Penn State Still Massive Favorites Despite Fighting a Major Injury Bug

The Penn State Nittany Lions received all kinds of bad news this week regarding the health of their team. From nearly every position, they are missing a contributor, and most importantly, they are missing their No. 1 weapon, Koby Howard.

Regardless of the number of guys that they are missing and the key positions that they are at, Penn State is still a massive favorite. 

Barring something crazy tomorrow morning, the Nittany Lions will be a two-score favorite by the time the game is kicked off. As it stands right now, the line is 9.5 points, pointed at the Nittany Lions. 

This game is going to be one of the more fascinating ones on Saturday because I do truly believe that the line in this game is very inflated. Penn State is getting the benefit of the doubt that Matt Campbell was able to build the Nittany Lions all the way back up to where they once were.

Wisconsin is getting the exact opposite consideration as they are being evaluated off of their past seasons, and a week one against one of the best teams in the country, Notre Dame.

I believe that two things tomorrow are true. Penn State isn't as good as many people believe, and Wisconsin is better than people believe, and that will play out on the field all day on Saturday.

One thing that can't be forgotten is that this is the first Big Ten game for several important players on the Nittany Lions. Nearly every key piece of the Penn State team is a transfer, and this will be their first taste of the best conference in America. Who knows what that means exacrtly but it is something that is going to play a role during Saturday's game.

This is a football game on Saturday that both teams are identifying as a must win football game. For Penn State, they need to win to prove that Matt Campbell has what it takes to win in the Big Ten.

For Wisconsin, they need to win in order to keep their coach from feeling that he isn't on the hot seat. The conversation around Luke Fickell is very loud right now, and this is a game that the Badgers feel that they need to win. 

It will be a war, and the Nittany Lions will be bruised and battered going into it. We will soon find out how much it matters in the result.