Wisconsin’s latest line says plenty about where the Badgers stand right now - and where Maryland has managed to claw its way back into the picture.
After rolling past Rutgers 31-10 last weekend, Wisconsin heads on the road for a Week 11 matchup with the Terrapins as it tries to keep its late-season push alive. The Badgers looked sharper after the 31-10 loss to Iowa two weeks earlier, and the biggest reason was true freshman Ryan Hopkins making his first career start. Hopkins threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75 percent of his passes.
At 6-3, Wisconsin still has a path to getting ranked again if it can keep stacking wins. The final stretch gives the Badgers Maryland, Purdue, and Minnesota, so there’s still plenty left to sort out.
Maryland, meanwhile, comes in at 3-6 overall and 1-5 in Big Ten play, but the Terrapins have at least shown some fight over the last few weeks. They had dropped six straight before the program fired head coach Mike Locksley, then snapped that skid with a 34-29 road win over Purdue last week.
That result came after three straight tight games for Maryland. The Terrapins lost by a touchdown to Rutgers, fell by a field goal to 6-3 Illinois, and then somehow found a way to beat Purdue despite being outplayed in almost every statistical category.
The betting market reflects the difference between Wisconsin’s home spot last week and this road test. The Badgers opened as 16.5-point favorites against Rutgers, according to FanDuel, and that number climbed to 19.5 by kickoff before Wisconsin covered in a 21-point win.
Against Maryland, though, Wisconsin is opening as only an 8.5-point favorite on the road, with the total set at 43.5 points.
The Big Ten race still has Wisconsin in the mix, too. The Badgers are 4-2 in conference play and part of a six-way tie for third behind UCLA at 6-0 and Indiana at 5-1.
There’s still movement ahead, with UCLA set to face USC on the road and Indiana getting USC at home this week. UCLA looks like a near-lock for the Big Ten Championship Game, but the second spot could open up if Indiana slips this weekend.
In Other News...
Wisconsin Recruiting Loss Just Got More Painful For Badgers Fans
Wisconsins 2027 basketball class took a hit when Jack Thelen, the 7-foot-1 center who had previously pledged to the Badgers, backed off that commitment and landed at UConn instead. Thelen, ranked No. 88 nationally in the class by Rivals, had given Wisconsin a promising frontcourt piece for the future, and his departure changes the look of an early group that had already started to take shape.
The Badgers still have two four-star guards committed in the class, so the foundation is not gone, but losing a big man of Thelens size and profile stings. It also adds another layer to the challenge of holding off blueblood-level competition, with UConn continuing to build one of the nations strongest classes and sitting No. 2 nationally on 247Sports. [Read more 🡒]
Racine Case Just Ended A Drought Wisconsin Fans Will Appreciate
Racine Case gave Wisconsin high school football fans a familiar kind of thrill with a finish that came down to the final kick. Senior kicker Colin Gardner drilled a 28-yard field goal as time expired to lift Case past Muskego 6-3 in the WIAA Division 1 state quarterfinals, sending the team on to the state semifinals against West De Pere.
For a program with a long history but a long wait, the moment carried extra weight. Racine Case is headed to the state semifinals for the first time since 1980, ending a 46-year drought and giving its supporters a milestone they had waited generations to see. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Has A Nolan Winter Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Nolan Winters start to the 2026-27 season has been quieter than Wisconsin fans are used to seeing from the senior big man. His numbers are down across the board, and his shooting has not matched the efficiency he typically brings, even though he is still helping the Badgers with rebounding, passing and rim protection.
The bigger question for Wisconsin is what comes next, because Winters value has not disappeared, it has just been uneven so far. If the Badgers can get him more involved offensively and he continues to move past whatever has slowed him early, there is still a path for him to look more like the player Wisconsin needs in the frontcourt. [Read more 🡒]