{"id":18722,"date":"2021-08-31T04:33:21","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T04:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/?p=18722"},"modified":"2021-08-31T04:33:22","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T04:33:22","slug":"no-9-wisconsin-badgers-season-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/ncaaf\/no-9-wisconsin-badgers-season-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 9 – Wisconsin Badgers Season Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Wisconsin Badgers are the favorites to win the Big Ten West<\/a> for the fifth time in the last eight years. Wisconsin has a bevy of returning seniors, and the Badgers are the clear frontrunners in the division. At this point, the program has its sights set on a Big Ten title after losing their last four trips to the Big Ten Championship Game, but that won\u2019t be easy with Ohio State in the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisconsin Regular Season Win Total<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 9.5 Wins -135<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under 9.5 Wins +110<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

OFFENSE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a lot to like about this offense, but there are some major concerns about Graham Mertz. The freshman was electric in his first start against Illinois and solid against Michigan in his second start. However, Mertz threw just two touchdown passes compared to five interceptions in his last five games. He didn\u2019t throw for over 250 yards in any of his seven starts in 2020, so there are concerns about his ability to move the ball through the air against teams that can stack the box successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jalen Berger is back to see the bulk of the carries during the 2021 campaign. Berger carried the ball for 301 yards and two touchdowns last season, averaging 5.0 YPC. Clemson transfer Chez Mellusi is expected to be the primary back-up running back in this offense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tight end Jake Ferguson is Wisconsin\u2019s leading returner receiver. However, he saw fewer looks in the passing game the longer the season went on after a great season opener against Illinois. The receiving corps is very experienced with three redshirt seniors in the two-deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This offensive line has a lot of experience too. Wisconsin has four redshirt seniors starting up front, and there are two five-star recruits from the last two recruiting classes to supplement the depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DEFENSE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisconsin routinely has one of the elite defenses in the Big Ten. The Badgers led the conference in total defense in 2020, allowing under 300 YPG. They bring back eight starters from that unit, so they should be one of the top units once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The secondary is the strength of the defense. Scott Nelson is a ballhawking safety that can make plays, and cornerback Faion Hicks led Wisconsin with four passes defensed in 2020. This unit has four seniors starting, so there is a wealth of experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leading tackler Jack Sanborn is back from 2020. He is the most prominent member of the linebacking corps, and he should contend for all-conference honors alongside Leo Chenal in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defensive line is the biggest concern. Two of the three starters from last year have left the program, and there are only two seniors in the three-deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SCHEDULE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This schedule is tough from the outset. Wisconsin must face Penn State, Notre Dame, and Michigan in its first four games. Although two of those games are at home and Wisconsin faces Notre Dame at a neutral site, none of those are easy wins. The Badgers also get to host division rival Iowa, leading to this team being favored to win <\/a>the Big Ten West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PREDICTION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisconsin won\u2019t find it easy to win 10 games with this schedule. It\u2019s tough to have faith in Mertz given what we saw from him last year, so the under is the pick<\/a> with the Badgers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow our <\/em>Twitter account<\/em><\/a> for the latest sports news and wagering odds, and come to our <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a> for more useful betting info too.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Wisconsin Badgers are the favorites to win the Big Ten West for the fifth time in the last eight…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":14383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaaf"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18722"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18730,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18722\/revisions\/18730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}