Iowa-Wisconsin
Saturday, Oct. 11
7 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific
FS1
The Big Ten has a lot of huge games on the slate on Saturday. There’s Ohio State-Illinois, Michigan-USC, and Indiana-Oregon.
This game isn’t nearly as important as those other contests, but it sure is interesting, and it carries with it a fascinating question: Just how many people will be inside Camp Randall Stadium for this game?
Not that many years ago, Wisconsin football was Ol’ Reliable in the Big Ten — not necessarily the best team, but a team which would win nine games and pack the stands for every home game. Wisconsin was a nobody in college football for many decades, but when Barry Alvarez turned around the program in the early 1990s, Wisconsin began a 25-year period of sustained success. For a quarter of a century, it was generally assumed that Wisconsin would win at least eight or nine games and field a good team, occasionally a great one. That has collapsed under hot-seat head coach Luke Fickell.
The Badgers are almost certain to miss a bowl game once again, after failing to do so in 2024. Far worse than that, Wisconsin might be the worst team in the Big Ten. The Badgers will battle Northwestern and Purdue for the Big Ten basement (and the need to escape it) over the next several weeks. UCLA actually looked like a decent team in its win over Penn State, which increases the odds of Wisconsin finishing in the Big Ten cellar.
Add to this the fact that on Saturday night in Wisconsin, when this game against Iowa is going on, the Milwaukee Brewers will host the Chicago Cubs in the deciding Game 5 of the National League Division Series. Will anyone show up in Madison? If people do bother to attend this game, they might still watch the Brewers game on their phones. Regardless of the actual attendance figure, this is likely to be one of the least interested and passionate Wisconsin football crowds in recent memory, which could certainly take a lot of juice out of the home-field advantage Wisconsin built in previous decades.
Iowa-Wisconsin is a Big Ten slugfest waiting to happen
Hawkeyes, Badgers are banged up at quarterback
In terms of the actual game matchup and the two rosters, both Iowa and Wisconsin are unsure what they will get at quarterback. Both teams have had multiple injuries at this position, such that any of three quarterbacks could potentially play in this game. Starters Mark Gronowski (Iowa) and Billy Edwards (Wisconsin) are hurt and are less than 100 percent healthy. It is very hard to know what to expect. Either a hurt QB1 or a healthy backup will play in this game.
Iowa Hawkeyes-Wisconsin Badgers Odds
Hear TJ Rives and Jason Powers break down this game on the “3 Dog Thursday” Podcast by clicking Play below:
Spread: Iowa -3 (-110), Wisconsin +3 (-110)
Total: 36.5 (Over -110, Under -110)
Underdog moneyline: Wisconsin +135
The total looks more interesting than the side in this game. With the QB spot being a total MASH unit for both sides, this has “15-6” or “13-9” written all over it. You probably don’t want to take a side, because if one team gets a pick-six or fumble recovery to go up 7-0 or even 7-3 late in the game, you could be stuck with a bad offense needing to get a touchdown against a decent defense to win the game and your bet. Making a play on the total means as long as the game is an ugly, low-scoring mess, you’re fine. You won’t have to depend on one team or one offense. Under 36.5 makes sense here.