The Wisconsin Badgers need to get back on track if they want to save their chance of making it to the Big Ten championship. Luckily for them, they’re facing a team that is struggling more than them in Illinois.
No. 23 Wisconsin entered into the 2018 season with a ton of hope and plenty of promise. The Badgers were the most talented team in the Big Ten West and were touted by many as a team that could make it all the way to the College Football Playoffs. The AP poll ranked the Badgers as the 4th best team in the country coming into the season. Now they’re just trying to make something out of this season after two losses that derailed the Badgers’ playoff hopes.
While the Badgers are dealing with not meeting elevated expectations, Illinois is trying to become a sustainable football program. The Fighting Illini are not good, and that news shouldn’t shock anyone. But, Illinois currently only has one fewer loss than Wisconsin and the Illini are trying to make it to a bowl game. If they could somehow upset the Badgers, the Big Ten West would officially be turned upside down and Lovie Smith will have won more games in 2018 than in either of his first two seasons.
An upset of the Badgers isn’t all that likely, however. This game is back at home for Wisconsin and, so far the only road game that the Illini have played in this season was a trip to Rutgers. The Illini have a horrific offense and the defense is somehow even worse than that. They’re currently allowing for over 500 yards of offense from their opponents and somehow only gaining 385 yards of offense themselves.
Wisconsin’s quarterback Alex Hornibrook has to see this as a great opportunity to get himself back on track this week. Wisconsin’s running back Johnathan Taylor must be looking forward to a chance to run straight through Illinois and get himself to over 1000 yards on the season already.
How to bet on and watch Wisconsin vs. Illinois
- Date: Saturday, Oct. 20
- Start Time: 12 p.m. ET
- Location: Madison, WI
- Stadium: Camp Randall Stadium
- TV Info: FS1
- Odds: Wisconsin -25.5
- Live Stream: fuboTV
Prediction: Wisconsin is going to be able to do whatever it is that they want on offense and Illinois simply won’t be able to keep up. While there is a slim chance that the Illini could come into this game and take advantage of the emotions that come with how poorly the Badgers played against Michigan last week, there’s little chance that this can actually happen. Expect the Badgers to win this game and to win big.