Alabama vs. Wisconsin football preview, picks: Where experts see an edge

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Alabama and Wisconsin meet in college football’s Week 3 action on Saturday in a premier SEC vs. Big Ten clash. Let’s look at the early prediction for the game from the oddsmakers.
Alabama looked more its usual self last week, rebounding from a two-touchdown loss at Florida State in the opener to pound UL Monroe by a 73-0 count last weekend.
And the Crimson Tide fared well under head coach Kalen DeBoer’s leadership a year ago when they smashed Wisconsin in a 42-10 decision on the road in Big Ten country.
Wisconsin may not be that much improved this time out from last year’s iteration, although it has outscored Miami of Ohio and MTSU by a combined 59 to 10.
Luke Fickell’s experiment to bring a more wide-open offense to the Badgers didn’t pan out last season, so he made a swap at offensive coordinator in an effort to return the program to its meat and potatoes, ground-and-pound style of offense.
Wisconsin will test its rushing offense against an Alabama front seven that through two games ranks just 102nd nationally, allowing almost 162 yards per game to opponents.
The Badgers are 74th in FBS running the ball, posting 4.3 yards per carry and averages just more than 157 on the ground per game through 2 weeks.
Where is the money going between the Crimson Tide and the Badgers in this meeting?
Let’s take a look at the early prediction for Alabama vs. Wisconsin in this Week 3 college football game, according to the oddsmakers.
Alabama vs. Wisconsin picks, odds
As expected, the SEC side of this matchup is the big favorite at the sportsbooks.
Alabama is a comfortable 21.5 point favorite against Wisconsin, according to the latest game lines posted to FanDuel Sportsbook.
FanDuel set the total at 46.5 points for the matchup.
And it lists the moneyline odds for Alabama at -2500 and for Wisconsin at +1100 to win outright.
Alabama: -21.5 (-104)
Wisconsin: +21.5 (-118)
Over 46.5 points: -114
Under 46.5 points: -106
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Alabama vs. Wisconsin trends
Wisconsin is 2-5 against the spread in its last 7 games...
Alabama is 9-3 ATS in its last 12 games against a Big Ten opponent...
Wisconsin is 1-4 against the spread in its last 5 games as the underdog...
Alabama is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games played on a Saturday..
Wisconsin has won 2 of its last 6 games straight-up against SEC teams...
Alabama is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home...
Wisconsin has won 2 of its last 6 games on the road...
The total went over in 4 of Alabama’s last 6 games at home...
As it did in 5 of Wisconsin’s last 6 games on the road...
Alabama was 3-2 (60%) ATS in non-conference games last season...
Wisconsin went 0-3 against the spread in non-conference games in ‘24...
Alabama was 4-2 (66.7%) ATS as the home favorite last fall...
Wisconsin went 1-3 (25%) against the spread as the road underdog last year...
Alabama was 3-1 ATS against ranked opponents last season...
Wisconsin was 2-3 (40%) ATS after a win in 2024...
Alabama went 4-5 (44.4%) against the spread after a victory last fall...
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Spread consensus picks
A slight majority of bettors expect the Badgers to make this a little interesting on the road in SEC country, according to the latest spread consensus picks for the game.
Wisconsin is getting 58 percent of bets to either defeat Alabama outright in an upset, or more likely, to keep the final margin to 3 touchdowns or fewer in a loss.
The other 42 percent of wagers project the Crimson Tide will get past 3 touchdowns and beat the Badgers by more than 21 points this weekend.
The game’s implied score suggests a comfortable victory for the Tide over their Big Ten counterpart.
When taking the point spread and total into consideration, it’s implied that Alabama will defeat Wisconsin by a projected score of 34 to 13.
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College Football HQ prediction
That big gap between the SEC and Big Ten does appear to have narrowed across the board, but not when comparing these two rosters on the same field.
Say what you will about the Crimson Tide’s lackluster performance, especially when they were outphysicaled on both lines by the Seminoles in that forgettable opener.
But they have a decisive advantage getting push on the quarterback, stopping the run, and spreading out their skill targets against a slower secondary on the back end.
College Football HQ early game prediction: Alabama by 27, covers the spread.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He has covered football for a decade, previously managing several team sites and publishing national content for 247Sports.com for five years. His work has also been published on CBSSports.com. He founded College Football HQ in 2020, and the site joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022 and the On SI network in 2024.