Alabama vs. Wisconsin picks, predictions, 2024 college football projections for Week 3

Expert picks and predictions for Alabama vs. Wisconsin in this Week 3 college football game.

Alabama vs. Wisconsin picks, predictions / Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images

This weekend brings us a notable SEC vs. Big Ten matchup from one of college football's most vocal environs as Camp Randall and Wisconsin play host to No. 4 ranked challenger Alabama on Saturday.

It's the first road trip for Kalen DeBoer, whose Crimson Tide played a close one against USF before pulling away late and finishing with a 42-16 victory, going 19-1 in its last 20 September games.

Wisconsin is 2-0 and coming off a 27-13 win over South Dakota and hoping to open up this offense a little more with ex-Miami transfer Tyler Van Dyke at the quarterback position.

Looking ahead to this week's matchup, let's check out the latest college football predictions from the Football Power Index computer projection model.

The model simulates every NCAA college football game 20,000 times and uses key analytics from both teams to predict outcomes based on a projected scoring margin per game.

Alabama vs. Wisconsin picks, predictions

The simulations strongly favor Alabama to win the game on Saturday, as the Crimson Tide come out the projected winner in 92.1 percent of the computer's predictions.

Conversely, the Badgers are expected to win the game in the remaining 7.9 percent of the model's forecasts, despite being the home team.

Alabama is a 16.5 point favorite against Wisconsin, according to the lines at FanDuel Sportsbook, which set the total at 50.5 points for the game.

FanDuel lists the moneyline odds for Alabama at -780 and for Wisconsin at +530.

The model projects that Alabama will be 23 points better than Wisconsin on the same field in both team's current composition, enough to cover the spread.

Alabama is projected to win 10.3 games this season and sits in fourth-place nationally with a 79.2 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff, according to the projections.

Wisconsin is fourth from the bottom among Big Ten teams with a 1.0 percent shot at the playoff, and is projected to win just 5.2 games, with a 42.3 percent chance to play in a bowl game.

College Football Power Index

Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance. 

Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season and games, using a combination of key analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, team talent, recruiting, and a team’s schedule.

Teams are ranked not in order of talent like in other rankings, but by a projected point margin per game against an average team on a neutral field.

AP top 25 rankings

First-place votes in parentheses

1. Georgia (54)
2. Texas (4)
3. Ohio State (5)
4. Alabama
5. Ole Miss
6. Missouri
7. Tennessee
8. Penn State
9. Oregon
10. Miami
11. USC
12. Utah
13. Oklahoma State
14. Kansas State
15. Oklahoma
16. LSU
17. Michigan
18. Notre Dame
19. Louisville
20. Arizona
21. Iowa State
22. Clemson
23. Nebraska
24. Boston College
25. Northern Illinois

Details ... Week 3 AP top 25 rankings

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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