The Utah State Aggies finished last season with a record of 6-7 and a record of 5-3 in the Mountain West which led to a tie for 2^nd place in the Mountain Division and the Aggies making a bowl game for 2^nd consecutive season with an appearance in the First Responder Bowl against the Memphis Tigers which resulted in a 10-38 loss for the Aggies. This season, the Utah State Aggies enter the year with an over/under win total of 5.5 wins which means the Aggies are projected to be a borderline bowl-eligible team this season and based on Vegas projections are projected to be the 4^th worst team in the Mountain West projected to finish better than the New Mexico Lobos, Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, and Nevada Wolfpack. The Aggies will have a new Offensive Coordinator and Defensive Coordinator this season after Blake Anderson hired Kyle Cefalo to become the new Offensive Coordinator and Joe Cauthen to become the new Defensive Coordinator.

The Iowa Hawkeyes finished the 2022 college football season with a record of 8-5 and a record of 5-4 in the Big Ten Conference in Kirk Ferentz’s 24^th season as the head coach for the Hawkeyes which led to a tie for 2^nd place in the Big Ten West and Iowa making a bowl game for the 10^th consecutive year with an appearance in the Music City Bowl against the Kentucky Wildcats which resulted in a 21-0 shutout win for the Iowa Hawkeyes. This season, the Iowa Hawkeyes enter the year ranked 25^th in the AP Poll with an over/under win total of 8.5 wins which means the Hawkeyes are projected to become bowl-eligible for the 11^th year in a row and based on Vegas odds are projected to be 5^th best team in the Big Ten Conference, only behind the Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan Wolverine, Penn State Nittany Lions, and Wisconsin Badgers.

BookMaker has the Iowa Hawkeyes listed as 23.5-point favorites at home against the Utah State Aggies on Saturday in week 1 of the college football season. These teams have only played once before this matchup which occurred in 2002 and resulted in a 48-7 win for the Iowa Hawkeyes as well as a 22-point cover for the Hawkeyes. Utah State finished last season with a record of 4-9 ATS overall, 1-5 ATS on the road, and 2-5 ATS as an underdog while Iowa finished 8-5 ATS overall, 3-4 ATS at home, and 4-3 ATS as a favorite.

Iowa is the more talented team entering the season as they enter the year ranked 25^th in the AP Poll and are projected to be a top 5 team in the Big Ten Conference while Utah State is projected to be one of the worst teams in the Mountain West. The Hawkeyes have an over/under win total of 8.5 wins while the Aggies have an over/under win total of 5.5 wins. I look for the Hawkeyes to have a dominating game in this matchup on Saturday in week 1 of the college football season at home against the Utah State Aggies which is why I am buying the .5 point and taking the Iowa Hawkeyes -23 on BookMaker for this matchup on Saturday afternoon.