The Northwestern Wildcats will host the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, and the home team is a significant dog in this spot. Northwestern sits in the cellar in the Big-10 Conference, with a record of 1-10. While the Wildcats were crushed by the Michigan State Spartans at home on Tuesday, I expect them to bring a much better effort tonight.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Home Cookin' - The Wildcats have lost all five of their home games in conference play, but that doesn't mean they haven't been more competitive at home than they have been on the road. Prior to the loss to MSU, they lost at home to Purdue, Ohio State and Illinois by an average margin of just five points.

2. Cold Shooting - Iowa is coming in cold, off a home loss to Minnesota in which it shot just 4-of-14 from three point range. "We weren't shooting open shots. We weren't moving well." said Iowa F Aaron White.

3. X-Factor - The home team should be highly motivated given that it comes off a double-digit home loss. Northwestern has covered the spread in five straight such situations.

Selection: This is a play on the Northwestern Wildcats(10*)