
Wisconsin vs Nebraska Prediction 1/26/25 College Basketball Picks Today
Nebraska (12-7) vs. Wisconsin (15-4)
January 26, 2025 1:00 pm EDT
The Line: Wisconsin -7.5; Over/Under: 151.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Wisconsin Badgers meet Sunday in college basketball action from Kohl Center. Here’s a Wisconsin vs Nebraska prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Wisconsin vs Nebraska pick.
Nebraska Cornhuskers Betting Preview
The Cornhuskers got off to a great start this year and were sitting pretty by the 14-game mark. Nebraska has since fallen on hard times due to a string of tricky Big Ten matchups, however, and they’re currently mired in a five-game losing streak. Nebraska’s season kicked off on a 6-1 run with a lone loss to St. Mary’s amid wins over UT Rio Grande Valley, Bethune-Cookman, Fairleigh Dickinson, Creighton, South Dakota, and North Florida. Following a loss to Michigan State, the Cornhuskers took out Indiana, Murray State, Hawaii, Oregon State, Southern, and UCLA in succession. Since then, however, the aforementioned five-game losing streak has kicked in. Those defeats have come at the hands of Iowa, Purdue, Rutgers, Maryland, and USC in succession, giving Nebraska a 12-7 overall record through 19 games this year.
In the USC matchup back on Wednesday, the Cornhuskers came out of halftime looking up at a 33-31 advantage on the scoreboard. Nebraska’s edge didn’t last though, as the team was outscored 47-40 the rest of the way during a rough loss of 78-73 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Juwan Gary with 27 points and three rebounds. Brice Williams added 17 points with four boards, two assists, and two steals. Connor Essegian came off the bench for 15 points and one rebound in 25 minutes of work on the floor as well.
Wisconsin Badgers Betting Preview
Over on the Wisconsin side, they came out of the gate with a very nice run themselves. The Badgers had a tough stretch briefly in early December, but they’ve done quite well overall since then. Wisconsin opened on an 8-0 stretch, taking out Holy Cross, Montana State, App State, Arizona, UT Rio Grande Valley, UCF, Pitt, and Chicago State. The Badgers would hit a losing streak after that (their only instance of consecutive losses so far), falling to Michigan, Marquette, and Illinois in succession. A win streak over Butler, Detroit, Iowa, Rutgers, Minnesota, Ohio State, and USC came next, then a tight loss to UCLA this past week that gave the Badgers a 15-4 overall record at the 19-game mark so far this year.
Matched up against UCLA on Tuesday, the Badgers held a five-point edge going into the break. Wisconsin was outscored 49-42 the rest of the way however and ended up taking a tough loss 85-83. Leading the team in scoring was John Tonje with 24 points, five boards, and two assists. John Blackwell added 23 points with four rebounds and four assists, while Steven Crowl also finished in double-digits with 11 points, five boards, and three assists.
Why the Wisconsin Badgers will win
- Wisconsin has won 25 of its last 26 games at Kohl Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Nebraska has lost each of its last five games.
- Wisconsin has won the first half in each of its last nine day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Why the Nebraska Cornhuskers will win
- Wisconsin has lost each of its last five Sunday day games against the Big Ten Conference.
- Nebraska has won three of its last four games against Wisconsin.
- Wisconsin has lost the first half in each of its last six Sunday games against the Big Ten Conference.
Wisconsin vs Nebraska Prediction
I’m going to stay with Wisconsin, but you could call this one either way. It should be a solid matchup. The Badgers shot very well (51 percent) and had a 28-25 rebounding edge against UCLA in their latest road loss. Wisconsin’s issues were with turnovers (13 for 10 Bruins points) and shooting percentage allowed (50.9) as they lost steam in the second half. The good news for Wisconsin is that they’ve still been scoring well. They’ve got 70 or more points in all but one game this season (64 in a three-point loss to Michigan).
As for Nebraska, they were outmuscled on the boards 36-31 (12-6 offensive) and had 11 turnovers for 16 Trojans points in their latest loss to USC. The Cornhuskers have given up 69 or more points in each installment of this current five-game losing streak, so Wisconsin should be able to notch a solid total here. Should be a fun game to watch regardless of the outcome.