Big Ten Basketball continues Sunday night as two contenders look to advance in the conference standings. The Northwestern Wildcats (15-7) will take the short road trip to face the Wisconsin Badgers (13-8). The Big Ten race gets tighter every day, don't miss this pivotal matchup. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Northwestern-Wisconsin prediction and pick.
The Northwestern Wildcats find themselves in the middle of the Big Ten standings. They've dropped their last two games and have gone 2-3 in their last five. They have some notable wins this season against ranked teams including No. 20 Michigan State and No. 15 Indiana. Adding a win over Illinois, the Wildcats have shown that they continue to be a dangerous threat to any Big Ten team trying to preserve it's ranking.
The Wisconsin Badgers have had a tough stretch of late and have dropped towards the bottom-third of the Big Ten standings. They're also 2-3 in their last five games, but suffered three consecutive losses including one to Northwestern. Losing by only three points in the first meeting, the Badgers will look for revenge as they take on the Wildcats for the last time this season.
Here are the Northwestern-Wisconsin college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Basketball Odds: Northwestern-Wisconsin Odds
Northwestern: +3.5 (-110)
Wisconsin: -3.5 (-110)
Over: 125.5 (-115)
Under: 125.5 (-105)
How To Watch Northwestern vs. Wisconsin
TV: Big Ten Network
Stream: fuboTV
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET/ 3:30 p.m. PT
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Northwestern Could Cover The Spread
Northwestern continues to be a gritty team year after year. They pride themselves on team-centric basketball and play their best when they are constantly moving the ball. Lacking any one star player, the Wildcats look for all of their players early and will go back to whoever finds the hot hand. They also play inspired defense and look to run in transition situations.
The last two losses for Northwestern have been close, losing battles to Michigan and Rutgers. They'll be at a size disadvantage here with Wisconsin, so look for the Wildcats to swing to ball to the corners and look for perimeter shots. To win this game, they'll have to quickly penetrate the paint and kick the ball out to their shooters. If they can get hot early, they will have a chance to silence this Wisconsin crowd.
Why Wisconsin Could Cover The Spread
The Badgers haven't been able to stay competitive against their usual rivals in the Big Ten. They've dropped games by sizable margins and have found themselves in a tough position at the bottom of the standings. They'll need to heavily rely on guard Chucky Hepburn to run the offense and give his guys good looks around the rim. Steven Crowl will have room to work in the paint tonight, so look for him and Hepburn to establish an early pick-and-roll attack.
Wisconsin has not been able to cover games at home. While they're 7-3 SU in the Kohl Center, they're only 2-8 ATS. They're 9-1 when listed as the favorites, so they'll definitely have the better chance to win this game at home. At a two-basket spread, it will be vital for Wisconsin to control the time of possession in the waning minutes and keep this game close.
Final Northwestern-Wisconsin Prediction & Pick
If Wisconsin was a better team at home, they'd be the clear pick to cover here. However, they're recent skid and uninspired play makes them a tough pick here. I think Wisconsin will win, but I like the resiliency from this Northwestern Wildcats team to cover on the road as they've done so at 4-2 ATS.
Final Northwestern-Wisconsin Prediction & Pick: Northwestern Wildcats +3.5 (-110)
Follow Us
Subscribe