Big Ten Football Conference Betting Online
The 2022 season was the most successful one for the Big Ten since 2014. For the first time ever, the conference places two teams in the College Football Playoff as Michigan won the conference and Ohio State was able to grab the final spot in the CFP. Unfortunately, both Michigan and Ohio State lost heartbreakers to TCU and Georgia, and that has extended the Big Ten’s title drought to nine years.
Big Ten Conference Current Champion: Michigan Wolverines
Big Ten Championship Game: W 43-22 vs. Purdue
Fiesta Bowl (CFP Semifinal): L 45-51 vs. TCU
College Football Betting Lines
Ohio State +180
Michigan +180
Penn State +600
Wisconsin +800
Iowa +1200
Minesota +4000
Illinois +5000
Nebraska +6000
Maryland +6000
Michigan State +12000
Purdue +12000
Rutgers +20000
Indiana +30000
Northwestern +30000
Once again, Michigan and Ohio State are the teams to beat in the Big Ten. Jim Harbaugh has finally proven that he can beat the Buckeyes with wins over the Wolverines’ archrival in each of the last two seasons, and that has led to the oddsmakers making these programs co-favorites to win the conference in 2023.
Ohio State has the most impressive group of skill position players in the country. Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka are both excellent receiver prospects, and Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson are superb running backs. However, no one knows who will be the starter as junior Kyle McCord and freshman Devin Brown vie to replace C.J. Stroud.
Michigan doesn’t have as much talent as Ohio State, but the Wolverines do have continuity as J.J. McCarthy returns alongside Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards. This will be a run-first team under Jim Harbaugh, and Michigan ranked second in rushing YPG, YPC, and TDs among Power Five teams in 2022.
Big Ten Football Conference Format
Membership within the Big Ten remained the same for four decades until the league expanded with the addition of Penn State in 1990. Nebraska accepted an invitation to join the conference for the 2011 season, bringing the number of teams to 12 and the Big Ten was divided into two divisions, the Legends and Leaders. The league also met the criteria to host a championship game for the first time, which it did that season.
Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big Ten prior to the start of the 2014 season. That led to the current alignment into East and West Divisions, scrapping the somewhat confusing Legends and Leaders monikers. These divisions are not balanced though as the East Division is much tougher than the West Division. A West Division team has not won the Big Ten in its current format, and the last five Big Ten Championship Games have been decided by at least 12 points.
The Big Ten will expand to 16 teams next year as USC and UCLA will join from the Pac 12 and make this the first coast-to-coast conference in college sports. It has helped keep the Big Ten on equal financial footing with the SEC, but it will be a bit of a logistical nightmare for sports other than football.
The Big Ten added Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers at the start of the decade, but none of those three teams have been consistent contenders since joining the conference. The Cornhuskers were the only team of the three newcomers to make the Big Ten Championship Game, and they were blasted 70-31 by Wisconsin in 2012. They have since been mired in mediocrity, posting sub .500 records in five straight seasons.
Since the conference split into divisions in 2011, the East Division has been dominant. Wisconsin won the Big Ten twice in each of the first two seasons as part of the “Leaders” Division, but a team from the East Division has gone on to win the conference championship game for nine straight seasons. That’s what happens when you put powerhouses like Michigan and Ohio State in the same division alongside other strong programs like Penn State and Michigan State.
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