Free Week 8 Prediction: Fighting Illini vs. Badgers Odds
Looking for Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Wisconsin Badgers free picks? Week 8 betting sees the Fighting Illini take on the Badgers on Friday, October 23rd at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NCAA football season long so stay tuned for more FREE college football predictions like this Fighting Illini Badgers Week 8 free pick.
College Football Handicapping: Week 8
(0-0) Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Wisconsin Badgers (0-0)
Date: Friday, October 23rd, 2020
Time: 12:00 pm EST
Venue: Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin
NCAA Football Spread: Wisconsin -19.5
NCAA Betting Total: O/U 51.5
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B1G 10 Football is finally back and it kicks off on Friday night in Madison as the Badgers will take on the Fighting Illini at Camp Randall Stadium. Last season, Illinois was able to upset the Badgers and ruin their perfect season, let’s see if they can do it again to start 2020.
Illinois Fighting Illini
Lovie Smith is coming into his fifth season as the head coach of the Illini. Coach Smith will try to get his first winning season as the coach of Illinois after coming up just short last season as they went 6-7. With a major boost in transfer portal talent, the Fighting Illini should be in a good position to show some fight in the B1G 10.
Former Michigan-Transfer Brandon Peters will return for his senior season to be the quarterback of the Illini. Peters threw for 1884 yards in 11 games last season to go along with his 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Illinois got their QB a bunch of weapons this offseason including top wideout from USC Josh Imatorbhebhe.
Imatorbhebhe had 33 receptions last season for 634 yards for nine scores last season in Southern California and will try to bring some of that offensive firepower to the Mid-West. Also joining Illinois from the Trojans are WR Trevon Sidney and his brother Daniel Imatorbhebhe.
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The biggest problem in Champagne will come along the defensive front, where the team lost all four of its starters from a season ago. Stopping the run was one of their strongest abilities in 2019 and it helped them beat the Badgers last season.
Wisconsin Badgers
The Badgers will once again try to return to the B1G 10 championship, but this time finally get over the hump which is Ohio State. Wisconsin finished 2019 with a 10-4 record and reached the B1G 10 championship game for the third time under Paul Chryst’s reign.
Some bad news for the Badgers fans as they found that starting QB from last season Jack Coan will be out indefinitely in 2020 due to a foot injury. Wisconsin will turn to a redshirt freshman Graham Mertz for the foreseeable future. Mertz saw very limited playing time in 2019 and completed 9 of the 10 passes he threw for 73 yards. He was a top-three quarterback in the 2019 recruiting class though so Paul Chryst may have something with this young player.
Wisconsin took a big hit in the draft as they lost the school’s all-time leading rusher in Jonathon Taylor. Taylor led the badgers last season in touchdowns from scrimmage with 27 and was a top-5 scorer in the nation. Jalen Berger will have the responsibility of trying to replace the 2000-yard rusher, but he was a highly touted prospect so we will see.
Last season, Wisconsin had one of the best defenses in the country, ranking fourth in the FBS in yards allowed per game with 287.1 and 13th in yards per play at 4.79.
NCAA Football Handicapping Trends
- Illinois is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games.
- Illinois is 7-13 SU in their last 20 games.
- Illinois is 1-9 SU in their last 10 games against Wisconsin.
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Illinois’ last 5 games on the road.
- The total has gone OVER in 5 of Wisconsin’s last 6 games.
- Wisconsin is 11-4 SU in their last 15 games.
- Wisconsin is 6-0 SU in their last 6 games at home.
- Wisconsin is 7-0 SU in their last 7 games when playing at home against Illinois.
Free Week 8 NCAA Football Pick
I think Illinois covers this game with a late back door touchdown. Wisconsin lost too many key players on the offensive side of the ball and it will be interesting to see how the Badgers recoup after losing their top two weapons from last season. Brandon Peters is by far the more experienced QB in this matchup and I think he’s capable of putting up some points on this Wisconsin defense. I know the Badgers haven’t forgotten about the loss to the Illini last season so I know they will want to bury them in this game, but 19.5 is simply too many points. Give me the Illini to cover, but the Badgers to win. If you don’t want to bet a side in this game I would ride with the Over 51.5.
4* Free NCAA Betting Pick: Illinois +19.5, Over 51.5
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