Wisconsin Badgers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes: Betting Odds, College Football Pick

The Wisconsin Badgers will try to win their third Big Ten Championship Game in four years Saturday when they square off against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The West Division champion Badgers previously won the Big Ten title in 2011 and 2012 and opened as three-point favorites against the East Division champion Buckeyes, who will be without starting quarterback J.T. Barrett due to a fractured ankle.

Point spread: The Badgers opened as three-point favorites, according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. (Line updates and matchup report)

College football pick, via Odds Shark computer: 35.5-28.4 Buckeyes

Why the Wisconsin Badgers can cover the spread

Wisconsin is in perfect position to win the Big Ten again here, going 7-0 straight up and 4-3 against the spread in its last seven games. During their winning streak, the Badgers had just one game decided by less than 10 points, which occurred two weeks ago in a 26-24 road victory against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

They were 9.5-point favorites in that Big Ten matchup and have been favored by at least five points in each of their last 11 games. While Wisconsin has struggled against Ohio State lately, the team will have a significant advantage due to the injury situation with Barrett and gets to face a young quarterback making his first start in a huge spot.

Why the Ohio State Buckeyes can cover the spread

As crazy as it sounds, Ohio State has been here before—sort of. The Buckeyes lost original starting quarterback Braxton Miller for the season due to a shoulder injury back in training camp and still won 11 of 12 games this season.

Barrett stepped in and proved to be just as good, making next year very interesting for the Ohio State faithful with both players returning. The next man up is sophomore Cardale Jones, who has completed 11 of 19 passes for 121 yards with two touchdowns in his college career.

Keep in mind, Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer is a quarterback whisperer who has worked wonders in the past with Alex Smith at Utah and Tim Tebow at Florida.

Smart Pick

The Buckeyes have failed to cover the spread in their last three conference games heading into the Big Ten Championship Game, letting their opponents hang around before holding them off. That will be much more difficult this time without Barrett, who was capable of blowing a game wide open either through the air or on the ground.

The Badgers will try to grind out a win here by pounding the ball with running back Melvin Gordon, who rushed for 151 yards and one touchdown in last week’s 34-24 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Even though they did not cover the spread as 16-point favorites, the line against Ohio State is much more manageable, especially considering the Buckeyes will likely struggle to score with Jones under center. Bet Wisconsin to beat Ohio State by at least a touchdown in winning its third Big Ten Championship Game.

Betting Trends

• Wisconsin is 1-6 ATS in its last seven games when playing Ohio State
• Ohio State is 6-1 ATS in its last seven games when playing Wisconsin

All point spread and lines data courtesy of Odds Shark, all quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line movement updates and get the free odds tracker app.