The Wisconsin Badgers take on the BYU Cougars in Salt Lake City, Utah, as part of The Bad Boy Mowers Series. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. ET on Peacock.
BYU is favored by -4.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -220. The total is set at 161 points.
Here’s my Wisconsin vs. BYU prediction and college basketball picks for November 21, 2025.
Wisconsin vs BYU Prediction
My Pick: BYU -4.5 (Play to -6)
My Wisconsin vs BYU best bet is on the Cougars spread. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Wisconsin vs. BYU Odds
| Wisconsin Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+4.5 -110 | 161 -110 / -110 | +180 |
| BYU Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-4.5 -110 | 161 -110 / -110 | -220 |
- Wisconsin vs BYU spread: BYU -4.5
- Wisconsin vs BYU over/under: 161 points
- Wisconsin vs BYU moneyline: Wisconsin +180, BYU -220
Wisconsin vs BYU College Basketball Betting Preview
Wisconsin Basketball
Wisconsin went with a softer schedule to begin the year. The Badgers have faced four teams outside the top 175 in KenPom, and to their credit, they won each game by 25+ points.
The Badgers are nothing short of elite on the offensive end. They rank eighth in offensive efficiency and can dominate inside and out.
Wisconsin shoots a dominant 62.8% from inside the arc and a strong 36% from downtown. A lot of the efficiency is made possible by the floor spacing from deploying two shooting bigs (Nolan Winter and Austin Rapp).
Neither Winter nor Rapp has shot it to their potential yet, but the threat is enough to scare an opponent.
The real dominance from the Badgers has come in the guard department. John Blackwell has fully morphed into a superstar, averaging 19.8 points per game and shooting 50% from the field and from 3.
The team's leading scorer is actually not Blackwell, though. It's Nick Boyd, the former FAU Owl Final Four member, who's averaging 20 points a night.
I'm a believer in Wisconsin. But I have to question how much of its offensive dominance is tied to its weak schedule. It's a factor, surely.
The inside scoring is what stands out. Most mid-major teams don't have a single 6-foot-10 guy, let alone two to defend Winter and Rapp.
The one aspect of Wisconsin that I don't buy is on the defensive end. The Badgers have never forced many turnovers, and they suddenly have a 21% turnover rate. That feels more opponent-related than anything else.
BYU Basketball
BYU took almost a week off after losing to UConn on Saturday. They lost the game, but the Cougars gave me more reasons to be excited about their upside. They trailed by 20 — and then AJ Dybantsa happened.
When a team has someone of Dybantsa's caliber, it's worth mentioning that he can tilt a game in one stretch of play.
The Cougars have two starters who may or may not play in this one. Kennard Davis Jr. wasn't active vs. UConn in a coach's decision after an arrest, and big man Keba Keita is questionable after suffering a concussion against the Huskies.
Kevin Young is a sensational offensive coach. He showed it last year, and it's carried into this year, as the Cougars rank fifth in offensive efficiency.
The best part is BYU has an even higher ceiling. Through four games, the Cougars are shooting 32% from downtown, and their volume has dropped from attempting 3s at a 47% clip last season to 39% so far in this campaign.
I buy into the Cougars shooting better. Richie Saunders rattled in 43% of his shots from 3 last season and is at 34% in 2025-26. Meanwhile, Robert Wright III is at 33% compared to 35% last season.
Part of the reason for the dip in volume is Dybantsa. He gives BYU a mid-range/inside scoring threat it didn't have last year. But Saunders alone is a good enough shooter to raise the Cougars' overall numbers.
Length is also on BYU's side. It won't be scared by the pair of versatile bigs on the Badgers' roster. Even if Keita is out, freshman Khadim Mboup will start, and he's 6-foot-9, 224 pounds.
Dybantsa adds strong positional size as a 6-foot-9 wing, and the 6-foot-10 Mihalio Boskovic started against UConn in an effort to play bigger.
Wisconsin vs. BYU Betting Analysis
I'm buying into BYU more than Wisconsin right now. I'm not calling Wisconsin a fraud by any stretch, but I believe far more in BYU with Dybantsa than a Badgers team that hasn't played anybody.
Individually, I have no clue how Wisconsin holds Dybantsa to fewer than 25 points — unless he just has an off night. The likely defender on him is Andrew Rohde, who stands three inches and weighs 20 pounds less than the prized freshman.
Give me the Cougars here.
My Pick: BYU -4.5 (Play to -6)
