Who says that there are no other sports on Super Bowl Sunday? Before the big game gets underway, there is some decent college basketball action to watch. The Maryland Terrapins are squarely on the bubble at this point of the season, and desperately need a win to get closer to .500 in Big Ten play. Maryland is through the worst part of its conference schedule, having played Purdue twice and Michigan State twice.
It will look to get that needed victory when the school hosts the Wisconsin Badgers. This is the worst team we have seen in Madison and quite some time, and the Badgers are just looking to get through the schedule at this point. They are just 3-8 in conference and are the only team in the Big Ten that is under .500.
This war on the floor will go down Sunday, February 4, 2018, at 1 p.m. ET at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Maryland. The game will be televised live on CBS. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Sunday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Nothing has gone right for Wisconsin this season. The Badgers played a brutal non-conference schedule and lost to every good team they faced. They were hammered by Xavier, Virginia, and Marquette, and lost to teams like Baylor, UCLA, and Temple to put them behind the eight ball heading into conference play. Since then, things have only gotten worse.
The Badgers are 2-6 ATS over their last eight games and are sitting at 8-14-1 ATS on the year. They have been dreadful against the number away from Madison, with a record of 2-7-1 ATS.
Maryland has been one of the best home teams to back in the country. The Terps scored a big win in non-conference play over Butler and kept it respectable against conference foes like Purdue and Michigan State. The rest of the way is much easier for this squad, so they should be large home favorites until they face Michigan at the end of the month. Maryland is 8-2-1 ATS at home this season.
Player to Watch
Every time I write about Wisconsin, I write about Ethan Happ. It might be boring, but whether you watch the games or just look at the stat sheet, it’s clear that he is one of the few bright spots on this team.
Happ has been great this season. He leads the team in almost every major category and has not shied away from doing anything to help Wisconsin win. The Badgers don’t have much talent on the team so they ask a lot from Happ, and he has largely delivered. He is hitting 54.3 percent from the floor and has been a steady presence in the frontcourt. Happ has had some free throw shooting woes, but that’s really the only gripe you can have about his play.
If Wisconsin is going to pull off the upset, Happ will lead the way.
Key Stat
Maryland has been a very good three-point shooting team this season, and the Terrapins will likely test Wisconsin’s perimeter defense throughout the afternoon. Wisconsin has struggled to get stops this year, allowing talented teams to light them up.
The Terrapins have hit 38.7 percent of their threes this season, with two players leading the way. Anthony Cowan and Kevin Huerter have both proven to have a nice shooters touch and will likely pace the team again in this one. Both players are averaging over 14 PPG on the year.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
It’s hard to see a way that Wisconsin keeps this one close without a monster performance from either Happ or Khalil Iverson. Those have been the two best players on the team, while everyone else has struggled. Look for Maryland to focus on stopping these two en route to an easy win.
College Basketball Odds: Maryland 82, Wisconsin 70
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