Posted on 10/4/2007 4:56:32 PM

NCAA Football Betting - Wisconsin Badgers vs. Illinois Fighting Illini

By Charles Jay

The Wisconsin Badgers, smelling the BCS bid they missed out on last season, face an upstart club indeed when they travel to Champaign, Ill. to face the Fighting Illini of Illinois, a club that has made College Football bettors happy this season, in a key Big Ten matchup scheduled for noon (ET) on Saturday on the artificial turf at Memorial Stadium. The betting odds at BetUS have Illinois as a 2.5-point favorite.

Wisconsin was 12-1 last season but could not go to the BCS because only two teams from any one conference can go. Unfortunately, Ohio State and Michigan locked up those slots. This year, with Michigan faltering and Penn State already saddled with a couple of defeats, the Badgers control their own destiny. They're 5-0 on the season, and ranked #5 in the country in both the USA Today and AP polls. They've been a bit of a disappointment to the NCAA football bettor, however, covering just one of the three games that have been posted on the board. Last week Wisconsin beat Michigan State 37-34 as a seven-point favorite.

Illinois is a success story in progress. Coach Ron Zook, who was run out of Gainesville after a disappointing tenure as Florida's head man, has had a couple of great recruiting years and brings his team in with a 4-1 SU (straight-up) record, and 3-1 ATS (against the spread). Illinois scored its biggest win of Zook's reign last week, beating Penn State 27-20 as a three-point underdog.

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD trends…

* Wisconsin has won four of the last five meetings SU in the series
* Wisconsin has won four of the last five SU as the road team
* Five of the last six meetings have gone over the posted total
* Illinois have covered four of the last six games between the two
* In the last nine meetings, Wisconsin has scored less than 24 points just once, while Illinois has scored more than 24 only twice.

In last year's meeting, Wisconsin was a 21-point favorite and won by just a 30-24 margin, rushing for only 99 yards in the process. That was a far cry from the totals of 239, 258 and 307 yards on the ground against Illinois in the previous three seasons.

Wisconsin is averaging 32.2 points a game, and is allowing 22.4 ppg, which is unusual for a team ranked so high. The Badgers are converting 50.7% of their third-down situations. Tyler Donovan is giving them solid QB play, hitting on 62% of his attempts with a 9-3 TD-Interception ratio. Wisconsin is showing incredible balance in the offense, averaging 207 passing yards and 205 rushing yards a game. Of course, the Badgers have Heisman candidate P.J. Hill, who is rated sixth nationally with 133 rushing yards a game. Also......

* Wisconsin is 10-0 SU in their last ten games on artificial turf
* Wisconsin has won nine of its last 10 conference games SU
 
Illinois is rated 6th in the nation in rushing offense, at 256 yards per game. Juice Williams, the athletic sophomore quarterback, still has problems with accuracy, hitting just 55 of his 103 passes. And Illinois is only gaining 5.6 yards per pass attempt, compared to 8.3 yards for Wisconsin. But the team is scoring 30 points a contest. Illinois has allowed 243 passing yards a game and just 95 rushing yards a game. Also........

* Illinois is 0-10 SU in its last ten games in the month of October
* Illinois is 2-6 ATS their last eight as a home favorite
* Illinois is 6-19 SU in its last 25 games
* Illinois is 3-11 SU its last 14 home games

Both of these teams are 2-0 straight-up in the Big Ten, and the winner will find itself in a good position to challenge for the conference title.

It appears that Wisconsin, the 2.5-point underdog in the betting odds at BetUS, has the solid technical edge here, but this is a different Illinois squad than the one that's taken the field in recent years.

NCAA football betting has started, and BetUS sportsbook already has tons of college football Futures betting available for those of us who can't wait. Bet on the Heisman winner, Conference and Divisional winners and, of course, the 2008 BCS National Championship winner. Bet NCAA Football Futures in our sportsbook today in the Future / props section!