In a bit of a surprise, the Big Ten Championship will feature the Wisconsin Badgers and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Those two teams will get together on Saturday night, and one will become the 2016 Big Ten Champion. The surprise comes that the Wisconsin Badgers are not facing the Ohio State Buckeyes or the Michigan Wolverines. Wisconsin comes into the game ranked 6th in the nation.
Wisconsin has two losses on the season, to the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Badgers have won six straight games. On the other side, the Nittany Lions of Penn State are also 10-2 on the season. Penn State went 8-1 in Big Ten play, with their lone loss coming to Michigan. The Nittany Lions lost to Pittsburgh in the non conference slate as well. Wisconsin is -1.5 over Penn State in this game.
Looking at the Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers would like to pick up the win in this game, and hope for losses from Clemson and Washington. That seems to be the best chance for either of these two teams. The Badgers beat LSU to start the season 16-14, and many remember their 23-17 narrow escape over Georgia State. The Badgers are not always awesome offensively, but have seemingly picked it up as of late. Wisconsin has scored 128 points in their past three games combined.
On the season, the Badgers are scoring 28.5 points per game. The Badgers are one of the best defensive teams in the country. Wisconsin is allowing opponents to score 13.7 per game.
Looking at Penn State
The Penn State Nittany Lions lost on the road at Pittsburgh, and then started the Big Ten slate with a loss at Michigan. In those two teams, the Nittany Lions were outscored by 42 points. Since then, Penn State has won 8 straight games. The Nittany Lions pulled an upset win over Ohio State, and also got Iowa two weeks late. Penn State is scoring 36.1 points per game.
Much like their opponent, the Nittany Lions have been hot offensively. Penn State is scoring more than 40 points per game in their last 5 games. The Nittany Lions running back Saquon Barkley has 15 touchdowns on the season, while Chris Goodwin leads the cast of receivers with 9.
Betting Pick & Prediction
Wisconsin is a better defensive team, and the Penn State Nittany Lions are the better offensive team. This is going to be a battle of wills in this game. The Wisconsin Badgers and Penn State Nittany Lions have been a little more battle tested, but really, that’s pretty close as well.
Penn State will look to use the pass game a little more than Wisconsin, but both teams are going to mix it up. This is a tough call, but give the edge to the more experienced team. Look for the defense of Wisconsin to win out in this game. The final bet for this game is the Wisconsin Badgers -1.5 over the Penn State Nittany Lions.
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