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Wisconsin vs Nebraska Prediction, College Basketball Game Preview

Wisconsin Badgers vs Nebraska Cornhuskers prediction and college basketball game preview.

Wisconsin Badgers vs Nebraska Cornhuskers prediction and college basketball game preview.

Wisconsin vs Nebraska Broadcast

Date: Wednesday, February 10
Game Time: 9:30 ET
Venue: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, NE
Network: ESPN2

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– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions

Wisconsin (14-6) vs Nebraska (4-10) Game Preview

For latest lines and to bet on college basketball, go to BetMGM

Why Wisconsin Will Win

(Forgive this horrific opening line, but it actually fits …)

Wisconsin is consistent in its inconsistency.

(Told you. Very, very, very sorry for that.)

The Badgers aren’t able to come up with the same energy and the same production two games in a row, going win-loss-win-loss-win-loss since mid-January. And why? The offense has been okay in all the losses, but it’s the defensive side that’s not able to come up with the stops.

It couldn’t handle Penn State from the field, and then in the rematch a few games later it more than doubled up the takeaways and won easily.

Illinois nailed everything from the field and won in a walk a few days ago, but Maryland hit a wall in an easy Badger win.

You can’t get in the door against Wisconsin without hitting at least 40% from the field, and the Huskers have only done that twice in the last seven games.

Why Nebraska Will Win

Nebraska might be on a seven-game losing streak and have yet to take home a Big Ten victory, but it’s been great at stopping teams from hitting the three.

Wisconsin’s offense is the Wisconsin offense – it’s not going to walk on the floor and put 85 up on the board – but in this consistently inconsistent run, it’s been winning when hit makes at least 37% of its threes in the last six games, and loses when it makes fewer.

No one has made more than 38% of their threes against Nebraska in any of the last eight games and allowed more just once all year.

What’s Going To Happen

Nebraska might not score.

The Wisconsin defense will clamp down from the word go, it’ll grind the game down to a stop, and Nebraska will have a hard time getting to 65 points, much less 70.

Wisconsin won’t win by 12 like it did in the first meeting, but it’ll keep the recent pattern going with a win.

Wisconsin vs Nebraska Prediction, Line

Wisconsin 67, Nebraska 58
Bet on college basketball with BetMGM
Wisconsin -12, o/u: 137
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3

Must See Rating: 2

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Opinion: The eight-game, eight-week schedule was never going to work

If you haven’t heard by now, the Wisconsin Badgers’ game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers this weekend has been canceled due to rising COVID-19 numbers within the Badger football program. It all started when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported …

If you haven’t heard by now, the Wisconsin Badgers’ game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers this weekend has been canceled due to rising COVID-19 numbers within the Badger football program.

It all started when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz tested positive this weekend, then third-string quarterback Chase Wolf after him, and now, per the release, 12 members of the program after full-program PCR tests were administered yesterday.

Related: How Wisconsin canceling the Nebraska game affects the rest of the season

The team was supposed to play eight games in eight weeks this fall. To be quite honest: that was never going to happen, and we have the Big Ten to thank for that.

Back in August, the conference canceled the season, five days after releasing a new conference-only schedule that had bye weeks and plenty of room for flexibility.

That’s the key word in college football this year: Flexibility.

Related: Breaking: Wisconsin HC Paul Chryst among those positive for COVID-19

Thanks to the conference abruptly canceling the season, instead of pushing it back a few weeks or just waiting and buying time, they left themselves with zero bye weeks and zero open weeks on the schedule. They left themselves, then, with zero flexibility. The 8-game, 8-week schedule was a utopian scenario. And was one that was never going to be completed without interruption.

I wrote about the conference’s decision to cancel the season back when it happened, and I had the exact same thoughts as I do today: they panicked, and set themselves up for failure down the road.

Now, this isn’t about why they canceled the season in the first place, as they had real concerns about playing and everything that comes with it. But the way they went about it–secretive and dismissive–was not in the best interests of the conference and had they pushed it back a few weeks instead of canceling, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Now, why is that?

