College basketball is back and we are officially into the best time of the year. Don’t give me any of that nonsense about spring or summer – this is IT! You’ve got college football and the NFL on literally every day of the week and now you throw in wrestling (including women’s!!) and men’s and women’s college basketball and it’s a sports fan’s dream.
Your Iowa Hawkeyes kick off the 2023-2024 campaign with a home matchup against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. Unfortunately, it’s a year too late for former Hawkeye Filip Rebraca to square off with his old team, but Iowa will look to bid them well on his behalf.
The Fighting Hawks are fresh off a 13-20 campaign in 2022-2023 which saw them go 6-12 in the Summit League, finishing just above Omaha at the bottom of the conference standings. North Dakota struggled for much of last season, but really struggled on the road finishing the year at 4-11 away from home.
They’ll need to improve on that meaningfully if they want to hang with the Hawkeyes tonight as they come into Carver-Hawkeye Arena for Iowa’s season opener. This one looks to be a high-scoring affair as we know Fran McCaffery’s teams want to get up and down while the Fighting Hawks come in ranked 290th in adjusted defense per KenPom.
Our friends over at DraftKings Sportsbook have the Hawkeyes favored by 20 points in this one with an over/under at 156.5 total points. This ain’t football so the old adage of always betting the under does not apply here. If recent history is any indication, the opposite might be true with the Hawkeyes in the non-conference.
As we prepare for tipoff in Iowa’s season opener, here’s a quick look at the details for tonight’s matchup.
Date: Tuesday, November 7th
Time: 7:00 pm CT
Matchup: North Dakota (0-0, 0-0) at Iowa Hawkeyes (0-0, 0-0)
Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena- Iowa City, IA
TV: BTN+
DraftKings Opening Line: Iowa -20, O/U 156.5
Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.
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Go Hawks!