The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the Wisconsin Badgers will open their 2018 seasons on Friday night. Camp Randall Stadium will be the site of the action. ESPN will televise the game starting at 9 pm EST.
Oddsmakers opened the Badgers as -33-point favorites versus the Hilltoppers, while the game’s total opened at 51. The line is now Wisconsin 37 and the total is at 51.5. Fourth-ranked Wisconsin looks to live up to its lofty ranking on Friday. The Badgers went unbeaten in the regular season last year. That was en route to their third Big Ten West Division title in the last four years.
They fell to Ohio State in the conference championship game. The Badgers hope to build on their record-breaking 13-win season by earning a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.
Wisconsin Returns Some Experience in Key Positions
Wisconsin returns several key players on offense. Including Heisman Trophy candidateJonathan Taylor. He set an NCAA freshman rushing record with 1,977 yards. Quarterback Alex Hornibrook is back after throwing 25 touchdowns passes. The lefthander will be without two major weapons. Taylor racked up ten 100-yard games to go along with 13 touchdowns in his record-breaking freshman campaign. He is poised for another big year with all five starters returning on the offensive line. They include All-Americans Beau Benzschawel, Michael Deiter and David Edwards. Junior Quintez Cephus, who was the team’s top returning receiver, was suspended indefinitely. He was charged with two counts of sexual assault. Danny Davis will sit out the first two games for his role in the alleged incidents. Wisconsin has won 22 consecutive home openers. They can extend its non-conference winning streak at Camp Randall to 40 games with another victory.
Western Kentucky is Looking to Rebound
Western Kentucky is coming off its first losing season since 2010. They have hopes to earn the biggest win of Mike Sanford Jr.’s two-season tenure by knocking off a Big Ten opponent. It would be the first time in school history after losing its previous seven meetings. Senior quarterback Drew Eckels will replace Mike White. White threw for 4,177 yards and 26 touchdowns last season. Eckels hopes to prove the critics wrong after the Hilltoppers were picked to finish fifth in Conference USA’s East Division. Senior D’Andre Ferby is the favorite to start at running back after rushing for a team-high 373 yards in 2017. There are four other players vying for playing time in a crowded backfield. “I think that all five guys are going to play against Wisconsin,” Sanford told reporters. “We’ve had opportunities in scrimmages to see who ran the best and that was going to decide the starter but all five of them have done really good things.” PREDICTION: Wisconsin 41, Western Kentucky 13
Recent Form
Name
Record
ATS
Offense
Defense
Diff
ATS Home
ATS Away
OU Record
OU Home
OU Away
Western Kentucky
6-7
3-10
23.25
26.85
-3.6
2-4
1-6
7-6
4-2
3-4
Wisconsin
13-1
9-5
43.33
13.93
29.4
4-4
5-1
8-6
4-4
4-2
Power Stats
Yards Per Point
Name
Offense
Defense
Differential
WKU
14.58
14.05
0.53
WISCSN
11.79
18.81
-7.02
Yards Per Pass
Name
Offense
Defense
Differential
WKU
10.37
11.85
-1.48
WISCSN
14.14
11.93
2.21
Yards Per Rush
Name
Offense
Defense
Differential
WKU
2.43
4.43
-2
WISCSN
5.58
3.16
2.42
Team Records
WKU Hilltoppers
Name
Record
Home
Away
ATS
ATS Home
ATS Away
Offense
Defense
Diff
Overall
6-7
4-2
2-5
3-10
2-4
1-6
25.46
26.85
-1.39
vs Conf
4-3
2-1
2-2
3-4
2-1
1-3
29.14
30.00
-0.86
Last 3
1-2
1-0
0-2
1-2
1-0
0-2
25.00
35.33
-10.33
Wisconsin Badgers
Name
Record
Home
Away
ATS
ATS Home
ATS Away
Offense
Defense
Diff
Overall
13-1
7-1
6-0
9-5
4-4
5-1
33.79
13.93
19.86
vs Conf
9-1
5-1
4-0
6-4
3-3
3-1
30.90
14.10
16.80
Last 3
2-1
0-1
2-0
2-1
0-1
2-0
28.67
17.00
11.67
Supergrid
Title
Stat
Rank
Stat
Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense
25.46
89
13.93
3
Away Team Road Passing vs Home Team Home Passing Defense
312.00
12
161.00
12
Away Team Road Rushing vs Home Team Home Rushing Defense
32.14
128
93.25
8
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense
33.79
28
26.85
66
Home Team Home Passing vs Away Team Road Passing Defense
198.50
93
192.57
22
Home Team Home Rushing vs Away Team Road Rushing Defense
212.38
30
172.43
63
Head To Head Summary
Name
Record
ATS
OU
Score
Rush
YPR
PA
CP
PY
TY
TO +/-
Western Kentucky
0-1
0-0
0-0
6.00
115.00
2.17
4.00
25.00
28.00
143.00
1.00
Wisconsin
1-0
0-0
0-0
24.00
193.00
4.39
23.00
43.48
141.00
334.00
2.00
Head To Head Detail
Date
Away
Home
Score
Line
Total
OU Result
ARY
APY
ATY
ATT
HRY
HPY
HTY
HTT
Away Team Attempts
Home Team Attempts
Away Team Completions
Home Team Completions
Sep 29, 2001
WKU
WISCSN
6-24
115
28
143
1
193
141
334
2
College Football Betting Odds & Trends
WKU Hilltoppers
Western Kentucky is 3-10 ATS in its last 13 games
W Kentucky is 14-7 SU in its last 21 games
Western Kentucky is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Western Kentucky’s last 8 games
Western Kentucky is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Western Kentucky is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Wisconsin is 14-1 SU in its last 15 games
Wisc is 11-1 SU in its last 12 games at home
Team Last 5 Games
WKU Hilltoppers
Date
Opponent
score
Result
line
ATS Result
offensive rush yards
offensive passing yards
offensive total yards
defensive rush yards
defensive passing yards
defensive total yards
turnovers
Location
Dec 16, 2017
GA.ST
17-27
L
-6.5/54.5
L/U
-2
351
349
143
276
419
2
A
Nov 24, 2017
FIU
17-41
L
-3/57
L/O
46
355
401
122
251
373
3
A
Nv 17, 2017
MIDTEN
41-38
W
0/56
W/O
53
485
538
137
294
431
1
H
Nov 11, 2017
MARSHL
23-30
L
10/52
W/O
34
334
368
144
190
334
1
A
Nv 4, 2017
VANDY
17-31
L
12.5/53.5
L/U
-6
355
349
174
220
394
0
A
Wisconsin Badgers
Date
Opponent
score
Result
line
ATS Result
offensive rush yards
offensive passing yards
offensive total yards
defensive rush yards
defensive passing yards
defensive total yards
turnovers
Location
Dec 30, 2017
MI-FL
34-24
W
-6.5/45.5
W/O
142
258
400
174
203
377
-2
A
Dec 2, 2017
OHIOST
21-27
L
3.5/51
L/U
60
238
298
238
211
449
-1
H
Nov 25, 2017
MINN
31-0
W
-18/43
W/U
287
169
456
93
40
133
1
A
Nv 18, 2017
MICH
24-10
W
-6.5/42
W/U
182
143
325
58
176
234
0
H
Nov 11, 2017
IOWA
38-14
W
-12/45.5
W/O
247
135
382
25
41
66
1
H
Next up: WKU home to Maine Saturday, September 8 Wisconsin home to New Mexico Saturday, September 8 Get a 50% Signup Bonus up to $1,000 at BetOnline Sportsbook!!!
