Okay, so it may be bad that underdog odds are giving Wisconsin fans hope, but it's where this season is at. Looking for silver linings and optimism around every rock, especially when the decision by the Wisconsin administration is to run it back again next year. For this week against Illinois, the Badgers may have their best opening odds since the Maryland game: -9.5.
The Badgers have two very winnable games left on their schedule: Illinois comes to town, then the Badgers head to Minnesota to try to reclaim the Paul Bunyan Axe. It's very likely that Wisconsin will be the underdog in both of those contests.
The Wisconsin Badgers are 9.5 underdogs to the Illinois Fighting Illini
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Illinois is 7-3, while the Badgers are 3-7, yet the schedules have been dramatically different. The Badgers have played a gauntlet, while the Fighting Illini have had back-to-back weeks of Rutgers and then a struggling Maryland.
The interesting nugget for these two teams is their common opponents. Both programs have lost to Indiana and Ohio State (the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation). The only other two common opponents are Washington and Maryland.
Wisconsin lost to Maryland, while Illinois lost to Washington. Thus, Vegas is looking at this game, wondering how much chaos will happen and how weird it is to predict. There's a chance the line moves as money is put down, but the opening line of 9.5 is a fairly optimistic one for Wisconsin.
The over/under is 42.5, which means Vegas is not only expecting Wisconsin to put up points in this contest but actually a good amount of them, nearly 20. By taking the spread and the over/under, you can find the Vegas prediction. This lands at 26-17 (if you take the over). That's two touchdowns and a field goal for the Badgers, according to Vegas.