The Penn State Nittany Lions travel to Madison this afternoon to take on the Wisconsin Badgers in what is essentially the championship game for the Big Ten Leaders Division. The winner of this game faces Michigan State on December 3rd in the inaugural Big Ten title game. Today's game can be seen at 3:30 on ESPN.
The Badgers are heavy favorites over the controversy plagued NIttany Lions, with the pregame line favoring Wisconsin by +14.5. After simulating the matchup 10,000 times on Accurscore, Wisconsin won nearly 88% of the time. However, Penn State has won its last two meetings with Wisconsin by a combined score of 86-14 and were victorious in their last visit to Madison 48-7.
Penn State interim coach Tom Bradley credited Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson for the excitement around the Badgers.
"You know, anytime you're completing 80percent of your pass, 25 touchdowns, three interceptions, he's about as efficient a quarterback as I've seen in a long time. Decision‑making, excellent; everything he's done for that football team."
However, Bradley was quick to not shortchange the Badger defense.
"Defensively, they're sixth in the country in total defense; sixth in scoring defense. Third in pass defense. So we've got our hands full. Arguably they've got a front four, they rotate like we do a lot. They're sound fundamentally. They've got two really solid, big, tough linebackers inside. Their secondary is by far the best we've played all year."
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