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The Wisconsin Badgers take on the Michigan State Spartans. Check out our college football odds series for our Wisconsin Michigan State prediction and pick.
The Wisconsin Badgers have entered a new era. Now we get to find out how permanent or long-lasting that era will be. The school fired head coach Paul Chryst after an abysmal start to the 2022 season. There were worries that Wisconsin football had stagnated and that players were not being developed. Another part of the administration's thought process is that defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard was a highly valuable asset and a man the school wanted to keep within the football program. Elevating Leonhard from defensive coordinator to interim head coach would be the “bridge” move which would eventually enable Leonhard to become permanent head coach. While Leonhard has not yet been named permanent head coach, he is the favorite to become permanent head coach before too long. Coaching under the interim tag is essentially a job audition for the former Badger player, who is widely respected in the profession and has done a brilliant job as UW's defensive play-caller.
Leonhard's first game as Wisconsin head coach was last week against Northwestern. While it is true that Northwestern is a bad team (the Wildcats lost to Southern Illinois and Miami of Ohio at home earlier this season), Wisconsin did crush the Wildcats. Winning by a 42-7 score was more than a lot of people were expecting. Wisconsin was just a 10-point favorite heading into that game. Leonhard clearly showed that he could get his offensive assistants to create a better game plan with improved points of emphasis on offense. If Leonhard does prove that he can be a good steward of the Wisconsin offense, he will definitely get the permanent job, because his work with Wisconsin's defense has been exemplary. The audition continues with this game at Michigan State.
The Michigan State Spartans are struggling. They couldn't stop Washington, Minnesota or Ohio State in losses this season, and they couldn't score against a relatively ordinary Maryland defense. Michigan State still has to face Michigan and Penn State later in the season. Everything has spiraled out of control for head coach Mel Tucker, who won 11 games and a New Year's Six bowl last season and received a substantial pay raise. Now, after being guaranteed a boatload of additional cash, Tucker is seeing his Spartans get hammered on a regular basis. Michigan State needs an “all hands on deck” mentality and contributions from everyone on the roster to arrest this slide in East Lansing. It will be fascinating to see how Wisconsin — after the win over Northwestern — responds to an opponent which, though better than Northwestern, has been struggling for most of 2022.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Wisconsin-Michigan State College Football Odds,.
College Football Odds: Wisconsin-Michigan State Odds
Wisconsin Badgers: -7 (-110)
Michigan State Spartans: +7 (-110)
Over: 49.5 (-105)
Under: 49.5 (-115)
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Why Wisconsin Could Cover the Spread
Michigan State is a total mess, and Jim Leonhard looks like the right man to coach at Wisconsin. The Badgers are unlikely to score in the 40s as they did at Northwestern last week, but they certainly should be able to score at least 27 points, which — given how mediocre Michigan State's offense is — should still be enough to win.
Why Michigan State Could Cover the Spread
The Spartans faced Ohio State's speed last week. That is a regularly bad matchup for Michigan State. Turning around and facing Wisconsin one week later will make Michigan State feel as though it is 10 steps faster on the field. In truth, it's because Wisconsin is a lot slower than Ohio State. Nearly every team in America is slower than Ohio State. Michigan State will learn from playing the Buckeyes and will apply its lessons against Wisconsin.
Final Wisconsin-Michigan State Prediction & Pick
The Wisconsin defense will apply the clamps to Michigan State's offense. Even if Wisconsin doesn't put up a huge number, it should still win by 10 to 17 points.
Final Wisconsin Michigan State Prediction & Pick: Wisconsin -7
