Ohio State Opens as -14.5 Favorite vs Wisconsin at the Shoe in Week 9

• The Wisconsin Badgers lost their first game of the season with a 24-23 loss at Illinois on Saturday
• The Ohio State Buckeyes are a perfect 7-0 this season and have covered the spread every game
• Ohio State has opened as a 14.5-point home favorite as Wisconsin visits next weekend
  

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The Ohio State Buckeyes-Wisconsin Badgers showdown was supposed to be one of the highlight contests in Week 9. It will still be a marquee matchup, but some of the luster has been lost after the Badgers lost their first game of the season at Illinois. Ohio State has opened as -14.5 favorite. Which way will the line move before kickoff?

Wisconsin Badgers vs Ohio State Buckeyes Odds

*Odds taken 10/19/19

Badgers Lose As 30.5-Point Favorite

The Badgers entered Saturday as the No. 6 team in the country. They were undefeated and supposed to engage in a showdown of unbeaten Top 10 teams when they visited Ohio State. Instead, the Badgers, who closed between -29 and -30.5 (depending on where you bet it) lost outright.

What’s truly shocking is that Illinois had lost four in a row entering Saturday, losing their last two games by 17 or more. Their only wins on the season were over Akron and Connecticut – teams who are a combined 1-13. As for Wisconsin, they were 6-0, having outscored their opponents 255-29.

The Badgers had posted shutouts in four of their six games but they somehow allowed Illinois to score 24 points. It looked like the Badgers were looking ahead to their big showdown as they were sloppy. They had three turnovers, had six penalties for 60 yards and somehow lost despite winning time of possession 40:49-19:11.

How Good Is Wisconsin?

Wisconsin has impressed as they’ve mostly crushed the competition. That’s why they jumped up the board so much in the College Football Championship odds. At the same time, their biggest wins were against Michigan, who probably finishes the year outside of the Top 25, and that’s about it.

However, they did edge – not crush – Northwestern in a game where their offense was stuck in neutral. We saw the same thing at Illinois on Saturday as they moved the ball pretty well (417 yards), but were messy. They missed a field goal and turned the ball over twice in Illinois territory.

UPSET OF THE YEAR!! @IlliniFootball hits a field goal as time expires to shock No. 6 Wisconsin. pic.twitter.com/pxkyoXrHHB

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 19, 2019

Quarterback Jack Coan is currently a question mark, as he was very shaky completing passes in the Northwestern game and Illinois seemed to have his number in the second half. He threw a critical interception with 2:32 remaining that gave Illinois the ball on their own 47 with a chance to get the win.

On one hand, Wisconsin has looked quite strong in all phases of the game in five of their seven contests. On the other hand, in the two close games they’ve played, they have had some issues executing. Bettors are going to be thinking about this team being a phony, and that’s going to impact the line here.

How Will The Line Move?

This will probably be a Pros vs Joes type of game here. The public will be on Ohio State as they’ve destroyed everything in their path – including a 52-3 win over Northwestern, who Wisconsin struggled with. The sharps will probably see some value with the Badgers, as they had one bad week in a look-ahead spot.

The Buckeyes have covered all seven of their spreads and have been very good to the public. The Badgers have covered five of seven. It feels like you can’t make the lines high enough for the Buckeyes and that’s why this number is so high. With these NCAAF Week 9 odds, it feels like oddsmakers are trying to deter the Buckeyes’ action, which they’ll surely see plenty of.

I don’t expect this line to move much because of that, though. We’ll see sharps siding a bit with Wisconsin and the public thinking twice about laying such a huge number. That’ll offset those who pile in on Ohio State, no matter what, and those who are betting simply based on what they saw last week.