No one is seeming to give the Wisconsin
Badgers much in the way of respect. In spite of the fact that they start the
season ranked No. 12 in the nation.
spread odds betting odds handicapping pick lines
Few
think that head coach John Bielema's crew really has what it takes to win the
Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl and NCAAF oddsmakers agree. The first steps in that direction will be
taken on Saturday night in Las Vegas,
as the UNLV Runnin' Rebels should prove to be no match for the Badgers.
John Clay amongst the Heisman contenders
With
Alabama Crimson Tide RB Mark Ingram missing out on his best opportunities to
rack up statistics with his injuries, the door is open for a number of others
to jump into the Heisman Trophy race. We've already seen one potential running
back candidate, University
of Pittsburgh's Dion
Lewis have a subpar opening night game. However, this could be the year that RB
John Clay makes a huge difference for the Badgers. College football lines on the trophy winner will begin to stack up.
Wisconsin's tailback led the
team to a whopping 206.7 yards per game on the ground last year. Clay had 1,517
yards and 18 TDs on a whopping average of 22.1 carries per game. He has had six
straight games with at least 100 yards on the ground and has averaged 133.5 YPG
rushing since that point. The junior also found pay dirt in all six games, hitting
the end zone 11 times since October 31st.
UNLV
is undersized up front, which could cause for some tremendous holes that anyone
could run through. At 255 pounds on a light day, Clay could really batter and
bruise this Rebs defense, which ranked 112th in the nation in rushing 'D' at
220.6 YPG.
New Defensive Blood Cause for Concern
The best news that Bielema has
for his team this year is that QB Scott Tolzein will become the first man to
start in back to back seasons in five years. The bad news is that the defense
has been crippled. So keep this in minds when betting NCAAF.
Top DE O'Brien Schofeld and two
of his fellow defensive line mates must be replaced. The linebacking corps
remains in full force, though. Keep a very close eye on LB Chris Borland, who
won the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year award. Borland could be the most
talented player on the field at any given moment, and he could be a real cause
for concern for an overmatched UNLV offense.
Wisconsin ranked No. 17 in the country last year in total
defense at 305.7 yards per game.
New Coach, New Quarterback, Same Old Results
The Rebels are one of two teams
in college football that are going all-in on a head coach fresh out of the
ranks of the FCS. Bobby Hauck takes over after leading a successful program at Montana, where he went
80-17 with three trips to the FCS Championship Game.
Junior QB Mike Clausen was a
backup last season to senior Omar Clayton, but their roles will be reversed
this season, at least at the outset. Clausen is thought to better serve Hauck's
wide open offense that he is going to try to bring to Sin
City from Missoula.
Still, UNLV hasn't had a winning
record since 2000 and isn't expected to reach a bowl game this season either.
Stacking Up the NCAA Football Odds
Though UNLV is 3-0 ATS in this
series since 2003, we know that this year, they are going to have to do a lot
more than reach their average point total in those three games of 7.0 PPG.
The Badgers have won 24 straight
games played outside of the Big Ten, though their non-conference schedule
doesn't normally include much in the way of bulk. They are 15-7 ATS in their
last 22 games played outside of the Big Ten, though three of those seven
defeats have come at the hands of UNLV.
The Runnin' Rebels are just 1-4
ATS in their last five home games and 2-8 ATS in their last ten games overall.
They are also traditionally slow starters, having gone 11-25-1 ATS in their
last 37 games played in the month of September.
The sporsbooks oddsmakers have lined the
Badgers as 20 point favorites in this NCAA football betting showdown.
Be sure
to grab a piece of this line or a 'total' of 54.5 at BoDog Sportsbook before
the game kicks off at 11:00 ET!