First, it must be noted that increased and improved testing does not keep the virus out, it just helps to prevent outbreaks before they occur.

So had there been bye weeks or open weeks on the schedule, then canceled games like the one on Saturday would be able to be played at a later date.

This won’t be the only outbreak and/or canceled game of the season, trust me. But if I’m the conference I want to play a full season, if I’m the fans I want to see the teams play a full season, if I’m everybody involved I want to see the teams play a full season. There is nobody out there that doesn’t believe that playing a full season isn’t the best-case scenario.

Look at the NFL and the MLB. Both had significant hiccups as they returned to play, but both have dealt with them well and had the flexibility to carry on and continue playing.

The Big Ten’s decision to cancel back in August didn’t only push the season back to late-October, it ensured that the schedule would not be completed while other conferences carry on to the College Football Playoff and postseason.

Breaking: Wisconsin HC Paul Chryst among those positive for COVID-19

The Wisconsin Badgers’ game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers has been canceled due to rising COVID-19 numbers in the Badger football…

The Wisconsin Badgers’ game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers has been canceled due to rising COVID-19 numbers in the Badger football program, according to a release from the school.

Among those who tested positive for the virus is head coach Paul Chryst.

Per the release:

“As of Wednesday morning (Oct. 28), a total of 12 people within the Wisconsin football program had tested positive for COVID-19 in the past five days. That figure includes six student-athletes and six staff members, including head coach Paul Chryst. Additional test results are pending.

‘This morning I received the news that I had tested positive via a PCR test I took yesterday,’ Chryst said. ‘I informed my staff and the team this morning and am currently isolating at home. I had not been experiencing any symptoms and feel good as of this morning.'”

The Badger head coach will isolate for 10 days, per league protocols.

The team is pausing all activities for at least seven days and will re-evaluate at that time, meaning next Saturday’s game against Purdue is in question as well.

The program’s release said the decision to pause activity “was made by Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez and UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank, in consultation with the Big Ten Conference.”

How many players and staff members need to test positive for COVID-19 for Saturday’s game to be canceled?

Since the Wisconsin Badgers’ 45-7 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini on Friday thanks to a 248-yard, 5-touchdown performance…

Since the Wisconsin Badgers’ 45-7 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini on Friday thanks to a 248-yard, 5-touchdown performance from redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz the talk hasn’t been about the team and their impressive performance. It’s been about Mertz and third-string quarterback Chase Wolf testing positive for COVID-19, and what it means for the team moving forward.

As outlined a few days ago, Mertz and Wolf will now miss at least 21 days of football activity, that including the team’s contests against Nebraska, Purdue and Michigan.

Related: Who is Danny Vanden Boom, the Badgers’ likely Week 2 starter?

For news on Mertz’s recent confirmed positive test, Chase Wolf’s status and the rest of the program’s test results stay tuned to BadgersWire throughout the week.

What needs to be discussed now, though, is how many more confirmed positive tests are needed for Saturday’s game at Nebraska to be cancelled.

From the Big Ten COVID-19 protocol, the program will need either >5% of tests to be positive or >7.5% of the population to test positive in order for the game to be cancelled.

There are 113 players on the roster and another 33 coaches and staff, so the math boils down to 11 positives in the 146-person population needed for the 7.5% threshold to be met.

The test postivity clause in the protocol is a bit harder to break down, as we don’t know the exact testing regimen. So it’s possible that players and coaches are tested more than once each day, possible that once a player or staff member is confirmed to be positive they don’t receive another test for a few days, or possible that it’s a direct 1:1 ratio of players and tests-per-day.

Because it’s evaluated based on a rolling 7-day period and because we don’t know how many tests are adminstered each day, it’s challenging to directly predict how many positive tests are needed to reach the 5% test positivity threshold.

Again, Mertz and Wolf are the two reported positives at this point in the week. 11 coaches and staff isn’t that great of a number when you consider the constant exposure a football program sees, so it will be an interesting few days to say the least as the team continues to be tested while they prepare for their game on Saturday against Nebraska.

