The University of Wisconsin football team is a 16.5 point underdog in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game against Ohio State at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Badgers and Buckeyes met in Columbus earlier in the year with Ohio State cruising to a 38-7 victory. For the Badgers to get revenge and pull an upset, they’ll have to learn lessons from two Big Ten East teams. Michigan was able to score 27 against the nation’s second-best defense last week. Most of that came in the first half and the Wolverines actually left some points on the table. Jim Harbaugh kicked a field goal on fourth-and-five in the red zone in a controversial decision just before halftime. Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson lost a fumble near the 10-yard line on the drive prior to that. That is a significant improvement over what the Badgers were able to generate against Ohio State.
The other lesson comes from Penn State. The Nittany Lions led early against Ohio State and, although the game ended up being a two-score affair, it was as close as a team has come to upending the undefeated Scarlet and Gray. Penn State is the only team to hold Ohio State to under 30 points this year. Wisconsin has had a formidable defense all season. They have the personnel to duplicate Penn State’s successful scheme.
