James Madison has won 13 straight and is coming off a dominant performance in the Sun Belt Tournament final. This is a veteran, efficient team that puts up 84.4 points per game, ninth-most in the nation. Wisconsin got hot in the Big Ten Tournament and is a balanced offensive team that's been able to avoid turnovers. But the Dukes are going to score plenty against a Badgers team that ranks 274th in effective field-goal percentage defense. JMU opened its season with overtime wins at Michigan State and Kent State and by destroying Howard. I like the Dukes to keep this close.

Wisconsin is a workmanlike team that was pretty blah in an overrated Big 10 (stop me if you heard this before) that got hot in the tourney. But they can suffer scoring lags, they don't have individual brilliance or overwhelming athleticism. JMU won't fear the Badgers, nor should they. I only have two Big 10 teams making it through the opening weekend, and this ain't one of them. They peaked last week at Minn in the conference tournament.

James Madison plays fast and makes shots. Wisconsin was 3-8 pre big ten tourney. Plus they are the worst team at getting fast break points. They can slow JMU but they can’t score enough to win and cover.

I don't bet a ton of totals but this number seems off to me because of the Wisconsin name. Yes, the Badgers still play at a slow pace on paper but this version of Wisconsin doesn't mind picking it up a bit when the tempo dictates. James Madison plays at the 71st fastest pace and I think they will be able to speed up this game. Wisconsin struggles to guard the perimeter and JMU fouls a lot. The Badgers rank Top 40 in free-throw percentage. I see a viable path for this game being played in the 70s. Not sure which way the number will go but I make the total 147, so I'll grab the early 144.5.