Football Lines – Wisconsin Goes Up Against Hard-Luck Indiana Team

Those looking at the NCAA football lines know that after another wrenching loss in Big Ten play, the Indiana Hoosiers will see what they can do to turn things around as they go to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers.

Indiana Hoosiers @ Wisconsin Badgers

Saturday, November 13th – 12:00 PM ET

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Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI

Broadcast: ESPN2

NCAA Football Betting Lines:

Indiana +21.5
Wisconsin -21.5
Total: 57.5

Wisconsin could take another step toward the Big Ten championship when it faces Indiana at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday. The seventh-ranked Badgers are 8-1, 4-1 in the Big Ten, and still have an outside shot at the BCS championship.

Wisconsin used a second-half surge to beat Purdue 34-13 last week on the road. After trailing at halftime, the Badgers scored 28 points in the second half.

Sophomore running back Montee Ball had a career-high 127 yards and two touchdowns while handling the bulk of the carries due to minor injuries to starter John Clay and backup James White. Clay has a minor MCL sprain, and may be limited again this week.

The senior, last year’s Big Ten offensive MVP, has run for 929 yards and leads the Big Ten with 13 touchdowns.

Indiana, which has lost ten Big Ten games in a row, needs two wins in its last three games to become bowl-eligible

The Hoosiers have suffered heartbreaking losses two weeks in a row, dropping a three-point decision against Northwestern and narrowly missing a probable game-winning touchdown on a fourth-down play in the final minute of a five-point loss to Iowa.

Football Lines: What Indiana Has To Do To Win

Indiana, which has now lost 10 Big Ten games in a row, needs two wins in its last three games to become bowl-eligible.

The Hoosiers have suffered heartbreaking losses two weeks in a row, dropping a three-point decision against Northwestern and narrowly missing a probable game-winning touchdown on a fourth-down play in the final minute of a five-point loss to Iowa.

Down 18-13 with 28 seconds left in regulation, Indiana quarterback Ben Chappell found receiver Damarlo Belcher wide open in the middle of the end zone and put the ball right in his teammate’s hands.

Belcher briefly grabbed the ball in the air, but as soon as he landed, the ball squirted loose, and under the new pass-reception rules that have become a part of both college and pro football in recent years, the pass was incomplete.

Indiana regularly plays opponents tough, but the Hoosiers always stub their toe just when it seems they’re about to turn the corner.

A dropped touchdown pass, a turnover with a lead, a late second-half collapse – these and other such problems have hijacked the Hoosiers whenever they’ve been on the verge of winning a Big Ten game.

The first three quarters are not a problem for this team; the fourth quarter happens to ambush Indiana every single time. With a little poise and composure in key situations, coach Bill Lynch’s lineup could get the job done.

Football Lines: What Wisconsin Has To Do To Win

Wisconsin needs to compensate for John Clay’s absence in this game. Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien has thrown for 1,688 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He’ll be looking to light up a Hoosiers defense that allows 28.1 points per game, 74th in the nation.

If Wisconsin can throw the ball out of the gate and attack Indiana vertically in the first quarter, that could loosen things up for the Badgers’ committee of running backs, which will be pressed into service since Clay is probably not going to play.

As much as it would be nice to have Clay in pads and a helmet, it makes little sense against a team like Indiana for UW coach Bret Bielema to play his big workhorse in the backfield. This is the kind of game when the Badgers have to show how deep and resourceful they are.

They need to rely on other skill-position studs and see what less-experienced players can offer in a conference clash.

Wisconsin wouldn’t be a Big Ten contender if it didn’t have other bodies to turn to, and if it didn’t have other ways of winning games. No team should be solely reliant on one player, and we’ll see how the Badgers measure up against the Hoosiers.

Football Lines: Outlook & Pick

The absence of Clay won’t stop Wisconsin from winning in a reasonably comfortable manner, but that is indeed the kind of injury which can prevent a favorite from covering a large spread. The Badgers will win, but only by 20 points. Take Indiana plus the points on Saturday.

Football Lines Pick: Indiana +21.5