Iowa State football: TCU more than four touchdown favorite over Cyclones
By Brian Spaen
Iowa State fans that actually plan to travel to Fort Worth might want to bring a book with them. The Cyclones are going to be over a 30-point underdog against TCU on Saturday.
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Vegas currently has set the line at 32.5 points in favor of TCU. The Horned Frogs are coming off of a huge blowout over Texas, the same Longhorns team that started the season 2-4 but had since had gone 4-1 on the season and had all the momentum to give the purple team a tough game on Thanksgiving night. Instead, TCU did what it didn’t do against Kansas and blew their opponents away while playing on the road.
On the other hand, the Cyclones completed their winless jaunt in Big 12 play at home. They only defeated Toledo in Jack Trice Stadium, which, to be honest, was tougher than it should have been. Let’s not forget that Iowa State had seven home games this season, too. They will have to do the impossible and win in Fort Worth to pick up their one and only conference win this season.
A line this big was not surprising. I already said in the West Virginia recap that Iowa State would be 34-point underdogs, and while that was in a semi-joking tone, I wasn’t kidding about the number. It almost came to fruition.
Vegas is generally smarter than all of us when it comes to lines. Since Iowa State is on pace to have their worst defense in the Paul Rhoads era, it’s not a surprise to see the line this big. If the football team had more of a pulse heading into the game, I’d be a bit more optimistic, but I may have to side with the linemakers at this point. Maybe that’ll change as the week progresses.