The 7th ranked Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2) battle the 6th ranked Wisconsin Badgers (10-2) in the Big 10 Title game. The two surprise teams will now duke it out for league supremacy at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday evening. This CFB contest has a start time of 8:00 pm EST. Badgers listed as a small favorite.
Vegas odds have the Badgers listed as 1.5 point favorites, while the total has been set at 46.5. The game has a start time of 8:00 pm EST and will be televised on FOX.
Breaking Down The Penn State Nittany Lions
The Penn State Nittany Lions have come out of nowhere to represent the East in the Big 10 Title game. They got here mainly thanks to their big win over Ohio State earlier in the year. The Lions have had a strong year as they have gone 10-2 overall, including 8-1 in the Big 10. Their lone loss in conference play was vs Michigan, which was their conference opener and they have not lost since. Could they actually sneak in the playoffs with a win in this game? We shall see. The Lions have been led by their defense this year and it has been a good one as they come in ranked 20th in yards allowed, 29th vs the pass, 41st vs the run and 31st in points allowed, giving up just 22.8 ppg. The Lions allowed 31.4 ppg through their first 5 games, but have allowed just 16.6 ppg over their last 7 games. They will not be taking on a great offense in this one, so their defense could have a strong showing. The offense has been solid this year as they come in ranked 53rd in total yards, 51st in passing, 59th in rushing and 25th in scoring, putting up 36.6 ppg. Trace McSorley has done a fine job in leading this offense as he has thrown for 2976 yards with 21 TDs and just 5 INTs,. He has had help with a solid running game that has been led by Saquon Barkley, who has run for 1219 yards and 15 TDs. They will have a tough test vs a very good Wisconsin defense.
Breaking Down The Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers have had another strong season as they are 10-2 and have gone 7-2 in the Big 10. They have won their last six games in a row to get into the title game and have been led by a very strong defense over that stretch as they have allowed just 12.2 ppg over their win streak. Every year it seems that this team has a very stout defense and this year is no different. The Badgers come in ranked 7th in the nation in total yards allowed, 23rd vs the pass, 3rd vs the run and 3rd in points allowed, giving up just 13.7 ppg. They are very stout on this side of the ball and will have their hands full with a very solid Penn state offense that has a few good weapons on it. On offense, the Badgers have been a less than average team this year, but with their defense they haven’t needed to score a lot. The Badgers have been led by a solid ground game this year, with Corey Clement having a solid season. So far he has run for 1143 yards and 13 TDs. overall the Badgers rank 91st in total offense, 106th in passing, 44th in rushing and 66th in scoring, putting up 28.5 ppg so far. Running the ball and playing excellent defense has been a trademark of this team for years and if they take this game it will be that formula that does it for them.
Trends: Penn State has gone 7-0-1 ATS in their last 8 conference games and 7-0 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up win, but just 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous game and 3-10-2 ATS in their last 15 games on fieldturf. The Over is 6-1 in their last 7 games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous game.
The Badgers have gone 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games after accumulating less than 170 yards passing in their previous game and 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game, but just 1-4 ATS their last five games in this series. The Under is 9-3 in their last 12 vs. a team with a winning record.
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