If the Wisconsin Badgers have any hope of turning this season around, it starts by more than holding their own vs. the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday night. A win at home in Heartland could not only do wonders for this team's confidence, but may be a jumping-off point for Luke Fickell to miraculously save his job. The latter may be a bit too farfetched, but beating rival Iowa at home is quite possible.
Wisconsin enters the game as a slight home underdog. ESPN's matchup predictor is giving the Badgers a 37.4-percent chance to win this game. Visiting Iowa will be laying 3.5 points to Wisconsin. The low over/under total for this game of 36.5 points should be in Wisconsin's favor as well. Then again, this game may devolve into a good, old-fashioned Big Ten West punt fest that nobody wants.
Let's discuss the pros and cons of Wisconsin getting Iowa at home at night and what might happen.
Why Wisconsin Badgers fans should be excited about Iowa night game
What is working for Wisconsin here, besides what is stated above, is multi-pronged. Having the home crowd picking your team up is only a good thing, even if half the fanbase has grown apathetic with this program. The fact it is at night may elevate the intensity of it tall, forcing Wisconsin to play better football. It might also give the team the crashing sense of urgency it needs to stop starting so slow.
With a little more time to figure out what is at stake, that could play into players' overall psyches to finally get a win in Big Ten play. The fact this is a rivalry game for both teams gives Wisconsin more than a puncher's chance to pull off the slight upset. To get back to .500 with a crucial third win on the season is how Wisconsin can find it within itself to go 3-3 the rest of the way to play in a bowl game.
While there are many reasons to be excited about a night game, there are a few to be worried about...
Why Wisconsin Badgers fans should be terrified about Iowa night game
There are three reasons why having this game be played at night may not work in Wisconsin's favor. The first is it will afford even more time for Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski to be healthy enough to play. This may be in Billy Edwards Jr.'s favor too, but keep in mind that Gronowski won the Walter Payton Trophy starring at FCS power South Dakota State previously. The dude can play when healthy.
A second reason to be worried is even more eyes in Big Ten country will be on this game, given the time of kickoff. People will want to see if Iowa is semi-legit, as well as if Wisconsin can win a league game for the life of it. And this parlays quite nicely into the third reason, which is there is even more time for Luke Fickell and the rest of this team to get inside of its own head. What could go wrong?
Now that we have a grasp of what could go good, bad and ugly in this game, what is bound to occur?
What Wisconsin Badgers fans should expect when they take on Iowa
There are three things that are surely going to happen in this game on Saturday night. It will be low-scoring, there will be so many punts, and there will be some head-scratching coaching decisions made by both Fickell and Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. Since Iowa is the better run program now and of late, that plays into the Hawkeyes being a slight road favorite over the Badgers. Will it matter here?
This game screams a 17-10 final score. There may be more quarterbacks potentially in line to play in this one than scoring drives. Frankly, it may come down to who gets a touchdown on defense or on special teams. There will be five or six plays that decide the game. Whoever gets to three or four the quickest may end up winning. In the end, Iowa not certainly winning means Wisconsin has a chance.
Admittedly, this feels like a stay-away game from betting on the point spread. If you want to have action on this game, probably take the under and see what happens the rest of the way if you can stomach it. If Wisconsin was getting a touchdown, that may be worthy of putting money on the Badgers to cover. Unless you have a strong conviction that they are going to win, just stay away.
Look forward to this game setting football back a few decades with the loser in really rough shape.