When it comes to the Wisconsin Badgers and Indiana Hoosiers, history tends to repeat itself.
Not only has Indiana not beaten Wisconsin since 2002, the Badgers have averaged 52.0 points to the Hoosiers’ 16.6 points over their previous eight games.
The Hoosiers would like nothing more than to buck the trend and spoil the Badgers’ reputation in the last season of the BCS system.
Indiana Hoosiers (4-5) Analysis: It could be argued that Indiana is not nearly as bad as their under-.500 record suggests. They’ve used their 10th ranked offense (43.1 points per game) to score a lot of points against some of the country’s best defenses. Missouri (21st ranked scoring defense) and Michigan State (3rd) both allowed 28 points to the Hoosiers, the most they’ve allowed to any opponent this year.
Everyone is aware of the Badgers’ Melvin Gordon (128.9 ypg) and James White (105.7 ypg) who are pretty much cemented in the Big Ten’s top-five in rushing. Third in the conference is the Hoosiers’ Tevin Coleman who averages 106.4 yards per game. Coleman used his exceptional speed to score from 64 and 75 yards out in a 52-35 win over Illinois. He’s not the only weapon the Hoosiers have as they also have Cody Latimer, who at 6’3″ will be a match-up nightmare for the Badgers secondary.
If the Hoosiers had a half-decent defense, they could probably compete for a conference title. They are giving opposing offenses a chance to look just like their top-10 offense each and every week. Five different teams have scored at least 45 points on this defense, including a laughable 63 points to Michigan. The Badgers have no problems scoring, so the status of the game should hinge on what the Badgers’ stingy defense does against the Hoosiers’ offense.
Wisconsin Badgers (7-2) Analysis: The Badgers return to the conference portion of their schedule after completely shutting down BYU in a 27-17 win at home. James White and not Melvin Gordon stole the show with one of the most complete games we’ve seen from a running back this season. All Wisconsin can do at this point is keep winning and hope the teams above them in the BCS standings lose.
Speaking of White and Gordon, the running back duo pair together to be the only teammates in FBS to average over 100 yards a game. They lead an offense that has racked up over 500 yards in four of its nine games this season. They don’t slowly rack up these yards either as the Badgers rank second in the nation with 13 plays of 50+ yards (tied with those Indiana Hoosiers and trail only Baylor at 17).
Wisconsin’s defense is the seventh best defense in the nation while giving up only 294.9 yards per game. Dave Aranda’s new 3-4 scheme has been a blessing in disguise as it’s allowed the team to keep four of their opponents from scoring a touchdown (only Alabama and Michigan State can say that). On the season, they are holding opponents 12.8 points below their scoring average.
Brutally Honest Prediction: Wisconsin 41 Indiana 21
Wisconsin has covered nine straight games which is fairly crazy when you think about it. In that span, it includes spreads such as -21.5 (Purdue), -44.5 (Tennessee Tech) and -44.5 (UMass). Indiana has played two games as road underdogs (@Michigan State and @Michigan) this year and failed to cover either of them. The Hoosiers lackluster defense will have no answer for the Badgers ground game. Moreover, the Badgers defense could be the best part of this team and should shut down a good Indiana offense and hold them to their lowest output of the year.
TV Coverage: 11:01 AM CT ESPN2; Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (analyst) and Quinte Kessenich (sidelines)
Betting Lines: Wisconsin favored by 21.5 points and the over/under set at 70 points.
2013 Record straight up: 8-1
2013 Record against the spread: 5-4
2013 Record in over/under: 5-3
*no over/under for Tennessee Tech game
Last week redux: Picked Badgers to win 31-21 over BYU (they actually won 27-17). Hit the trifecta; straight up, spread (-7.5) and over/under (55).
Will the Badgers and Hoosiers end up in a shootout or blowout? Let me know by commenting below.
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers. He also enjoys sharing Fantasy Advice and pretends to be a Golf expert from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best. If social media is not your thing, shoot him an email at grays@uwalumni.com.
*Pictures obtained from uwbadgers.com and indiana.247sports.com