Early Betting Odds for the Wisconsin Football Ahead of the 2024 Season

For many, the start of the Wisconsin football season also means the start of betting on the Badgers and college football as a whole. The FanDuel Sportsbooks has released their Week 0/1 matchups with odds and odds for other categories like national championship odds, Heisman odds, and so on.

Here’s where the Wisconsin football team lands on their early odds for the 2024 season.

The Wisconsin Football Team Considered Big Favorites in Week 1

The second season of Wisconsin football under Luke Fickell will open up its season will kick off in under 75 days when they host Western Michigan at Camp Randall under the Friday night lights on August 30th at 8:00 PM CT.

Not surprisingly, the Badgers are heavy favorites to start the season 1-0.

The Wisconsin football team currently sits as a 24.5-point favorite (-110) over the Western Michigan Broncos.

If you don’t trust betting the spread, you can always bet the game straight up by betting the moneyline — whether a team will win or lose the game outright. Currently, FanDuel has the Badgers moneyline set at -3500. That means if you bet $3,500 on the Wisconsin football team, you would win $100.

The Broncos’ line sits at +1280 — if you bet $100 on Western Michigan, you would win $1,280.

The point total sits at 56.5 points. The odds for the over/under are -110.

Tyler Van Dyke a Longshot, but Wisconsin’s Best Odds to Win the Heisman

Via BadgerNotes staff writer Christian Borman

QB Tyler Van Dyke: +15000 (t-46th)

The Wisconsin football team hasn’t had a Heisman winner since 1999 when Ron Dayne took home the honor after rushing for 2,034 yards and 20 touchdowns.

They’ve been close a few times since, including a second-place finish for Melvin Gordon in 2014 behind Oregon quarterback, Marcus Mariota.

Based on the current odds, it doesn’t look like things are going to change this year. According to FanDuel’s Heisman odds, there is one lone Badger on the list, quarterback Tyler Van Dyke.

Van Dyke’s odds currently sit at +15,000, tied for the 46th best odds with Tetairoa McMillian (WR, Arizona), Dylan Raiola (QB, Nebraska), Brock Vandargriff (QB, Kentucky), Jeremiah Smith (WR, Ohio State), and former Wisconsin football quarterback, Graham Mertz (QB, Florida).

Tough Schedule Lowers Win Total

Wisconsin football win total: 6.5 games

The Wisconsin football team is seen as a program on the rise. So why is their win total so low?

The simple answer? The schedule.

The Big Ten is adding Oregon (-250), USC (+410), Washington (+850), and UCLA (+2000) to the conference. Three of those teams have better odds than Wisconsin. The Badgers will play USC on the road and Oregon at home this season as a part of conference play, both of whom have better odds than the Badgers. They also host Alabama this year in a highly-anticipated game, one in which Alabama will likely be favored.

According to Brad Crawford from 247Sports, the Badgers have the 10th-hardest schedule in college football in 2024, with five opponents in their way-too-early top 25 rankings.

They will play six teams ahead of them in ESPN’s College Football Power Index (FPI): Oregon (#2), Alabama (#5), Penn State (#6), USC (#18), Washington (#31), and Iowa (#37). Wisconsin comes in at no. 39.

If it’s any consolation, the odds for the Wisconsin football team to go over the 6.5 wins is -110, whereas the under is +118, meaning the oddsmakers think they will have more than 6.5 wins.

Badgers Viewed as Underdogs in Big Games

With their loaded schedule, the Badgers will be a part of plenty of high-profile games. The flip side of that is that they are considered underdogs in all of their ‘game of the year’ games.

Circa released the game lines for the games of the year in the 2024 college football season. The Wisconsin football team has four matchups in the ‘game of the year’ category.

The first is the Alabama game at Camp Randall in Week 3. According to the lines, the Badgers are 8-point underdogs (+8).

The next game is the homecoming game vs. Penn State. The Badgers are 5-point underdogs (+5) in that game. This is the first of three tough games in a row.

Wisconsin travels to Iowa the next week, where they will be 2-point underdogs (+2) to the Hawkeyes.

Finally, the Badgers will host Oregon two weeks later and are big underdogs. Right now, the Ducks are 9-point favorites (-9) over the Wisconsin football team.

Wisconsin Football is Middle of the Pack to Win the Big Ten Conference

Jul 27, 2023; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Odds to win the Big Ten Conference: +8500 (9th)

With the addition of the four PAC-12 schools, the Big Ten now stands at 18 teams. The Badgers are expected to finish right in the middle with the ninth-best odds to win the conference.

Their current odds are +8500 (bet $100 to win $8,500).

Ohio St. (+145) is favored to win the conference, followed closely by Oregon (+210). Next is Penn State (+550) and Michigan (+700). After that comes USC (+2500), Iowa (+3700), Nebraska (+6500), and Washington (+6500).

CFP Looks To Be a Longshot in 2024

Odds to make the College Football Playoff: +900 (t-34th)

Finally, we have the odds to make the College Football Playoff.

Despite the playoff expanding to 12 teams this year, the Wisconsin football team still has long odds to make it, sitting at +900.

The Badgers are tied with Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech with those odds at 34th in the country.

Just like with the conference odds, the Badgers are ninth in the Big Ten to make the CFP.

*If you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. Always bet responsibly.*

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. For more Wisconsin Badgers Athletics and Big Ten content, follow us on Twitter & Facebook. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You can also follow Christian Borman on Twitter @christianborman. 

Also, be sure to check out our shop, subscribe to our newsletter, and the BadgerNotes After Dark podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms. Because of your support, we have become one of the fastest-growing independent media outlets focused on giving a voice to the fans!