The Wisconsin Badgers come off their bye week ready to host the No. 24 Washington Huskies in Madison on Saturday. It's another ranked team that the Badgers have to play. Five of the last seven have been against AP Top 25 teams, with the Indiana Hoosiers looming after the Huskies. Bumping that number up to six of the previous eight games. For even if No. 2 Indiana lost to Penn State, they wouldn't drop out of the rankings.
This is a brutal schedule, and while that's a slight excuse, it's certainly not a great excuse, as the Badgers have struggled to be even competitive in those matchups. The last few weeks, the Badgers have been heavy underdogs. This week, maybe the closest they've seen the line since Iowa. The line for Washington is at 11.5 according to FanDuel.
The Wisconsin Badgers are 11.5 underdogs vs. Washington according to FanDuel
Related: Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 11: Wisconsin finds itself in 4-team race to the bottom
While a two-score betting line is considered a heavy favorite, it's been somewhere around 30 for weeks. The showing against Oregon may have helped move the needle, and also, people aren't fully buying into the Huskies yet.
The over/under is 45.5. This number is actually crazier than the 11.5. Vegas is assuming that the Badgers will score more than once, which hasn't happened since four games. Not only score more than once, but this over/under assumes the Badgers will score around 17 points. Putting the final score at Washington 29 and Wisconsin 17 if you are betting the over. 28-17 if you are taking the under.
Vegas may be seeing something most Wisconsin fans are not. As many assume, this game against Washington could be another blowout and not in favor of the Badgers. It will be interesting to see how the line vs. the reality shakes out.