Fresh off a 17-0 win in the season opener over the Miami (OH) RedHawks, the Wisconsin Badgers are taking on the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders in Week 2, with kickoff set for 3:00 p.m. on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
In the opener, the Badgers were dominant defensively, overcoming a quarterback injury to starter Billy Edwards Jr. with a shutout performance, as they limited Miami (OH) to just 117 total yards.
Now, they’ll take on a Middle Tennessee State team that had an ugly Week 1, losing
their first-ever game to an FCS team with a 34-14 defeat to Austin Peay.
Currently, FanDuel Sportsbook has the Badgers as 28.5-point favorites, with the over/under at 45.5 points. Let’s get into some fun predictions for the game.
Prop Predictions
Last week was a rough start to the season, as I went with Dilin Jones to get a 20+ yard rush and the over to hit on 39.5 points, while debating the spread for Wisconsin.
Of course, with Wisconsin struggling a bit to get consistency in the air and Miami (OH) selling out against the run, Jones’s longest carry was only 11 yards, although he did end up with 73 yards on 14 rush attempts.
As for the total points, that was a complete miss, thanks to a shutout performance from Wisconsin’s defense and some inconsistencies on the offensive side of the ball.
So, let’s look to bounce back this week with some better props.
Prop 1: 1st Half total U24.5 points
We’ll start our predictions off with an interesting line: the first half total score to be under 24.5 points, which currently has -120 odds on FanDuel.
Wisconsin is a heavy favorite in this one, and deservedly so after their respective outings last week. I don’t see many avenues for Middle Tennessee State to score as a result. They really struggled to run the ball last week, averaging 2.0 yards per carry, and were porous in the air with a 2.9 yards per attempt figure.
I expect the Badgers defense to smother the Blue Raiders, and wouldn’t be surprised with another first-half (or maybe even full game) shutout.
On the flip side, I think Wisconsin will score more than the three points they had in the first half last week. But, they do have a new quarterback under center with Danny O’Neil, so it may take some time to get comfortable in the offense.
Additionally, Jeff Grimes’s offense is methodical with a lot of the quick passing game and downhill rushing attempts, which usually cause drives to spread out for longer periods of time. So, we’ll take the first half under here.
Prop 2: Wisconsin -12.5 2H spread
The Badgers are a 16.5-point first-half favorite, whereas they’re only a 12.5-point second-half favorite.
I think they’ll be able to build off some rhythm and have another strong second half, where they can put up multiple touchdowns and still hold the Middle Tennessee offense down.
Of course, with the chance of a blowout, we may see some younger players in the game in the fourth quarter, but I still see the Badgers finding a way to cover the 12.5-point second-half spread.
Prop 3: U45.5 total points
The Badgers are 28.5-point favorites here, which is an intriguing line, but I think there’s better value with the under.
Once again, I struggle to see how Middle Tennessee is going to get any consistent offense in this one, with how poorly they played in Week 1 in both facets of the game.
So, for the over to cash, the Badgers would have to put up a very impressive offensive performance, which is certainly possible, but I think that they ultimately won’t reach the necessary amount to hit the over.
If Middle Tennessee is limited to a touchdown or even two field goals, Wisconsin would likely need 40+ points to cash the over. I’m not sure that happens, so we’ll take the under here.
2025 season record: 0-2
Last Week: 0-2