Who is Danny Vanden Boom, the Badgers’ likely Week 2 starter?

Reports surfaced yesterday that Wisconsin starting quarterback Graham Mertz tested positive for COVID-19, that after leading the Badgers…

Reports surfaced on Sunday that Wisconsin starting quarterback Graham Mertz tested positive for COVID-19, that after leading the Badgers to a 45-7 victory against the Illinois Fighting Illini on Friday.

The redshirt freshman still needs a PCR test to confirm the diagnosis and the results of that test are not yet known, so he isn’t technically ruled out of Saturday’s contest just yet.

That news was then followed by Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporting that third-string quarterback Chase Wolf wasn’t at practice on Monday and had also tested positive for COVID-19.

So, what does this mean for the two quarterbacks?

Related: A look at the Big Ten testing protocol that will determine the Graham Mertz situation

Per Big Ten rules they will now miss at least 21 days of football activity, those including games against Nebraska, Purdue and Michigan, and must undergo cardiac testing to ensure that they are safe to return to the field.

Meaning with Jack Coan out with a foot injury, and Mertz and Wolf testing positive for COVID-19, the Badgers could be down to the fourth-string quarterback for the next three weeks of the season.

So, as we outlined before the season in our quarterback depth chart, the next man up at the position is redshirt junior Danny Vanden Boom.

Obviously overlooked in the room with Jack Coan and Mertz, here is everything you need to know about Vanden Boom before his potential start this weekend:

 

Sep 8, 2018; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Danny Vanden Boom (15) throws a touchdown pass during the fourth quarter against the New Mexico Lobos at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
  • Hometown: Kimberly, Wisconsin
  • Jersey number: 15
  • Height: 6’5″
  • Recruiting: Three-star recruit, No. 1859 in the nation, No. 68 at the position, No. 12 player from the state of Wisconsin
  • High school accolades: Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year, first-team all-state by Associated Press and Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, led Kimberly to back-to-back Division 1 state championships and 28-0 record as starting quarterback, unanimous first-team All-Fox Valley Association as a junior and senior, Fox Valley Association Offensive Player of the Year as a senior, helped lead Kimberly to Division 1 state title in baseball as a senior pitcher with a 7-3 record and 1.36 ERA
  • College statistics: 1 game, 1 passing attempt, 3 yards, 1 touchdown, 455.2 pass efficiency rating
  • College accolades: 2018 and 2019 Academic All-Big Ten

Wisconsin vs. Nebraska: Series history

The Wisconsin Badgers’ 45-7 victory over Illinois on Friday is now in the rear-view. Since it’s Monday, it’s time to look ahead to…

The Wisconsin Badgers’ 45-7 victory over Illinois on Friday is now in the rear-view. Since it’s Monday, it’s time to look ahead to Saturday’s contest and look at the series history between the two schools.

The Badgers’ upcoming opponent: the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Related: Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz tests positive for COVID-19

Since Nebraska joined the Big Ten back in 2011, there are only 10 total contests between the two schools.

The all-time series stands at 10-4 in favor of the Badgers, with Nebraska winning the first three contests back in the 1960s/70s and going 1-10 since.

Related: A look at the Big Ten testing protocol that will determine Graham Mertz’s situation

The last time the Cornhuskers defeated the Badgers the year was 2012. Wisconsin went on to defeat them 70-31 in the conference championship that year and have now won 7 straight since that 2012 regular-season loss.

Going through the series here are some other numbers to note:

  • In terms of all-time accomplishments the Badgers top Nebraska in one category: Bowl Game winning percentage
  • The Cornhuskers have more national championships, more Heisman winners, more conference championships, more wins, more weeks at AP No. 1, more first-round draft picks, more All-Americans and more
  • Wisconsin’s largest margin of victory in the series is 70-31 while Nebraska’s is 37-0

 

Stay tuned in to BadgersWire throughout the week as we preview the second game on the Badgers’ 2020 schedule.