Big Ten (Actually 14) Championship Game: Buckeyes and Badgers are Ready

Badgers Getting Little Respect Outside Big Ten

The fans at Lucas Oil Stadium will enjoy the Big Ten Championship game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Ohio State Buckeyes when they take their seats on Saturday. FOX Sports has the television coverage and kickoff is set for a few minutes after 8 pm EST.

The winner of this matchup should set themselves up nicely to reach the College Football Playoff. Few of the so-called "experts" on TV, and sports talk radio, have any respect for the Wisconsin Badgers. This should have given the team a lot of bulletin board material.

Oddsmakers opened the Buckeyes as -6.5-point favorites versus the Badgers, while the game's total opened at 53.5. The Line now has the Buckeyes as 3.5-point favorites. The total is now at 50.5.

Ohio State Facing Injury Problems

Ohio State won its last outing, a 31-20 result against the Michigan Wolverines on November 25. The Buckeyes failed to cover in that game as a -12.5-point favorite, while the 51 combined points took the game OVER the total.

The Buckeyes enter the game with uncertainty at quarterback. J.T. Barrett underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Sunday but is expected to play. There's a possibility that Ohio State might need to call on redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins. Haskins came in against Michigan during the third quarter and led Ohio State's fourth-quarter comeback.

Barrett leads the Big Ten in touchdown passes with 33. He is second in total offense. He has broken numerous school and Big Ten records. Barret tied  Art Schlichter's school record for quarterbacks with 36 wins.

Freshman J.K. Dobbins is second in the Big Ten in rushing. He is behind Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor. Dobbins has 1,190 yards on the season.

Badgers Enter the Big Ten Championship Unbeaten

In their last action, Wisconsin was a 31-0 winner on the road against Golden Gophers. They covered the -18-point spread as favorites, while the combined score (31) was profitable news for UNDER bettors.

The Badgers enter the contest against the Buckeyes with an unblemished record. They are 12-0, with a 9-0 Big Ten record. There are plenty of skeptics who dismiss Wisconsin's postseason chances. The yapmasters say the Big Ten West Division was subpar and weak.

Wisconsin's best chance to win revolves around freshman running back Jonathan Taylor. Taylor has run behind a massive offensive line for 1,806 yards this season.  He leads the Big Ten in rushing.

Wisconsin also will try to control the line of scrimmage on defense. Its defense leads the Big Ten in fewest rushing yards allowed per game at80.5. They also lead intotal yards, at 236.9 ypg, and points allowed per game. They only give up 12 a contest.

 

Recent Form

Name	Record	ATS	Offense	Defense	Diff	ATS Home	ATS Away	OU Record	OU Home	OU Away
Ohio State	10-2	5-7	43.75	19.83	23.92	2-5	3-2	9-3	4-3	5-0
Wisconsin	12-0	8-4	34.83	12.00	22.83	4-3	4-1	7-5	4-3	3-2

Power Stats

Yards Per Point

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
OHIOST	12.11	14.72	-2.61
WISCSN	12.23	19.74	-7.51

Yards Per Pass

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
OHIOST	12.71	10.74	1.97
WISCSN	13.62	11.11	2.51

Yards Per Rush

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
OHIOST	5.91	3.13	2.78
WISCSN	5.28	2.65	2.63

Team Records

Ohio State Buckeyes

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	10-2	6-1	4-1	5-7	2-5	3-2	43.75	19.83	23.92
vs Conf	8-1	4-0	4-1	5-4	2-2	3-2	46.33	19.89	26.44
Last 3	3-0	2-0	1-0	1-2	1-1	0-1	43.67	12.33	31.34

Wisconsin Badgers

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	12-0	7-0	5-0	8-4	4-3	4-1	34.83	12.00	22.83
vs Conf	9-0	5-0	4-0	6-3	3-2	3-1	32.00	12.67	19.33
Last 3	3-0	2-0	1-0	3-0	2-0	1-0	31.00	8.00	23.00

Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	43.75	5	12.00	2
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	34.83	26	19.83	21

Head To Head Summary

Name	Record	ATS	OU	Score	Rush	YPR	PA	CP	PY	TY	TO +/-
Ohio State	8-2	7-3	6-4	29.40	183.00	4.64	22.10	57.47	154.50	337.50	0.80
Wisconsin	2-8	3-7	6-4	19.20	138.30	3.41	30.40	56.91	208.10	346.40	1.40

Head To Head Detail

Date	Away	Home	Score	Line	Total	OU Result	ARY	APY	ATY	ATT	HRY	HPY	HTY	HTT	Away Team Attempts	Home Team Attempts	Away Team Completions	Home Team Completions
Oct 15, 2016	OHIOST	WISCSN	30-23	185	226	411	1	236	214	450	1
Dec 6, 2014	WISCSN	OHIOST	0-59	71	187	258	4	301	257	558	0
Sep 28, 2013	WISCSN	OHIOST	24-31	104	295	399	1	192	198	390	0
Nov 17, 2012	OHIOST	WISCSN	21-14	139	97	236	0	206	154	360	1
Oct 29, 2011	WISCSN	OHIOST	29-33	89	253	342	0	268	89	357	1
Oct 16, 2010	OHIOST	WISCSN	18-31	155	156	311	1	184	152	336	1
Oct 10, 2009	WISCSN	OHIOST	13-31	118	250	368	2	97	87	184	1
Oct 4, 2008	OHIOST	WISCSN	20-17	183	144	327	2	179	147	326	2
Nov 3, 2007	WISCSN	OHIOST	17-38	12	269	281	2	211	166	377	0
Oct 9, 2004	WISCSN	OHIOST	24-13	184	160	344	0	99	125	224	2

Big Ten Betting Trends

Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
Ohio State is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Ohio State's last 9 games
Ohio State is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Wisconsin
Ohio State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Wisconsin
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Ohio State's last 6 games when playing Wisconsin

Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Wisconsin is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Wisconsin is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Ohio State
Wisconsin is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing Ohio State
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Wisconsin's last 6 games when playing Ohio State

Team Last 5 Games

Ohio State Buckeyes

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Nov 25, 2017	MICH	31-20	W	-12.5/49.5	L/O	226	124	350	100	195	295	-1	A
Nov 18, 2017	ILLINO	52-14	W	-41/53	L/O	325	218	543	89	16	105	0	H
Nov 11, 2017	MICHST	48-3	W	-17/55	W/U	335	189	524	64	131	195	-1	H
Nov 4, 2017	IOWA	24-55	L	-20.5/55	L/O	163	208	371	243	244	487	4	A
Oct 28, 2017	PENNST	39-38	W	-7/57.5	L/O	201	328	529	91	192	283	2	H

Wisconsin Badgers

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Nov 25, 2017	MINN	31-0	W	-18/43	W/U	287	169	456	93	40	133	1	A
Nov 18, 2017	MICH	24-10	W	-6.5/42	W/U	182	143	325	58	176	234	0	H
Nov 11, 2017	IOWA	38-14	W	-12/45.5	W/O	247	135	382	25	41	66	1	H
Nov 4, 2017	INDIAN	45-17	W	-10.5/49	W/O	237	170	407	40	226	266	-2	A
Oct 28, 2017	ILLINO	24-10	W	-27/51.5	L/U	168	135	303	134	152	286	-2	A

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