Wisconsin Betting Lines, Plus a Prediction for Western Michigan
The Badgers enter their season opener as big-time favorites.
Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers (0-0, 0-0 B1G) enter the 2024 college football season with a clean slate heading into their Week 1 matchup under the lights of Camp Randall Stadium against Western Michigan.
The Friday night matchup against Lance Taylor and the Broncos marks the first time these two programs have faced off since the 2016 Cotton Bowl, where Wisconsin football came out on top with a 24-16 win. Notably, the Badgers hold a 4-1 all-time record against Western Michigan.
"We know as little [about Western Michigan] as we ever have... they got a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator, and a new special teams coordinator... a lot of unknowns, even with transfers," Fickell told reporters... "The good thing about that is it allows us to focus on ourselves, which is really key... you really have to be able to focus on yourself, do the things that you do, and do them really well."
With that in mind, let's take a look at the Las Vegas betting lines for the season opener, courtesy of FanDuel.
Wisconsin vs. Western Michigan Betting Lines
Moneyline (ML): Wisconsin -2500 OR Western Michigan +1100
Spread: Wisconsin -23.5 (-105) OR Western Michigan + 23.5 (-115)
Over/Under (O/U): 55.5Â
The Badgers open up their season at Camp Randall as 24.5-point favorites against Western Michigan, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.Â
KFord power ratings suggest that Western Michigan rates as the No. 106 team entering the 2024 season (out of 134), with both an offense (98) and defense (103) being projected among the bottom-fourth of programs.
I think Wisconsin (on paper) has more than enough firepower on both sides of the ball to win and cover that spread, especially with the way the revamped Badgers defense is shaping up under Mike Tressel entering Year 2.
This is a Western Michigan team coming off a 4-8 season, and given the perceived talent gap, you'd expect Wisconsin's new-look defensive front to generate plenty of pressure, allowing the Hunter Wohler and Ricardo Hallman-led secondary to be more disruptive on the backend.
On offense, you'd hope the offensive line could impose their will and allow the running game to rip off chunk play after chunk play. I'd like to clarify that I’m making season-long picks for fun, and this analysis is strictly for entertainment purposes—by no means am I offering gambling advice.
That said, I think coach Fickell will get this team off to a much better start than we saw in 2023 against Buffalo and cover the spread if for no other reason than Western Michigan should struggle to score points. I'm still in wait-and-see mode on the Badgers offense.Â
Additionally, I'll take the under.Â
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