Sportsbooks betting fans lost a great deal of respect for Wisconsin football at sportsbooks last year as the Badgers fell to 7-6 straight up and 5-7 against the spread. Sportsbooks betting fans were bewildered by the sharp decline of Wisconsin’s value at sportsbooks as they were 12-1 straight up and 9-3 against the spread in 2006.
The 2008 sportsbooks betting season ended with a 13-42 blowout loss to a mediocre Florida State team in the Champs Sports Bowl and with the heat on full blast for head coach Brett Bielema, who seemed to be running a program in decline after 3 years on the job.
Expectations were low for the Badgers at sportsbooks for 2009 but they are quickly silencing sportsbooks betting critics with a 5-0 straight up start and with 3 payouts in those games. Bielema is fully aware that he was under fire and doesn’t try to hide it. He not only read about it but he has saved some of the stories.
“Believe me,” said the coach, “I’ve got a few things saved.” This week the Badgers have a sportsbooks betting date at #9 Ohio State against the Big Ten leader Buckeyes. Wisconsin remains unranked and a 16 point sportsbooks betting underdog Saturday. Bielema is not upset with the Badgers lack of sportsbooks betting respect, however. “I’m not mad about anything,” said Bielema. “I’m just happy we have a team that wants to improve weekly. I think our kids want to win for each other.”
Bielema deserved a lot of the sportsbooks betting heat he was under as the Badgers were an undisciplined team last year that committed a lot of costly and mindless penalties and they blew 4th quarter leads at sportsbooks against Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State. They also had a huge sportsbooks betting scare in a near loss to 1-AA Cal Poly.
Bielema decided that he would emphasize accountability heading into the 2009 sportsbooks betting season. Bielema has brought a rigorous new discipline to the Badgers. On the field, fourth year quarterback Scott Tolzien has been a pleasant surprise with 1043 yards passing and 9 touchdowns with a completion percentage of 66%.Tolzien was not mentioned as a serious contender to be the starting QB but he won Bielema over with his command of the huddle. Running back John Clay adds balance to Wisconsin’s sportsbooks betting attack with 582 yards and 7 touchdowns with 5.2 yards per carry average.