The Wisconsin Badgers head into their biggest football rivalry, the Minnesota Golden Gophers. It's a week in most seasons that Badger fans look upon with excitement and energy. For most of this season, it's been a sense of dread when Wisconsin looked like the worst team in FBS. Now, after winning two of the last three and both against ranked opponents, it's back to excitement.
Time to win the axe back, and Vegas has given opening odds for the game. Right now, they favor Minnesota, but barely. According to FanDuel, the opening line is -2.5. Less than a field goal margin. This should make Badger fans smile for a few reasons.
Wisconsin is 2.5 underdogs to Minnesota according to the opening Vegas odds
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First, being scrapping underdogs for the Badgers is a good place to be. This team needs that chip on their shoulder, even after winning two of the last three; these Badgers need to feel the pressure to win back that axe. Being the underdog is part of it.
Second, Vegas often gives a 3-point swing towards the home team. This game is in Minnesota, and they don't even have a full 3-point margin right now. Which means, for Vegas, if this were on a neutral field, it would basically be a pick-em with Wisconsin holding the edge. Now, if Wisconsin were hosting, they would be the favorites.
All that to say, Wisconsin is set up well to come into Huntington Bank Stadium and take back the Paul Bunyan Axe.
As for the over/under opening odds, it's startlingly low at 38.5. Vegas is opening the week thinking the final score will be 20-18 Minnesota if you are taking the under. These are good odds, and you can expect that the line will move as more money flows toward Wisconsin. It being a rivalry game makes it unpredictable, but the Badgers are going to bring some momentum into the game.