Wisconsin Football: Guarenteed Rate Bowl Betting Preview

Wisconsin football will finish its 2022 season in Arizona as they take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. The game will be a late one as kickoff is slated for 9:15 Central. Have some afternoon coffee, folks!

Despite multiple players being out for Wisconsin the Badgers still come into this game as 3.5-point favorites. That may be partly due to the fact that Oklahoma State will have even more players out than Wisconsin with 8 total starters out from their end-of-season depth chart. The total for this game sits pretty low as well with a total sitting at just 44.5 points according to DraftKings Sportsbook. Let’s dive into both numbers!

(Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.)

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

ATS Pick: Wisconsin (-3.5)

For sake of the column, I’ll be taking the Badgers, but it's hard to know what this game is really going to look like so I don’t hate staying away from this entirely. Both teams have so many key pieces out which makes handicapping rather difficult. Additionally, even with the players in how much run will you get? Yes, the Badgers still have Braelon Allen but how much are you going to run him in a game that is, frankly, a little meaningless? If there are players you cant afford to lose for next season holding them out isn’t completely out of question.

That said, I like Wisconsin in this matchup as they as a team have a new coaching staff to try and play for. Each player still on the roster is going to be playing hard to try and impress Luke Fickell and his new staff. Oklahoma State may not have that same motivation and with so many pieces out I wonder how up they’ll be for this game. Wisconsin always seems to perform in bowl games so give me the Badgers here.

Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images

Over/Under? Under 44.5

I think the more reasonable play here is the under. Both quarterbacks will be out of this game which means we’ll have new faces under center for each team. For Wisconsin it will be either Chase Wolf or Myles Burkett. Additionally, Wisconsin will be without center Joe Tippmann as he is off to prep for the NFL draft. That, coupled with everything else going on around the program could spell a slow offensive game for Wisconsin.

On the other side, Oklahoma State is without quarterback Spencer Sanders, leading rusher Dominic Richardson, leading tackler Mason Cobb, defensive end Trace Ford, and three of their four starters in the secondary. It’s messy for the Pokes. That said, they’ve had some time to work some new pieces in and I don't expect Wisconsin’s offense to be firing on all cylinders either. To me, both of these offenses are going to likely struggle so I think points will be at a premium in this contest. Give me the under!

**Editors note: This will be my last post with B5Q, thank you all for reading and listening to me on the podcast these last 6 years! It’s been fun. See you in the comments section!