Penn State football returns from its second and final bye week of the season with play next Saturday Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. The Nittany Lions look to improve to 7-0 this season as they continue to rank in the top five in all major polls.

Get ready for the Lions-Badgers with our early game preview.

Time and TV information

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The network's top team of Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Todd Blackledge (color commentator) and Kathryn Tappen (sideline reporter) will call the game.

What is the Penn State-Wisconsin spread?

FanDuel called Penn State a 10.5-point favorite on the look-ahead line. DraftKings listed the Lions as 11.5-point favorites. Odds reopened on Sunday. PSU is now a 7.5-point favorite. The over/under betting total is 47.5.

Game week schedule for the Lions

Penn State returns to its regular gameweek schedule after implementing a modified schedule two weeks ago due to its early trip to Los Angeles. Head coach James Franklin will meet with reporters Monday at Beaver Stadium and Wednesday after practice at Holuba Hall. He will also appear in the second half-hour of The Penn State Coaches Show, airing Thursday nights from 6-7 p.m. ET. An assistant coach will speak to reporters earlier in the day. A media practice viewing window is scheduled for Wednesday evening. Players will have a ZOOM call with reporters on Tuesday and Wednesday. And the team will fly to Madison on Friday.

What's wrong with Wisconsin?

The Badgers are winners of three straight games after defeating Northwestern 23-3 on Saturday. Although it was their third straight double-digit win, they didn't quite have the offensive output they had in 52-6 and 42-7 victories at Purdue and Rutgers, respectively. Braedy Locke now leads Wisconsin under center after starting at quarterback Tyler Van Dyke was lost for the season earlier this year. Run back Tawee Walker The bell cow is now back Chez Melusi had to give up football for health reasons. Linebackers Jaheim Thomas is the leading tackler with 43. And the Badgers' kicking game is very questionable.

Weather report

Wind and rain may play a role Saturday night. According to Weather.com, the daily forecast calls for “intermittent clouds and sunshine in the morning with more clouds later in the day.” Low chance of a shower. High 67F. Southerly winds 10 to 20 mph.” The evening forecast says, “Cloudy with showers. Low 48F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%

Early Penn State-Wisconsin storylines

–Will Penn State experience a classic “trap” game? Or will the Lions be ready to put the bye week behind them and ignore the Badgers ahead of a likely top-five showdown with Ohio State next week?

– Will the Lions come out of the bye week healthy? We assume there are as many of them as there can be. However, there will be questions for James Franklin later today regarding any new information regarding short-term or long-term injuries.

–Is Wisconsin good? That's hard to say. Both losses came against ranked opponents, but both were busts. We expect many PSU fans will spend this week convincing themselves that this is a better Badgers team than it actually is.