Coming off an ugly 37-0 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes, things don’t get any easier for the Wisconsin Badgers, who will host the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday, with kickoff slated
for 2:30 p.m. on CBS.
Wisconsin had its worst game of the season in a brutal showing last weekend, getting shut out at home in a Big Ten game for the first time since 1980. To make matters worse, it was against one of their biggest rivals in a game that players and coaches said they had prepared for over the last 10 months.
The offense looked completely out of sorts, as quarterback Hunter Simmons had just 82 yards on 8 of 21 passing, while turning the ball over three times. Defensively, the Badgers couldn’t stop the run once again, allowing Iowa to go over 200 yards on the ground in the game.
Now, the Badgers are rewarded by facing the best team in the country in Ohio State. The Buckeyes have looked dangerous on both sides of the ball all year long and seem to only be getting better as the season goes on.
Wisconsin hasn’t beaten Ohio State since 2010, losing the last 10 matchups to the Buckeyes, including one at Camp Randall Stadium two weeks ago.
On a four-game losing streak, things could get real ugly for Wisconsin, starting with this weekend’s contest.
Currently, the Badgers are 26.5-point underdogs, with the over/under at 41.5 points. Let’s get into some fun predictions for the game.
Last week
Last week, we had only one prediction, which was the Hawkeyes to win outright. Obviously, that proved to be the case as Wisconsin was outmatched on all fronts in a jarring result. That brought us up to 5-7 on the season with our props, so let’s look to keep going forward this week.
Prediction
Unfortunately, I really don’t see this one going well for the Badgers, who don’t do much well. Their lone positive, the run defense, has been exposed to degrees over the last two weeks when facing good rushing attacks.
They do face an Ohio State rushing attack that ranks 76th in the country, but the Buckeyes have a good offensive line, the most efficient quarterback in college football (Julian Sayin), and two projected first-round wide receivers (Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate).
Defensively, they may be even scarier, having two potential top-10 picks in safety Caleb Downs and linebacker Arvell Reese. And there’s much more talent behind them.
The spread is a ghastly one at 26.5 points, but I don’t see how Wisconsin covers with how inept its offense looks and how good Ohio State is looking. The Badgers have struggled to generate turnovers, haven’t gotten the run game going, have gotten too many negative plays, and are averaging just seven points per game in conference play.
This one is going to get ugly.
Prediction: Ohio State to cover -26.5 spread
