The Wisconsin Badgers open the season against the Miami (OH) Redhawks as 17.5-point favorites according to FanDuel. This is a strong message by Vegas to set the odds this high, even though it's a Big Ten team versus a non-power team. More than a two-touchdown favorite is considered a heavy favorite, and as an example, Minnesota is only a 16.5 favorite right now against lowly Buffalo.
The Redhawks aren't a bad program, having won a bowl game last year with an 8-5 overall record (9 wins with the bowl win). They beat Colorado State in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl 43-17.
While they still shouldn't be in the same competition level as Wisconsin, they did something the Badgers didn't do last year, and that's not only make a bowl game but win the bowl. The Redhawks also won a crazy seven in a row in their conference last season.
The Wisconsin Badgers are 17.5-point favorites over Miami (OH) to open the season
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The Badgers, on the other hand, are seemingly in a bit of a rebuild mode from year to year. They replaced their offensive coordinator, their quarterback, and much of their big guys in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
Wisconsin looks to be a lot better than the team that took the field last season, and FanDuel respects it with a 17.5 favorite to open the season. The Badgers also will have an over/under of 39.5 in that game against Miami (OH), which means that Vegas projects the game to be around 29-11 for the Badgers. Obviously, the over/under being at the half point makes it so it's not easy to get it perfect.
The game is on Thursday, August 28 at Camp Randall with kickoff is scheduled at 8pm.