Prizing:

1st Place: $50 Amazon gift card

2nd-5th Place: $10 Starbucks gift card

Overview:

On Monday, January 2nd, at 1:00 P.M. the Wisconsin Badgers will take on the Western Michigan Broncos in the Cotton Bowl.

The Crowd:

“The Crowd” projects a final score of Wisconsin 32.7 – Western Michigan 24.5 with an over/under of 57.2.  The Vegas Line has a final score of Wisconsin 30.2 – Western Michigan 22.0 with an over/under of 52.0.

2016-17 Statistics (127 total teams):

Passing offense: Western Michigan 259.7 YPG > Wisconsin 179.2 YPG

Rushing offense: Western Michigan 236.2 YPG > Wisconsin 204.5 YPG

Scoring offense: Western Michigan 43.5 PPG > Wisconsin 28.7 PPG

Scoring defense: Wisconsin 15.5 PPG > Western Michigan 19.5 PPG

Passing defense: Western Michigan 201.8 YPG > Wisconsin 206.1 YPG

Rushing defense: Wisconsin 96.1 YPG > Western Michigan 151.2 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: Western Michigan +1.6 > Wisconsin +0.8

Strength of schedule:

Western Michigan is (13-0) with wins over Northwestern, North Carolina Central, Illinois, Georgia Southern, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Ball State, Kent State, Buffalo, Toledo, and Ohio.  Wisconsin is (10-3) with wins over LSU, Akron, Georgia State, Michigan State, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue, and Minnesota.  They were defeated by Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State.

Summary:

Western Michigan joined Alabama as the only other team to go undefeated in Division I.  Head coach P.J. Fleck has built quite a program advancing to bowl games in three of his four years there.  The Broncos took advantage of a pretty weak schedule, but still it is quite impressive any time goes undefeated.  Western Michigan ranks as a top ten team in scoring offense, but their stats are a bit inflated due to huge numbers against the likes of North Carolina Central and the weaker MAC teams.  Western Michigan wide receiver Corey Davis is a game-breaker and might be the best at his position in the country.

The Broncos do have two wins against BIG-10 opponents in Illinois and Northwestern both of whom Wisconsin beat.  Wisconsin’s only three losses were against the best BIG-10 teams in Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State.  The Badgers have a powerful running game and one of the elite defenses in college football ranking as a top ten unit all season.  I think this will be a close game but Western Michigan has not seen a defense the caliber of Wisconsin all season.

**LISTEN HERE** to the latest edition of “The Berger Shop” podcast, sponsored by The Crowd’s Line.  This week’s episode features an in-depth discussion about the return of Tiger Woods with golf pro Jason Birnbaum.

Note:

To be eligible to enter a Crowd’s Line contest you must be over 18 years of age, a resident of the United States/Canada, and submit your score prediction on our prediction tool (blog widget). The winner will be selected according to The Crowd’s Line scoring methodology.  If more than one entrant has the same winning score the winner will be selected by random drawing.  Only one prize will be awarded per contest and that winner will receive their prize in 5-7 business days.