Pregame: Illinois at Wisconsin, Saturday, October 1st, 11:00am CT, BTN

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#26      
We must win 1 of the next 3, win 2 out of the next 3 and I think we'll all be ecstatic to be 5-2 headed into the bye week.

Concerned about out O-line and special teams but let's go beat the Badgers!
Might as well keep it simple and win all 3 of them.
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#31      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
I think the line will open at 8.5-9.5 and I would take Illinois as I think a lot of people will and it will quickly go down to 7-7.5.
Keep in mind we're 7-2 ATS in our last 9, with the cumulative spread having been beaten by miles and miles.

I think six of the seven covers were by double digits.

We're a Vegas darling at the moment, though that can quickly change and only tangentially ties into winning football games.
 
#32      

danielb927

Orange Krush Class of 2013
Rochester, MN
Is this gonna be like 2007 where we were surprise favorites against a ranked (I want to say top-10, like #9 or #5) Wisconsin team? Badgers are down but this is on the road so it would feel about the same...
 
#33      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
Is this gonna be like 2007 where we were surprise favorites against a ranked (I want to say top-10, like #9 or #5) Wisconsin team? Badgers are down but this is on the road so it would feel about the same...
No chance. That was at MS.

Barring some horrible injury crisis I can't imagine it lower than Wisky -3 and I'm pretty sure it will be at least 6.

It's Wisconsin at home. They're good and match up well against us.
 
#34      
Keep in mind we're 7-2 ATS in our last 9, with the cumulative spread having been beaten by miles and miles.

I think six of the seven covers were by double digits.

We're a Vegas darling at the moment, though that can quickly change and only tangentially ties into winning football games.
I agree....I think they take Camp Randall into consideration too much though
 
#35      

altgeld88

Arlington, Virginia
Illini OT TD (or game-winning TD late in regulation) waved off. Front page photo next day clearly showed Illini receiver with one foot in bounds. Replay came in the next season.
WR Walter Young. I remember that game vividly. Gray, cold mid-November day in Champaign. I was so proud of those guys. They fought like warriors and, IIRC, tied the game at the end of regulation with a FG. OSU was #2 in the nation and we were middle of the conference. The TV replay clearly showed Walter's foot in bounds but the issue was whether he had control of the ball. If we'd won that game OSU would not have won the NC that year, its first since 1968.

That loss still makes me wince 20 years later. We beat NW a week later and then everything went straight to he** in 2003.
 
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#39      
Okay, this game is a ways off still, so let's play two hypotheticals in fantasy land. :cool:

1) If Wisconsin somehow upsets Ohio State in Columbus tomorrow night, what are they ranked when we stroll into Madison? We have not beaten a top 25 team on the road in back-to-back seasons since 1993 (at #13 Michigan) and 1994 (at #17 Ohio State)!

2) If we somehow upset Wisconsin in Madison the following weekend, how many fans buy tickets for our October 8th game vs. Iowa? Here are our numbers so far, along with our highest attendance last year:

37,832 vs. Wyoming (3:00 pm)
33,669 vs. Virginia (3:00 pm)
37,579 :unsure: vs. Chattanooga (Thursday)
Last year: 41,064 vs. Nebraska (12:00 pm)

We would theoretically be 4-1 (1-1) with a historic rival coming to town for a beautiful fall day for (what is apparently) an "Orange Out" game, and it will be our best chance to snap the losing streak vs. them in YEARS. I would not count out Iowa bringing a good 5,000 to 7,000 fans, either (apparently we brought over 3,000 to Bloomington on a Friday night). The only other better Big Ten matchup that day is Ohio State at Michigan State, and that will likely get the 11:00 am FOX slot, so I could definitely see us getting a 2:30 pm game time, too! Either way, I expect it to be one of our better crowds in years, but here would be my prediction:

If we lose to Wisconsin: 44,500
If we beat Wisconsin: 52,500
 
#41      

Mr. Tibbs

southeast DuPage
Okay, this game is a ways off still, so let's play two hypotheticals in fantasy land. :cool:

1) If Wisconsin somehow upsets Ohio State in Columbus tomorrow night, what are they ranked when we stroll into Madison? We have not beaten a top 25 team on the road in back-to-back seasons since 1993 (at #13 Michigan) and 1994 (at #17 Ohio State)!

2) If we somehow upset Wisconsin in Madison the following weekend, how many fans buy tickets for our October 8th game vs. Iowa? Here are our numbers so far, along with our highest attendance last year:

37,832 vs. Wyoming (3:00 pm)
33,669 vs. Virginia (3:00 pm)
37,579 :unsure: vs. Chattanooga (Thursday)
Last year: 41,064 vs. Nebraska (12:00 pm)

We would theoretically be 4-1 (1-1) with a historic rival coming to town for a beautiful fall day for (what is apparently) an "Orange Out" game, and it will be our best chance to snap the losing streak vs. them in YEARS. I would not count out Iowa bringing a good 5,000 to 7,000 fans, either (apparently we brought over 3,000 to Bloomington on a Friday night). The only other better Big Ten matchup that day is Ohio State at Michigan State, and that will likely get the 11:00 am FOX slot, so I could definitely see us getting a 2:30 pm game time, too! Either way, I expect it to be one of our better crowds in years, but here would be my prediction:

If we lose to Wisconsin: 44,500
If we beat Wisconsin: 52,500
Iowa travels well , even in a season like their having now - they could easily account for 7000 - 8000 or more . IF we beat Wiscy, I could easily see a crowd of 52,000 - 55,000 if weather is average to nice.
 
#44      

DeonThomas

South Carolina
I don't think we're going to beat @WISC-IOWA-MINN-@NEB back to back to back to back.

However, the orange koolaid in my blood really wants 3 of th0se 4. I think we've got some big-time momentum and confidence heading into Madison next weekend plus Coach BB returning "home" to show Wisky what he's proudly built---- both working for us. And Wisconsin will likely be coming off a loss.

If we're going to optimistically grab three wins, this first game of the 4 might just be #1. I like the notion of a 4-1 squad returning home to face Iowa and Minny.
 
#45      
Totally disagree. Dramatic upset, get their heads big.

The last thing we want is an angry desperate team fighting to keep their season from imploding at home. Unfortunately that will almost certainly be what we get.
I see this from both sides. Having Wisky lose badly to OSU and pin their second loss, could either demoralize them or energize them. I believe it will by the former. They could play desperate against us next week and play out of character. Our D will keep us in the game and I believe we will overcome the demons of Camp Randall and win the game.
 
#46      
I want to believe in this team, that it isn't fake hype against bad opponents. But Indiana almost lost to WKU, and Virginia almost lost to ODU. Virginia did almost beat what looks like a decent Syracuse team, but they were down 16-0 early.

This is a good week to learn more about the season, though. IU plays Cincinatti so that will give us a better glimpse at what kind of team IU is. Washington State plays at home against Oregon, so we will know more about how bad that Wisconsin loss to WSU was.

I agree with others, I want Wisconsin to give OSU a game to keep them from feeling really desperate against us.
 
#48      

Mr. Tibbs

southeast DuPage
. I like the notion of a 4-1 squad returning home to face Iowa and Minny.
I agree, but I just want our guys to have the "ole chip on the shoulder " until we beat EVERY B1G team at least once over the next 3-4 years. Especially the teams from our division
 
#50      
Totally disagree. Dramatic upset, get their heads big.

The last thing we want is an angry desperate team fighting to keep their season from imploding at home. Unfortunately that will almost certainly be what we get.
As long as they are beat up and tired.
 
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