College Football Week 6 Football Betting – Ohio State vs. Wisconsin

Ohio Sate vs. Wisconsin

Saturday, October 10 – 3:30  p.m.

Football Betting Odds: Ohio State -16, 47 O/U

You can talk about betting trends all you want, but really, the only thing you need to know as a bettor going into the Ohio State/Wisconsin game is that the Badgers have traditionally given Ohio State as much trouble as any team but Penn State in recent years despite their usual talent deficit.

Wisconsin rolls into this one at the Horseshoe in Columbus undefeated but without much fanfare or hype. Ohio State is still hanging around the top ten despite not looking overly impressive.

The reason why the Badgers have been able to do well against Ohio State vs. the spread and at times SU recently is because of their conservative approach, which mirrors OSU coach Jim Tressel’s.

Tressel errs on the side of caution in close games and the Badgers keep them close by running the ball and controlling the clock with the short passing game. Scott Tolzien has been the Big Ten’s most efficient QB in his first year as a starter.

That will likely be the Badgers’ strategy again this week against Ohio State, but it will be tougher than ever before as OSU boasts one of its best defensive lines in recent memory led by guys like Robert Rose and Cameron Heyward.

The key will be for Wisconsin to get past that initial surge, and the feeling here is that they can because of their massive offensive line just enough to put some drives together.

The big problem for the Badgers in this game is one defense as their secondary is simply too slow and un-athletic to deal with OSU’s myriad wide receiving targets.

They looked awful against Fresno State and it will be a recurring problem against the Buckeyes.

That leads to another question, however: Can Terrelle Pryor consistently get them the ball? On the deep passes he definitely can. On intermediate routes, bad passes are a concern for Buckeye fans and bettors.

In the end, the body of evidence for Wisconsin playing Ohio State close combined with the 16 point spread and OSU’s inability to blow out good teams during the Tressel era due to conservatism makes Wisconsin a worthwhile bet here.

The Badgers have done very well against the spread in first-half road games in the past few years and the trend should continue here.

Ohio State should definitely win this game but covering the 16 points is going to be tough in what could be a low-scoring contest.

The pick: Wisconsin -16 and the under (47).