2011 College Football Predictions: UNLV Rebels vs. Wisconsin Badgers on ESPN

The UNLV Rebels and No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers open up their respective college football seasons Thursday night at Camp Randall Stadium for the second consecutive year in front of a nationally-televised audience on ESPN. Kickoff in Madison, Wis., is expected to be at 8:00 EST.

Wisconsin—currently a 35-point favorite—flew into Sin City last year and posted a 41-21 victory over UNLV, but failed to successfully cover the 20.5-point number.  The Badgers gained 470 yards of total offense in the contest and limited the Rebels to just 217 total yards.

Defense has been the name of the game in this series from a Badgers’ standpoint—limiting the Rebels to an average of just 224.7 yards of total offense over the last six meetings.  In total, Wisconsin is 7-2 in the series.

Head coach Brett Bielema has excelled at getting his team ready for non-conference action and carries in an unblemished 20-0 mark in games of this type during the regular season. 

The streak goes back even farther when examining the Barry Alvarez era—winning 28-straight contests in that particular situation.

Bettors must be cautious in laying the points based on that fact alone, as the school is 3-5 ATS against opponents outside of the Big Ten over the last two years, including three straight against-the-spread losses to start the 2010 season.

UNLV is playing as an underdog of five touchdowns-or-more for the first time since a 41-0 road loss to the TCU Horned Frogs on Oct. 31, 2009. 

The Rebels have a much better chance of winning their first road game under second-year head coach Bobby Hauck next week. The team travels to Pullman, WA., to take on the Washington State Cougars of the Pac-12 Conference.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Caleb Herring will become the school’s seventh different opening-game starter over the last eight years—matching up with a high-profile transfer on the other side.

Russell Wilson—a transfer from NC State—steps in for the departed Scott Tolzien, after compiling a 19-17 record in 36 career games in Raleigh, NC.  He is a dual-threat weapon at quarterback and accounted for 76.1 percent of the Wolfpack offense in 2010.

As stated in a previous article, the Rebels are incredibly difficult to back due to an 0-3 ATS mark as an underdog of 31-plus points, while the Badgers’ backfield of Montee Ball and James White will run wild in front of the home faithful