Wisconsin (4) Opens 2018 Season Against Western Kentucky

Wisconsin Faces the Dangerous Hilltoppers

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the Wisconsin Badgers will open their 2018 seasons on Friday night. Camp Randall Stadium will be the site of the action. ESPN will televise the game starting at 9 pm EST.

Oddsmakers opened the Badgers as -33-point favorites versus the Hilltoppers, while the game's total opened at 51. The line is now Wisconsin 37 and the total is at 51.5.

Fourth-ranked Wisconsin looks to live up to its lofty ranking on Friday. The Badgers went unbeaten in the regular season last year. That was en route to their third Big Ten West Division title in the last four years. They fell to Ohio State in the conference championship game.

The Badgers hope to build on their record-breaking 13-win season by earning a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.

Wisconsin Returns Some Experience in Key Positions

Wisconsin returns several key players on offense. Including Heisman Trophy candidate Jonathan Taylor. He set an NCAA freshman rushing record with 1,977 yards. Quarterback Alex Hornibrook is back after throwing 25 touchdowns passes. The lefthander will be without two major weapons.

Taylor racked up ten 100-yard games to go along with 13 touchdowns in his record-breaking freshman campaign. He is poised for another big year with all five starters returning on the offensive line. They include All-Americans Beau Benzschawel, Michael Deiter and David Edwards.

Junior Quintez Cephus, who was the team's top returning receiver, was suspended indefinitely. He was charged with two counts of sexual assault. Danny Davis will sit out the first two games for his role in the alleged incidents.

Wisconsin has won 22 consecutive home openers. They can extend its non-conference winning streak at Camp Randall to 40 games with another victory.

Western Kentucky is Looking to Rebound

Western Kentucky is coming off its first losing season since 2010. They have hopes to earn the biggest win of Mike Sanford Jr.'s two-season tenure by knocking off a Big Ten opponent. It would be the first time in school history after losing its previous seven meetings.

Senior quarterback Drew Eckels will replace Mike White. White threw for 4,177 yards and 26 touchdowns last season. Eckels hopes to prove the critics wrong after the Hilltoppers were picked to finish fifth in Conference USA's East Division.

Senior D'Andre Ferby is the favorite to start at running back after rushing for a team-high 373 yards in 2017. There are four other players vying for playing time in a crowded backfield.

"I think that all five guys are going to play against Wisconsin," Sanford told reporters. "We've had opportunities in scrimmages to see who ran the best and that was going to decide the starter but all five of them have done really good things."

PREDICTION: Wisconsin 41, Western Kentucky 13

Recent Form

Name	Record	ATS	Offense	Defense	Diff	ATS Home	ATS Away	OU Record	OU Home	OU Away
Western Kentucky	6-7	3-10	23.25	26.85	-3.6	2-4	1-6	7-6	4-2	3-4
Wisconsin	13-1	9-5	43.33	13.93	29.4	4-4	5-1	8-6	4-4	4-2

Power Stats

Yards Per Point

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
WKU	14.58	14.05	0.53
WISCSN	11.79	18.81	-7.02

Yards Per Pass

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
WKU	10.37	11.85	-1.48
WISCSN	14.14	11.93	2.21

Yards Per Rush

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
WKU	2.43	4.43	-2
WISCSN	5.58	3.16	2.42

Team Records

WKU Hilltoppers

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	6-7	4-2	2-5	3-10	2-4	1-6	25.46	26.85	-1.39
vs Conf	4-3	2-1	2-2	3-4	2-1	1-3	29.14	30.00	-0.86
Last 3	1-2	1-0	0-2	1-2	1-0	0-2	25.00	35.33	-10.33

Wisconsin Badgers

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	13-1	7-1	6-0	9-5	4-4	5-1	33.79	13.93	19.86
vs Conf	9-1	5-1	4-0	6-4	3-3	3-1	30.90	14.10	16.80
Last 3	2-1	0-1	2-0	2-1	0-1	2-0	28.67	17.00	11.67

Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	25.46	89	13.93	3
Away Team Road Passing vs Home Team Home Passing Defense	312.00	12	161.00	12
Away Team Road Rushing vs Home Team Home Rushing Defense	32.14	128	93.25	8
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	33.79	28	26.85	66
Home Team Home Passing vs Away Team Road Passing Defense	198.50	93	192.57	22
Home Team Home Rushing vs Away Team Road Rushing Defense	212.38	30	172.43	63

Head To Head Summary

Name	Record	ATS	OU	Score	Rush	YPR	PA	CP	PY	TY	TO +/-
Western Kentucky	0-1	0-0	0-0	6.00	115.00	2.17	4.00	25.00	28.00	143.00	1.00
Wisconsin	1-0	0-0	0-0	24.00	193.00	4.39	23.00	43.48	141.00	334.00	2.00

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
Sep 29, 2001	WKU	WISCSN	6-24	115	28	143	1	193	141	334	2

College Football Betting Odds & Trends

WKU Hilltoppers
Western Kentucky is 3-10 ATS in its last 13 games
W Kentucky is 14-7 SU in its last 21 games
Western Kentucky is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Western Kentucky's last 8 games
Western Kentucky is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Western Kentucky is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road

Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Wisconsin is 14-1 SU in its last 15 games
Wisc is 11-1 SU in its last 12 games at home

Team Last 5 Games

WKU Hilltoppers

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
Dec 16, 2017	GA.ST	17-27	L	-6.5/54.5	L/U	-2	351	349	143	276	419	2	A
Nov 24, 2017	FIU	17-41	L	-3/57	L/O	46	355	401	122	251	373	3	A
Nov 17, 2017	MIDTEN	41-38	W	0/56	W/O	53	485	538	137	294	431	1	H
Nov 11, 2017	MARSHL	23-30	L	10/52	W/O	34	334	368	144	190	334	1	A
Nov 4, 2017	VANDY	17-31	L	12.5/53.5	L/U	-6	355	349	174	220	394	0	A

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
Dec 30, 2017	MI-FL	34-24	W	-6.5/45.5	W/O	142	258	400	174	203	377	-2	A
Dec 2, 2017	OHIOST	21-27	L	3.5/51	L/U	60	238	298	238	211	449	-1	H
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

Next up:
WKU home to Maine Saturday, September 8
Wisconsin home to New Mexico Saturday, September 8

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