Iowa Hawkeyes vs Indiana Hoosiers Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 01/17/26

The Iowa Hawkeyes will travel to Bloomington on Saturday afternoon to play a Big 10 Conference game against the Indiana Hoosiers. Both Iowa and Indiana have first year coaches looking to get to their programs to the NCAA Tournament, and this game could have a massive effect on that. The Hawkeyes have lost three straight games, and Indiana has lost two straight, so the urgency will be in the air on Saturday. It should be a very close game as the spread suggests but I expect Indiana to pull out the win.

Indiana is currently -2.5 on their home floor and the Hoosiers to cover are my best bet of the game. I like Indiana to cover this spread because their offense should be able to score efficiently. Iowa is ranked highly in adjusted defensively efficiency on KenPom, but their effective field goal percentage and two-point defense is outside the top 100.  Indiana’s offense is ranked #22 in effective field goal percentage and #13 in two-point percentage while Iowa’s defense is ranked #105 and #173. I do not see Iowa stopping the Indiana offense enough on their home floor for them to cover. Take Indiana -2.5 here.

*Indiana -2.5 available at time of publishing. Playable at -3*