The No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (6-0) square off against a fellow Big Ten opponent when they visit the Wisconsin Badgers (2-4) on Saturday, October 18, 2025 at Camp Randall Stadium.
How to watch Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Wisconsin Badgers
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin odds
Odds provided by BetMGM.
Stats to know
Ohio State has scored 36.8 points per game this season, 14.1 more than Wisconsin has given up.
Wisconsin’s defense has allowed an average of 317 yards per game so far this season, 104.5 yards fewer than the 421.5-yard average from Ohio State’s offense.
Wisconsin scores 15.5 points per game, 8.7 more than Ohio State surrenders (6.8).
Wisconsin averages 63.5 more yards per game (292.5) than Ohio State gives up (229).
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Photo: Jonathan Bachman, Tim Warner, Kevin C. Cox, Eakin Howard / Getty Images
There’s no mystery or suspenseful reveal as to which college football team tops this list after Week 7, so let’s just get right into it.
These are the fan bases in the worst shape on Sunday morning after Week 7 of the college football season.
Penn State has gone from a preseason No. 2 ranking to 3-3 and entirely out of the Big Ten race halfway through the season after three straight losses to Oregon and improbably UCLA and Northwestern. The road loss at previously-winless UCLA seemed like it would surely be rock bottom for the Nittany Lions, but then they went and lost 22-21 at home to the middling Wildcats as coach James Franklin stared off into the abyss that has become his team’s season.
“We shouldn’t lose that game,” Franklin said afterward. “It’s 100% on me, and we have to get it fixed, and I will get it fixed.”
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Actually, he won’t. Franklin was fired Sunday morning, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported.
This season started with national championship aspirations, and now it’s not even clear if the Nittany Lions will reach a bowl game, especially with quarterback Drew Allar sustaining a season-ending injury. More to the point, they’re looking at a total reset for the program.
It doesn’t get any more disappointing than that.
Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell after losing the game to the Pittsburgh Panthers at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images / Melina Myers-Imagn Images
There also should be no surprise as to No. 2 on this list.
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Florida State didn’t have the same outside expectations this season as Penn State, but after beating Alabama in the season-opener hopes we’re certainly heightened for the Seminoles.
Instead, they too have now lost three straight, including a crushing 34-31 home loss Saturday to Pittsburgh.
Patience is running very thin for sixth-year coach Mike Norvell, after a 2-10 finish last year and now this.
Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell on the sideline in the second half against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium. Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
The general reaction was that Wisconsin made a good hire a few years ago when it landed Luke Fickell as head coach after his successful run at Cincinnati.
Now? It seems only a matter of time before Fickell is fired.
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After going 7-6 and 5-7 in his first two seasons, the Badgers are now 2-4 and have lost all four games against Power Four opponents by at least two touchdowns. However, the worst was Saturday with a 37-0 loss at home to Iowa.
“That’s as low as it can be,” Fickell said afterward. “And I apologize. I apologize to our guys to not be ready, to not have them ready. I’m dumbfounded in a lot of ways.”
So too are the fans as “Fire Fickell” chants broke out in the stadium Saturday. That sure seems inevitable at this point, and for Wisconsin fans it can’t come soon enough
Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze reacts to a call during the second quarter against the Georgia Bulldogs at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images / John Reed-Imagn Images
No matter what happens the rest of this season, Auburn and its fans are going to lament the major what-if from its 20-10 loss at home to No. 10 Georgia on Saturday.
The Tigers were up 10-0 and thought they were about to make it 17-0 late in the second quarter when quarterback Jackson Arnold took the ball on third-and-goal from the 1 and attempted to dive over the pile into the end zone.
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But the ball was poked out and ruled a fumble. A lengthy video review — in which it certainly could have gone either way — upheld the ruling, leaving Auburn coach Hugh Freeze apoplectic on the sideline.
The Tigers never scored again as Georgia reeled off 20 unanswered points to seize the game.
Auburn is now 3-3 and winless in the SEC after losing three straight games.
Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) walks off the field following the Red River Rivalry college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorn at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
It was a great story that Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer got himself ready to play less than three weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a broken bone in his throwing hand, willing himself back to action in time for the Red River Shootout against rival Texas on Saturday.
But then the game started …
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Mateer threw three interceptions, and the Sooners looked overmatched in a 23-6 loss to the reeling Longhorns.
It was the first loss for Oklahoma (5-1, 1-1 SEC), but the Sooners dropped eight spots in the AP poll to No. 14 and face arguably the toughest remaining schedule in college football with a road game at South Carolina followed by five straight games against ranked opponents (as the poll currently stands) — vs. No. 5 Ole Miss, at No. 11 Tennessee, at No. 6 Alabama, vs. No. 16 Missouri and vs. No. 10 LSU.
Considering how the Sooners looked Saturday, their fans must be wondering now how many of those remaining games they can win.
Michigan State’s head coach Jonathan Smith walks the sideline during the fourth quarter in the game against UCLA on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Maybe UCLA isn’t as bad as everyone thought after it started 0-4 and fired head coach DeShaun Foster, but still … Michigan State fans aren’t taking a blowout 38-13 loss at home to the Bruins well.
They especially weren’t happy to hear Smith say after the game, “I’m not pressing a huge panic button here.”
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The Spartans are 3-3 overall but 0-3 in the Big Ten, having lost all three games (to USC, Nebraska, and now the 2-4 Bruins) by double digits. After a 5-7 finish last season, it’s hard to see this as a program going in the right direction.
USC Trojans cornerback Trestin Castro (37) deflects a pass by Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) in the second half at United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Michigan fans were eager to believe that the Wolverines were ready to compete for a College Football Playoff spot again, with five-star freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood elevating the offense.
It was a bit disheartening to watch the Wolverines get dominated in a 31-13 loss at USC, which was unranked entering the game.
Underwood certainly wasn’t the main culprit in the loss, though. He passed for 207 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception, but the Wolverines’ defense did the damage in allowing 490 yards, including 158 rushing yards (plus 14 receiving yards) to USC walk-on King Miller after the Trojans’ top two running backs left with injury.
The Wolverines are now 4-2 and have lost their two biggest games (including at Oklahoma last month) and dropped from No. 15 to out of the AP top 25.
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Maryland Terrapins head coach Mike Locksley looks onto the field during the first half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at SECU Stadium. Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
It needs to be said first that Maryland (4-2) has exceeded expectations this year while already matching its win total from last season.
But, Terrapins fans have to be feeling some lament at how close this team is to being 6-0.
For the second week in a row, Maryland collapsed in the fourth quarter at home to squander a lead and lose. Last week, the Terps held a 20-0 lead late in the third quarter against Washington only to lose 24-20. On Saturday, they led Nebraska 31-24 in the fourth quarter only to lose 34-31.
Maryland is a fun team that looks to be on the rise with talented freshman quarterback Malik Washington, but it’s hard not to think about what could have been at the midway point of the season.
The Iowa Hawkeyes were the favorite heading into Wisconsin, but I am not sure many expected the 37-0 onslaught to be the case in their blowout win over the Badgers.
From the jump, Iowa came at the Badgers from every angle and didn’t give them a chance to think that they were in the game. Early turnovers, quick scores in response, and a complete performance from offense, defense, and special teams had this game over before halftime hit.
Iowa, which has moved to 4-2 overall with a 2-1 mark in Big Ten play, looks like a much more confident team and is proving that the could be a dangerous team down the stretch. This game flashed a classic Iowa domination and gave us a few takeaways to dig into.
Iowa’s ground game is feeling it
On a night where QB Mark Gronowski was not his usual self and less than 100%, the running game shouldered the load and ran away with this game. Iowa was content churning yards out on the ground with 36 rushing attempts for 210 yards, an average of 5.8 yards per carry.
