Week 12 Preview: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Wisconsin Badgers

Last Week's Recap: It was a sloppy, back and forth game, but the Hoosiers finally pulled it out in the end. Tevin Coleman's 64 and 75 yard touchdown runs were back-breaking for the Illini, and despite both teams accumulating 600+ yards of offense, Indiana got the 52-35 win.

Game Info: The Hoosiers travel to Madison for a noon Eastern kickoff on ESPN2. Bob Wischusen, Ron Gilmore and Quint Kessenich have the call.

Series History: Wisconsin leads the series 39-18-2, with a 22-8-1 edge in Madison. Indiana's last win against Wisconsin was 2002 (32-29), with the last win in Madison coming the year before, an impressive 63-32 final.

Indiana Notes: Tevin Coleman, the hero of last week's win and the Big Ten offensive player of the week, is likely out for Saturday's game, but has not been officially ruled out by the Hoosiers. Defensive lineman David Kenney will miss the first half of the game due to a targeting ejection from the Illinois game. The Hoosiers have set a single season record for touchdowns with 52 so far, breaking the old mark of 50 set in 1988 and tied in 2007. Finally, the 371 rushing yards the Hoosiers accumulated on Saturday was the most for the team since November 10th, 2001 against Michigan State (pre-"best defense in the galaxy" Sparty, I assume).

Wisconsin Notes, courtesy of OTE's MC ClapYoHandz: So far Wisconsin's season has been a good one. Though the hopes for another conference title were dashed way back in September and the Arizona State debacle figures to play a hand in their postseason plans, Wisconsin is playing sound football on both sides of the ball. The Badgers are currently riding a four-game winning streak, and a BCS bowl is still within their grasp if they can win the rest of their remaining games. Gary Andersen has done a good job of blending his tactical principles and those of the previous coaching staff to best fit the talent he has inherited, and as a result the transition to a new coaching staff has been a smooth one.

As for this week, it's hard not to note Wisconsin's recent success against Indiana, winning the last three games by an average 54.3 points. I don't think you'll see Wisconsin hanging 83 on the scoreboard without your friendly neighborhood Bielema on the sideline, but the Wisconsin offense should again match up well against the Hoosiers. Indiana's offense is formidable, though, and if it can put up 28 points and 350 yards on Michigan State, it'll put up some points on Wisconsin too. Though Indiana may be without Tevin Coleman, Wisconsin's front seven is strong and Indiana's best bet is attacking Wisconsin's talented but young secondary. The Badgers did well against BYU but struggled to contain an NFL-caliber talent in BYU receiver Cody Hoffman.

Predictions: [CfB] Even the most die-hard IU homers aren't expecting a whole lot from this game. There's been a little talk that this team might be able to pull a 2001 repeat, but most people are content to keep this game close and be ready for OSU instead. That said, I'm going with Wisconsin 49, Indiana 35.

[MC] If there is any consistency to Indiana's games, it's that both teams are going to put some pretty numbers on the scoreboard. This won't be any different. Indiana gives Wisconsin some problems through the air but won't be able to keep up with the Badger backs. Wisconsin wins in a comfortable but humane fashion, 49-28.