Wisconsin Badgers vs LSU Tigers Prediction, Odds and Picks

Vote on who will cover the spread!

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The Wisconsin Badgers take on the LSU Tigers in the Reliaquest Bowl in Tampa. Wisconsin finished the season 7-5 in their first year under head coach Luke Fickell, and 3rd in the Big Ten West division. It was a good start for the new regime but the fans will be expecting more next season. LSU is in their second year under head coach Brian Kelly and finished the year 9-3. I wouldn’t say Kelly is on the hot seat by any means but the fans have playoff expectations so if he doesn’t deliver soon his seat will be getting warmer. The 12-team playoff for next year should help both teams and head coaches. For this game, both fan bases will get a peek into next season more than the finale of this season.

LSU starting quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy this year but is opting out of this game. He basically carried this team to their current record and this bowl game so it will be interesting to see if the Tigers can maintain their high-powered offense without him. They averaged an NCAA-best 555.8 yards and 46.4 points per game with Daniels. Garrett Nussmeier will start at quarterback for LSU. The sophomore has some playing time under his belt and played in 6 games this year. In those games, Nussmeier has a 51.5% completion percentage with 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions. In his career, Nussmeier boasts a 56.3% completion percentage with 8 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. The good news for the Tigers is most of the rest of their offense is expected to play in this game including wide receiver Malik Nabers who was the runner-up for the Biletnikoff award. Their defense will be a problem as it has been all year but Wisconsin’s offense hasn’t exactly been show-stopping. The Badgers averaged only 380.7 yards and 22.8 points per game this year. Defensively they were solid, only allowing 346.8 yards and 18.9 points per game. This game will come down to whether LSU’s offense can be as explosive with Nussmeier as they were with Daniels. I’m not sure they are still the number one offense in the country but I think Nussmeier can manage to score enough to cover the spread against a Wisconsin team that was mediocre on both sides of the ball all year, and that has at least 5 starters not playing in this game. Take LSU to not only win but cover.

LSU -10 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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College football handicapper for Pickswise. Born and raised in Tennessee and root for all my local teams. I've been handicapping games for years and will happily gamble on any sport. I love a good home underdog. For Michael Petty media enquiries, please email [email protected].