Sports
Wisconsin vs. Bradley odds for NIT first round basketball game … – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Can the Wisconsin men’s basketball team make a run in the 2023 NIT and wipe out the bad taste of the last two-plus months of the season that saw the Badgers fail to win back-to-back games?
That opportunity begins Tuesday night at the Kohl Center when Greg Gard’s team faces Brian Wardle’s Bradley Braves in the first round of the NIT, a tournament the Badgers haven’t played in since 1996 because they’ve been in the NCAA Tournament almost every year.
Wisconsin (17-14), seeded No. 2 in its region, opens as a slight favorite over Bradley (25-9). Here are the latest odds for the game from a few betting sites, and other info to know.
FanDuel: Wisconsin is favored by 2.5 points.
Draft Kings: Wisconsin is favored by 3 points.
Caesar’s Sportsbook: Wisconsin is favored by 3 points.
FanDuel: Wisconsin is -156 on the money line (a $156 bet would net you $100), while Bradley is +130 (a $100 bet gets you $130).
Draft Kings: Wisconsin is -150 on the money line, while Bradley is +130.
Caesar’s Sportsbook: Wisconsin is -155 on the money line; Bradley is +130.
FanDuel: The over/under point total is 127.5.
Draft Kings: The over/under point total is 127.5.
Caesar’s Sportsbook: The over/under point total is 127.
Bradley averages 70.9 points per game (119th nationally among 363 Division I teams), while Wisconsin’s season average is 64.9 (333rd); Bradley gives up 62.2; Wisconsin allows 63.8.
Bradley, regular season champions of the Missouri Valley Conference, was on a 12-game winning streak before being routed by Drake, 77-51, in the MVC tournament championship game March 5. As a regular season conference champion Bradley earned an automatic berth into the NIT. Wisconsin was an at-large team.
The Badgers are coming off a 65-57 loss to Ohio State in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament March 8, ending any hopes they had of making the NCAA Tournament. Wisconsin hasn’t won consecutive games since playing Western Michigan Dec. 30 and Minnesota Jan. 3.
Bradley was 8-5 on the road this season.
In past years, a home game would typically warrant the Badgers being a significant favorite. That’s not the case this year, as Wisconsin is just 9-6, the first time they haven’t reached double digit home wins in a regular season since at least the 1990s. In their last five home games, the Badgers have three losses by a combined six points (two-point defeats in two of them and a one-point loss in another).
This is Bradley’s 22nd appearance in the NIT and first since 2007. The Braves have won four NIT championships (the most of any school in the field). Wisconsin is making its fifth appearance in the NIT and has a 3-4 all-time record.
BRACKET:2023 NIT
HOW TO WATCH:Wisconsin vs. Bradley basketball on TV and live stream
