The Wisconsin Badgers (15-8 overall, 9-7 Big Ten) visit the Northwestern Wildcats (6-13, 3-12) for a Sunday evening (7 p.m. ET) contest at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. Below, we analyze the Wisconsin-Northwestern college basketball odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Wisconsin is No. 21 in the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Wisconsin at Northwestern: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:55 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Wisconsin -275 (bet $275 to win $100) | Northwestern +220 (bet $100 to win $220)
- Against the spread/ATS: Wisconsin -5.5 (-115) | Northwestern +5.5 (-105)
- Over/Under: 130.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Wisconsin at Northwestern: Three things to know
- The Badgers beat the Wildcats 68-52 Jan. 20 but have gone just 3-5 in eight games since. Wisconsin has beaten Northwestern five straight times, winning by an average margin of 12 points. Northwestern’s last win in the series came on Feb. 1, 2018, a 60-52 win.
- Northwestern is coming off a 73-66 road loss to Illinois on Tuesday. The Wildcats mounted a comeback after falling behind by 18 points early. They eventually got within two points of the No. 5 Illini with 1:54 to play. Illinois took control after that, sending NU to its 12th straight loss.
- The Wisconsin offense has recorded a turnover on just 13.7 percent of its possessions, which is the third-best rate in the nation. The Northwestern defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 18 percent of all possessions (258th NCAA-I).
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Wisconsin at Northwestern: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Wisconsin 67, Northwestern 62
Money line (ML)
The Badgers have a solid defense, and their offense can be efficient and productive against lesser defensive teams. Peg Northwestern’s defense as being better than the surface assumption implied by the Wildcats yielding a scoring average of 72.1 PPG.
This tag deserves a PASS but also your attention. Something north of Northwestern +230 makes NU a decent play.
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Against the spread (ATS)
The home team is 3-0-1 ATS in the last four games of this series. And that’s the lean here. Northwestern is solid inside, and the Wildcats tend to perform better against slower-paced teams. UW’s tempo figures rank among the slowest in the game.
TAKE THE WILDCATS +5.5 (-105).
Over/Under (O/U)
The Badgers are coming off an ATS loss. The last seven times that occurred, the Under has hit the next time out.
The Under is the lean here, but consider holding out for a total of 131.5.
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