Texas El Paso @ Wisconsin preview

Wisconsin, which barely avoided an upset by Utah State last week, hosts Texas El-Paso on Saturday. The Badgers were outplayed for most of the game at Camp Randall Stadium and hung on for a 16-14 win thanks to a missed 37-yard field goal on the final play. UTEP rolled past New Mexico State 41-28 for its first win of the season last week. The Miners are completing a challenging non-conference schedule, which includes a home loss to Oklahoma and a defeat at Mississippi.

TV: 12 p.m. ET, ESPN2. LINE: Wisconsin -17

ABOUT TEXAS EL-PASO (1-2): Miners quarterback Nick Lamaison was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week after the win over New Mexico State. He completed 21 of 32 passes for 300 yards and a career-high four touchdowns with no turnovers. UTEP has struggled defensively, allowing 26.7 points a game. The Miners' run defense has been particularly weak, giving up 216.3 yards a game. That's not a good sign going against a team whose strength comes in the running game.

ABOUT WISCONSIN (2-1): Picked to win the Leaders Division of the Big Ten, the Badgers instead have looked like a team that won't be making any BCS bowl games in January. Wisconsin hung on for a 26-21 win over Northern Iowa, a Football Championship Subdvision team, in the opener. The Badgers made a long trip west to Orgeon State the following week and returned home with a 10-7 loss. Wisconsin pulled off a narrow escape last week and needs some answers for its struggling offense.

EXTRA POINTS

1. The teams are meeting for the first time. This marks only the second time UTEP has faced a Big Ten team. The Miners lost 69-7 at Iowa on Sept. 27, 1986.

2. Acccording to the UTEP sports information department, the 10 a.m. Mountain Time start is believed to be the earliest in school history.

3. Wisconsin has won 18 consecutive games at Camp Randall, the second-longest home winning streak in the nation. Only LSU has a longer streak with 20 wins.

PREDICTION: Wisconsin 27, UTEP 7.