The Maryland Terrapins take on the Wisconsin Badgers. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Maryland Wisconsin prediction and pick.

The Maryland Terrapins are unbeaten through one month of play. New head coach Kevin Willard, who came to the Terps from Seton Hall and replaced former coach Mark Turgeon, has made a notable early statement about his readiness for this job.

Yes, Maryland has not played a bunch of imposing opponents, but still, the Terrapins have won multiple road games over Power Five conference teams (Miami and Louisville), and they defeated a ranked Illinois team this past Friday in a hard-fought battle. Willard isn't just beating cupcake teams; he is collecting some solid wins. True, he isn't beating Purdue or Texas or Houston or the other top-five teams in the country, but Maryland hasn't made a single misstep so far this season. The Terps have been steady and resolute in the first four weeks of their season. This is better than what Turgeon's teams did. This is a display of consistency which largely evaded the Turgeon Terps over the past several years.

If Maryland loses one game in Big Ten play, it won't mean that the party's over and that the fun will come to an end. However, if Maryland does lose to an unranked Wisconsin team, it means that the Terrapins will have a smaller margin for error when they do play the top-tier teams in the Big Ten. In terms of winning the Big Ten title or (more realistically) finishing in the top four to get a double-bye at the 2023 Big Ten Tournament, Maryland (like any other Big Ten team) needs to stack conference wins and beat the teams it is supposed to beat.

One might ask if Wisconsin is a team the Terps should beat. It's a fair question. However, it's clear that even though Wisconsin has some very capable veteran players who return from last season's squad, the Badgers are a work in progress and are trying to find their footing.

In Wisconsin's last five games, the Badgers are 3-2 with all five games being decided by five points or fewer. The Badgers are playing in a series of down-to-the-wire dogfights against teams of varying levels of quality: Dayton, Kansas, USC, Wake Forest, Marquette. Wisconsin pushed Kansas to the limit and nearly beat the Jayhawks, but it also lost to Wake Forest at home and nearly lost to Dayton in an ugly, low-scoring contest. Is this a good team? Probably, but the results have been all over the place. Moreover, the Dayton game was very low-scoring, but the Wake Forest game was high-scoring. Wisconsin held Dayton under 45 but allowed 78 to Wake. The Badgers outplayed Marquette in the first half and were then outplayed in the second half before winning in overtime.

Will the real Wisconsin team stand up? We don't even know which is the “real” Wisconsin team right now.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Maryland-Wisconsin College Basketball odds.

College Basketball Odds: Maryland-Wisconsin Odds

Maryland Terrapins: +1.5 (-105)

Wisconsin Badgers: -1.5 (-115)

Over: 131.5 (-104)

Under: 131.5 (-118)

Why Maryland Could Cover the Spread

The Terrapins have been the better, more consistent team than Wisconsin this season. Kevin Willard has come into a new situation and done a very strong job as UM's coach. He can outcoach Greg Gard of Wisconsin and deliver his team a win.

Why Wisconsin Could Cover the Spread

The Badgers are playing close games nearly every game these days, but they're at home for this one and are likely to play better at some point. When they go through struggles, the Badgers usually right the ship under Greg Gard. Maryland is also due for a loss.

Final Maryland-Wisconsin Prediction & Pick

This is a game to stay away from. Maryland could remain unbeaten, but Wisconsin is tough at home and is under pressure to win. That's a recipe for a very close game. If you insist on a pick, lean to Wisconsin.

Final Maryland-Wisconsin Prediction & Pick: Wisconsin -1.5