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While Kamari Moulton was the star on offense, going for 96 yards and a score on 15 carries, his backfield partners, Xavier Williams and Nathan McNeil, also flashed. Williams gave Iowa 55 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries, while McNeil added in 40 more yards on nine carries.
Iowa’s running backs and offensive line were utterly dominant in this one and gave us a vintage, physical, tough Iowa offensive attack.
Iowa’s defense rekindled turnover magic
What a performance from the Iowa defense! The Hawkeyes were lights out on defense in this matchup and had Wisconsin in a chokehold from the very first drive of the game.
Iowa held Wisconsin to 209 total yards on the day in a completely dominant performance. They allowed 82 passing yards on an 8-21 performance, showcasing the coverage in the back end paired with a pass rush. On the ground, they held Wisconsin to an honest 3.5 yards per carry.
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The best part of this unit’s performance was the turnovers they created. The highlights of the night came from the defensive line reeling in interceptions courtesy of Bryce Hawthorne and Aaron Graves, which set Iowa up for easy scores to blow this game open early. Add in a fumble that Zach Lutmer recovered in the second quarter, and Iowa was up three scores before Wisconsin fans and students found their seats.
Mark Gronowski still has some recovery to do
Mark Gronowski looked just fine against Wisconsin, and that is okay. With the ground game and defensive performance, he didn’t have to do too much more than turn around and hand the ball off or complete a few easy passes for first downs.
That said, he was not at 100% against Wisconsin. There was a hesitancy or reluctance to tuck the ball and run it or take as much contact as he had in other games. He was protected in this game by how things played out and the play-calling by Tim Lester, but he has some recovery yet to do before he is back to 100%/
Drew Stevens returned to form
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After a bit of a rocky stretch that had some fans and others worried about the usually steady Iowa special teams due to missed kicks, those thoughts were alleviated against Wisconsin with an excellent comeback performance by kicker Drew Stevens.
Stevens was perfect on the night. He was his usual automatic self on extra points, but his field goal attempts were the story. He was 3-3 on field goal attempts against Wisconsin with a long of 49 yards. This sort of performance is a confidence boost for Stevens, who has been a constant weapon for Iowa to put points on the board.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions.Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7
Heading into Saturday, Week 7 was seen as a must-win game for the Wisconsin Badgers against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Not only because of the rivalry aspect and given that the Hawkeyes had taken the Heartland Trophy in three consecutive years, but also due to how difficult Wisconsin’s schedule was looking afterwards.
Yet, through 30 minutes, the Badgers are down 23-0 with little hope as the Hawkeyes had their way once again in the first half. This game was one that players frequently talked about ahead of the season after last year’s 42-10 beating, but the response wasn’t there on the field.
All week long, head coach Luke Fickell had talked about ‘competitive’ spirit. Well, the Badgers had three unsportsmanlike penalties in the first half, including one before the first kickoff even happened.
Offensively, Wisconsin was mute. They had three turnovers, all from Hunter Simmons, while struggling to generate any consistency. After punting on their opening drive on a 4th & 1 near midfield, Wisconsin had back-to-back interceptions, including one near pick-six.
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Then, following another punt, Simmons had an ugly backwards pass over the head of his intended target that became a fumble recovery for Iowa. Wisconsin finally had some offensive life on its following drive, thanks to some tough Dilin Jones running, but a Lance Mason drop on 4th down turned it over.
Defensively, Wisconsin could not stop the run at all. Iowa had 113 yards and two touchdowns on over five yards a carry in the first half, with lead back Kamari Moulton going for 70 yards on 10 carries.
Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski had an awful half. He missed two open third-down throws, including one that would’ve been a touchdown, and had a few other incompletions. But, he got some consistency on Iowa’s final drive with a lot of screens and short passes, as the Hawkeyes got a field goal to end the half.
Iowa had five scoring drives in the first half, starting three drives deep in Wisconsin territory.
The Badgers will get the ball to start the second half, but they have a big hole to climb out of after an ugly first half.
