Illinois suffered a tough loss this past weekend getting handled by the Michigan Wolverines 31-14, while the Wisconsin Badgers took care of business against the Gophers defeating Minnesota 42-13.

After an awesome start to the season and a top 15 ranking, Illinois has steadily been in decline ever since.  Nathan Scheelhaase has been playing very solid ball for the Illini this season; however against the Wolverines the Illinois signal caller ran into some problems throwing for just 170 yards and one interception.  The Illini were only able to manage 214 total yards of offense against the Wolverines as Ron Zook's run first offense had little to no room against the much improved Michigan Wolverine defense.  Illinois has been playing well on the defensive side of the ball this season holding opponents to just 18.6 points per game, but speed and talent on the Wolverines offense was too much for Illinois.  The Illini will be in for a very tough test this weekend as the Badgers have the top scoring offense in the Big Ten and the combination of Wilson and Toon give the Badgers the ability to strike from anywhere on the field.

The Wisconsin Badgers started off this season on fire as Wisconsin looked to be in contention for a national title run.  The Badgers suffered back to back heartbreaking losses on the road to Michigan State and Ohio State but last week's solid effort against the Minnesota Golden Gophers got the Badgers back on their winning ways.  Russell Wilson didn't put a lot of yards on the day, but the Badger quarterback completed 16/17 with four completions going for scores.  No matter how good their quarterback play is, the Badgers are a run first offense behind a traditionally huge offensive line, and that strategy worked well against the Gophers as the Badgers rushed for 283 yards and two scores on the day with Montee Ball leading the way with 166 yards of his own.

Illinois is just 2-5 against the spread in their last seven games, and the total has gone under in four of the last five games for Illinois.  The total has gone over in six of the last seven games for the Badgers.

Illinois has a decent squad, and I love watching Scheelhaase play, but the Badgers look to be too tough in this spot, even on the road.  Wisconsin is playing with a chip on their shoulder and I have a hard time believing Ron Zook can come up with a game plan to stop the Badgers this weekend.  The cover may not come until late with the game being on the road, but at the end of the day I like the Badgers to cover the two touchdown spread here.