As unlikely a Sweet 16 matchup as could have been imagined among the Power 4 conferences as the Iowa Hawkeyes prepare to take the court Thursday against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the South Region.
As rival Big Ten universities, these teams are quite familiar with each other having already met twice this season. The two split those first two games with each side claiming victory on their home court.
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Iowa enters the matchup as a confident underdog under first-year coach Ben McCollum. The Hawkeyes have upset Clemson and Florida in the first two rounds. This is uncharted waters for the Cornhuskers. Nebraska had never even won a single Tournament game prior to this March and now they stand just 40 minutes from the Elite Eight.
The game will likely be decided by Nebraska’s prolific three-point shooting against Iowa’s improved defensive efficiency. Nebraska ranks among the nation’s best in effective field goal percentage and defensive efficiency, but they face an Iowa offense that is even more efficient, ranking 15th nationally in eFG%. Key players to watch include Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz, projected to lead the Hawkeyes with nearly 20 points, and Nebraska’s Pryce Sandfort, who anchors a deep Husker rotation.
Lets take a closer look at this Sweet 16 matchup and take into consideration lineups, injuries, and other factors affecting the line and total.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Game Details and How to Watch Live: Iowa vs. Nebraska
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Date: Thursday, March 26, 2026
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Network/Streaming: TBS / truTV
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Game Odds: Iowa vs. Nebraska
The latest odds as of Wednesday courtesy of DraftKings:
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Moneyline: Iowa Hawkeyes (+110), Nebraska Cornhuskers (-130)
This game opened Nebraska -2.5 with the Total set at 133.5.
Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NCAA Basketball schedule!
Expected Starting Lineups: Iowa vs. Nebraska
Iowa Hawkeyes
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Important stats, trends and insights: Iowa vs. Nebraska
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Iowa is 20-15 ATS overall this season
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Nebraska is 19-15 ATS overall this season
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The OVER has cashed in 20 of Iowa’s 35 games this season (20-15)
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The OVER has cashed in just 11 of Nebraska’s 34 games this season (11-23)
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Bennett Stirtz went just 5-16 including 0-9 from deep in Iowa’s win over top-ranked Florida
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Sam Hoiberg has 13 rebounds and 12 assists through 2 Tournament games
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Iowa has covered the spread against Nebraska in 4 of their last 5 meetings
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Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NCAA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Thursday’s game between Iowa and Nebraska:
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Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on Nebraska on the Moneyline
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Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on Nebraska -1.5
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Total: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total OVER 131.5
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