big into offensive shootouts, then Saturday's CBS Sports college football game of the week from the Big Ten probably isn't for you as No. 17 Iowa visits No. 18 Michigan in the conference opener for both. Both have been spectacular defensively in the early going, which is why there is a total of just 38.5 for the 3:30 ET kick – by far the lowest total on the Week 4 board. Nothing else is below 43.5.
Bet on college football at DraftKings, where new users get $200 when they spend $5+: We are now officially into autumn, and it looks like fall weather in Ann Arbor on Saturday via weather.com: Sunny skies. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. At DraftKings, Iowa at +5.5 is taking 98% of handle and 87% of bets, while the total is taking solid Over action.
You can try college football betting on the best sports betting apps, but first you should check out the SportsLine Projection Model for picks on games from both the simulations and our experts. We have a strong play here for those who want to get into parlay betting for Iowa vs. DrafKings price: +106 (subject to change) This will mark the first meeting as Big Ten foes between Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and first-year Michigan counterpart Kyle Whittingham, formerly of Utah.
They rank 1-2 in games among active FBS head coaches, with Ferentz at 344 and Whittingham at 267. This will be the first college football game between the top two active head coaches in games coached since the 2006 Orange Bowl between Joe Paterno's Penn State and Bobby Bowden's Florida State. It's the first Big Ten game between coaches with at least 250 games coached since 2000 between Paterno's Nittany Lions and John Cooper's Ohio State Buckeyes.
Ferentz also leads active coaches in wins with 216, while Whittingham is third with 180. Both these programs still prefer to win the old-school way: Ball-control offense and good defense. In the past five seasons, Iowa ranks No. 2 in FBS in points per game allowed (14.9) and yards allowed per game (281.9), while Michigan is third in PPG (16.3) and YPG (287.1).
Iowa currently ranks No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (4.3 PPG) and total defense (176.7 YPG), but also has played a weak schedule, with the only power opponent a rebuilding Iowa State program. That was a 16-13 Hawkeyes escape. Otherwise, they blanked Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa.
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