The Wisconsin Badgers come into Saturday night’s Big Ten Championship as heavy underdogs — and with almost no one viewing them as possible participants in the College Football Playoff. According to FiveThirtyEight, Wisconsin has a 7 percent chance of qualifying for the national semifinals. Given that the Badgers have two losses (to Ohio State and to Illinois, of all teams), it should be difficult for them to make the playoff. However, if Wisconsin can win — and if Oregon can upend Utah in the Pac-12 Championship on Friday, LSU can knock Georgia out of the top four in the SEC Championship, Virginia can defeat Clemson in the ACC title game, and Baylor can knock off Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship, then FiveThirtyEight increases the Badgers’ playoff odds to 86 percent. I believe that the Pac-12, SEC and Big 12 championships could go Wisconsin’s way. However, I don’t see Clemson losing — and I don’t see Wisconsin beating Ohio State. Even so, here’s hoping for Wisconsin fans. Before you lock in your wagers, be sure to read our online betting preview of this Big Ten rematch.
Wisconsin vs Ohio State 2019 Big Ten Championship Odds & Game Info
- When: Saturday, December 7, 2019, 8:00 pm ET
- Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
- TV: FOX
- Radio: Badger Sports Network / Ohio State IMG Sports Network
- Live Stream: FOX Sports GO
- Big Ten Championship Odds: Ohio State -16.5 / O/U 54.5
Why should you bet on the Badgers?
Wisconsin finished their regular season with a trip to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers. That’s right, the same Golden Gophers who knocked off then-#4 Penn State at home. Since then, Minnesota had lost to Iowa and beaten Northwestern before welcoming Wisconsin. The Badgers and Golden Gophers played close for a while, but then the Badgers administered a lesson using their superior line size, running away with a 38-17 victory. Quarterback Jack Coan went 15 for 22 for 280 yards and a pair of scores, and Wisconsin tailback Jonathan Taylor carried the ball 18 times for 76 yards and two more touchdowns.
The Wisconsin defense was perhaps even more impressive, limiting Minnesota to just 76 rushing yards on the day, helping turn around the momentum of a game in which Minnesota led, 7-0, after one period. Wisconsin has covered in five of their last seven games against teams with winning records, and when they can bring the pace of the game down to a regular grind, they can control the action, putting together long drives that wear out the opposition. If you like Wisconsin to cover here, you see them doing a better job of imposing that rhythm on the game than they did when they faced Ohio State during the regular season.
Why should you put your money on the Buckeyes?
The top argument for wagering on Ohio State has to do with their 38-7 win over the Badgers on October 26. In fact, Ohio State has covered in five of their last seven games against the Badgers, as well as in 10 of their last 11 games against teams with winning records. Ohio State remains unbeaten after routing Michigan in their regular season finale, rolling to a 56-27 road win. Tailback J.K. Dobbins simply took Michigan to the woodshed, running for 211 yards on 31 attempts, scoring four times. Quarterbcak Justin Fields only needed 14 completions to break the 300-yard barrier, throwing for four touchdown passes. On the day, Ohio State gained 577 yards of total offense, while their defense forced two turnovers.
If you look at this line (16 ½ points), the only game in which Ohio State has won by a smaller margin was their home win over Ohio State on November 23 — a game that they won by 11. In the first matchup with Wisconsin, we saw the immense speed advantage that Ohio State has, which allowed them to neutralize the battles in the trenches.
Final Score Prediction
I really like Wisconsin’s old school approach to football, relying on their lines to impose their will on games. However, Ohio State’s talent and speed simply allow them to run circles around a team like Wisconsin, as they did in the regular season and will again on Saturday. I predict a final score of Ohio State 34, Wisconsin 13.
