Minnesota vs Wisconsin Picks and Predictions Big 10 Football

Minnesota vs Wisconsin Betting Preview

WagerTalk college football handicapper Kevin Dolan offers his Minnesota vs Wisconsin Big Ten football betting preview for Saturday, November 27. At the time of posting, the Badgers are a 7-point road favorite at Minnesota with the total at 39 points.

Stay on top of the latest College Football updates direct from Las Vegas!

Minnesota vs Wisconsin Predictions

Minnesota Golden Gophers +7 vs Wisconsin Badgers
Total: 39 Points
The road team is 6-0-1 against the spread in the last seven meetings in this series.
Wisconsin has won 16 of the last 17 meetings between these two teams.

The most played FBS rivalry game in all of college football kicks-off on Saturday between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the battle for Paul Bunyan’s axe over in the Big Ten this weekend.

Both teams enter this one game coming off solid defensive performances over recent weeks and it’s hard to look past anything different taking place in this game.

The Badgers rank as the #1 team in the country right now on defense, giving up just 237.7 ypg on average, with that improving again to just 187 ypg on the road this year, a full 60 yards per game better than anyone else has managed away from home this season.

On top of that, Wisconsin lead the nation on overall rushing defense this season, allowing just 64.3 ypg on the ground and are allowing the 4th fewest points in the FBS this year at just 15.8 ppg to opponents on average.

That defense will be tough to overcome for a Minnesota Golden Gophers team here that has put up just 10 points against Bowling Green, 20 points against Purdue and just 6 points against Illinois this season in games they looked less than spectacular on offense in.

Overlooking the Bowling Green game as something of an anomaly, the Gophers struggled offensively against both Purdue and Illinois in those games, putting up less than 300 yards total in either game, and while both of those are no doubt competent defenses, Illinois rank 58th in the nation, Purdue 42nd, they’re simply not comparable to what they’ll face this weekend against #1 ranked Wisconsin.

To Minnesota’s credit though, what they’ve lacked in offensive capability this season, they’ve more than made up for in defense, ranking as the 4th best defense in the country right now at just 289.6 ypg, the 3rd best rush defense in the Big Ten this year also, along with 12th nationally, and have arguably also played better on the road this season, shutting out Colorado back in Week 3, limiting Purdue to just 13 points two weeks later and holding Northwestern and Indiana to just 14 points subsequently on the year as well.

This has the potential to be an extremely low-scoring game in what should be a well-staged defensive battle throughout here between the Badgers and Golden Gophers on Saturday and despite hanging a total in the high-30’s here, I still like the Under to get to the window in this one between two of the best defensive teams in the country this weekend.

💰An argument could be made that this is the best sports week of the year: Wall-to-wall college basketball, Thanksgiving NFL and college football regular season finales. 7-Day All-Access packages are the lowest price of the year.
➡️Choose Your ‘Capper(s): https://t.co/COiDEBTy25 pic.twitter.com/WrkBijeFrk

— WagerTalk (@WagerTalk) November 22, 2021

Minnesota vs Wisconsin Analysis from The GoldSheet

Wisconsin dodged a bullet against Nebraska last week, but with seven-straight wins since a ragged 1-3 start, the Badgers will play in the Big Ten Championship with either a win here or losses by both Iowa and Purdue. Meanwhile Minnesota needs to win this game have Iowa lose and Purdue win. It’s simple, right? Badger defense gave up 452 yards against the Cornhuskers, its most liberal allotment of the season, dropping that unit to No. 2 in total defense, but still first against the run at 64 yards per game.

Minnesota owns a quality defense of its own, allowing only 290 yards per game, good for No. 4 in the country, while the offense continues to receive quality production from a depleted RB group. Ky Thomas ran for 105 yards and 2 TDs against Indiana, his fourth 100-yd. effort in five games, while Mar’Keise Irving chipped in with 70 yards rushing and another score for the Gophers as the horses on the OL continue to open holes. The Badgers have retained possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe in 16 of the last 17 seasons and the visitor has a 6-0-1 spread mark in the last seven between these two, so favor the Badgers.

Minnesota vs Wisconsin Video Preview

Paul Bunyan’s Axe and a trip to the Big Ten Championship Game are up for grabs on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis. WagerTalk college football handicappers Drew Martin, Bryan Leonard and Kevin Dolan offer their Minnesota vs Wisconsin betting preview.

WagerTalk Live Odds Screen

WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the moneylines, point spreads, first half lines, betting percentages and so much more for every College Football Week 13 game, including this Minnesota vs Wisconsin showdown, from your desktop or phone.

**************************************************

Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?

Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.