Bowl Game Betting – (18) Wisconsin, (19) Auburn Set to Run in Outback Bowl

Outback Bowl: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa (Jan. 1, 12:00 p.m. Eastern)

(19) Auburn Tigers (-6.5, 63.5) vs. (18) Wisconsin Badgers

These are turbulent times for the No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers (10-3), who are coming off an embarrassing 59-0 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big Ten championship game. The Badgers were four-point favorites and had the good fortune of facing third-string Ohio State QB Cardale Jones, yet were outplayed in every aspect of the game from the opening kick-off.

That alone should make the Badgers upcoming game against the No. 19 Auburn Tigers (8-4) in the Outback Bowl pressure filled. However, the team is also dealing with the departure of head coach Gary Andersen, who resigned to become the next head coach of Oregon State.

While Paul Chryst will be taking over the team next season, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez is filling in for Anderson for the bowl game.

“I had no idea this was in the works,” Alvarez said. “Gary felt like this was an opportunity for him and his family to get back to that part of the country.”

Oddly enough, Alvarez was in a similar situation two years ago when Bret Bielema left to become the head coach at Arkansas. Even though the Badgers lost to Stanford that year, Alvarez is optimistic about this year’s Outback Bowl

“I just couldn’t tell those kids no,” Alvarez said. “It bothers me that the kids have to go through this. Change is difficult for them.”

Look for the interim head coach to rely heavily on running back Melvin Gordon, who rushed for more than 2,330 yards this season. Gordon announced he’ll be leaving school early to enter the 2015 NFL draft, and will be looking to make his final game for the Badgers a memorable one.

Gordon could be a big problem for Auburn, which is allowing 149.5 yards rushing per game. That said, head coach Gus Malzahn said incoming defensive coordinator and former Florida head coach Will Muschamp is already affecting the players.

“Our defensive players have responded,” Malzahn said. “He’s just trying to get to know our players, evaluate our current guys and our players have responded extremely well. They’re trying to impress him, trying to show what they can do. They’re in evaluation mode and he’s trying to evaluate what we have and thinking about next year and putting his pieces of the puzzle [together].”

Like Wisconsin, the Tigers will also try to run the ball on Thursday. Auburn was 12th in the nation in rushing this season, averaging 258.5 yards per game. But the Tigers may find the line of scrimmage a little less porous than usual, as Wisconsin is 17th in the country against the run, holding offenses to 118.9 rushing yards per game.

It’s the Badgers’ tough defense that makes Wisconsin and the points (+6.5) the smart play.

(Photo credit: Phil Roeder (flickr) “Hawkeyes Lose to Badgers” [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode]. Photo may appear cropped.)