The Wisconsin Badgers face the Penn State Nittany Lions Saturday in week 1 college football action from Camp Randall Stadium. This will be the first game of the year for both teams. The Lions are coming off a 4-5 campaign last fall, finishing in third place in their division. As for the Badgers, they put up a 4-3 mark in the 2020 season, landing in third place out West. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Penn State managed to play nine games last fall, posting a 4-5 record that put them in third place in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference behind Ohio State and Indiana. The Lions skidded to an 0-5 start, but then found their form as they managed to win out the rest of the schedule.
This year the Lions will welcome back eighth-year head coach James Franklin. He’ll be joined by fellow eighth-year defensive coordinator Brent Pry and first year offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. That crew will try to build on an offense which was second in the Big Ten despite a truckload of turnovers.
Over on the Wisconsin side, they finished 4-3 overall last year, going 3-3 in the Big Ten Conference. That finish was good enough for third place in the West Division, behind Northwestern (6-1 conference) and Iowa (6-2 conference).
Wisconsin had a few cancellations along the way last year and started out sketchy at 2-3. An overtime win over Minnesota 20-17 on December 19 aided their cause greatly, however. The Badgers managed an invite to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, where they notched a big win over Wake Forest 42-28.
Penn State is 4-0 ATS in their last four overall and 4-0 ATS in their last four conference games. The Lions are 6-1 ATS in their last seven in September and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 as an underdog.
Meanwhile, the Badgers are 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall and 1-4 ATS in their last five as a favorite. Wisconsin is 0-4 ATS in their last four conference games and the under is 4-1 in their last five overall.
PICK: I’m going to stick with Penn State in this one. Both these teams have a lot of work to do in improving over last year, however. The Lions’ numbers on offense looked good, but they couldn’t translate that to wins and posted the worst start in the history of the program. The offensive line needs to step up so that guys like Jahan Dotson (884 yards and eight TDs last year) can be difference-makers.
As for the Badgers, they were great in time of possession but not much else last year. The running game has to improve, but the good news is there’s experience on the line. Regardless, this first game should tell us a lot about where both teams are headed.