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Indiana vs Wisconsin Football Picks & Odds

Written by Steve Janus on November 6, 2008

The Wisconsin Badgers visit the Indiana Hoosiers this Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Indiana. Both teams have struggled this season, particularly in the Big 10, where Indiana is just 1-4 and Wisconsin is only 1-5. This will be the last home game of the season for Indiana, where they are just 3-4 this year, and the last road game of the year for the Badgers, who have earned just a a 1-3 record in away games in 2008. With a little luck, both teams are hoping to get to the coveted six-win mark so they will be bowl eligible, but Indiana seems to be an unlikely candidate with only 3 wins and games remaining against Wisconsin, at Penn State, and at Purdue. The Hooisers are home underdogs of 9.5 points against Wisconsin and the total is set at 51 points.

On offense Wisconsin has shown that they want to establish their running game, and they’ve been able to do just that with varying degrees of success this year. While they haven’t come out on the winning end of the majority of their conference games, they’ve racked up over 200 yards per game on the ground and scored 17 touchdowns through the running game. The passing game hasn’t enjoyed nearly the same amount of success. Through the air the Badgers are putting up only 185 yards per game and newly-crowned starting quarterback Dustin Sherer is only completing 52 percent of his passes to begin his career.

The Wisconsin defense looked to be off to another great season in 2008. Through their first three games (all wins) the Badgers allowed only 13 points per game, but have stumbled since, allowing nearly 30 points per game in their last six appearances. This week the Wisconsin defense will need to play like they did the first three weeks of the season as Indiana’s most powerful weapons are on offense. If you don’t think the Indiana offense is much of a threat, you can get Wisconsin -9.5 right now at Bookmaker.com.

Indiana has been able to rack up some pretty impressive numbers for a 3-6 team. They are totaling around 390 yards per game, with 180 coming on the ground and about 210 through the air. Much of this success can be credited to Indiana QB Kellen Lewis. A threat to run as much as he is to pass, Lewis has nearly 1,000 yards passing and just over 400 yards rushing this season. He’s been inconsistent through the air, but there’s no question that if Indiana wants to be successful, Lewis is probably their best option. The Hoosiers experimented with Ben Chappell at QB last week, who threw three picks and three TDs on a 51.9 percent completion rate in a losing effort. You would think Lewis would be back at the helm this week as he gives them a better chance to win against Wisconsin.

With the offense racking up some decent stats this year, the biggest culprit for Indiana’s 3-6 record this year must be the defense. So far the Hooisers are allowing 30 points per game and just under 400 yards of total offense from their opponents. There isn’t a bright spot in the defense this season with the pass defense and run defense being equally vulnerable. If the Hooisers want any chance in their final home game of the year this defense really has to step up to the plate. Defense tends to win games, which is probably why Indiana is a 10 point underdog at home this week.

Neither team has met their expectations for the 2008. The Badgers are especially disappointing because they were projected to be a top 10 team during the preseason. Indiana wasn’t expected to be a force in the Big 10, but bowl aspirations weren’t out of the question. The Badgers still have a lot to play for as they actually have a decent chance at making a bowl game, but surely Indiana would have no problem playing spoiler to their conference rival and winning their home closer in the process.

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