While the Big Ten has thrived on the hardwood, the same can’t be said for the gridiron with the Ohio State Buckeyes being one of only two teams of the 14 representatives that’s gotten a taste of the College Football Playoff since it came into existence back in 2015. The other was the Michigan State Spartans in case you were curious. Regardless, the B1G is starting to look a whole lot like the ACC these days with it owning a supreme alpha (Clemson) and a few betas (North Carolina, Miami) that could possibly dethrone it should everything fall into place. That’s exactly what almost occurred last season when the Northwestern Wildcats – a team that closed 80-1 to win the conference – came from out of nowhere to punch a ticket to the title game where it would eventually fall to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Though OSU has a new quarterback looking to make Columbus forget about Justin Fields, the Buckeyes are still the alpha with it the four-time defending champs. Like the ACC, Wisconsin is playing the role of the Tar Heels and Canes; same goes for the Badgers. COVID rocked the B1G last season with it playing a huge role in how the league ultimately shook out. Hopefully that doesn’t occur this time around. If so, the cream of both division’s crop should rise to compete for conference title bragging rights.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Ohio State -190
Wisconsin +600
Iowa +850
Penn State +900
Indiana +1600
Michigan +1800
Minnesota +2200
Nebraska +2500
Northwestern +3000
Purdue +6000
Michigan State +6000
Maryland +6500
Rutgers +7000
Illinois +15000
Favorite to Bet: Ohio State Buckeyes -190
The Buckeyes clock in as -190 chalk to secure a fifth straight B1G title. They’re also dominant -380 favorites to take home the Big Ten East title for the sixth time in the last eight seasons. On top of all that, they’re owners of an 11 game season win total and have 12 games on the docket. Anything less than an 11-1 showing, and you got yourself a loser. In other words, there isn’t much breathing room to play with if bullish on the Buckeyes living up to expectations throughout their 2020-21 campaign. Regardless, the Buckeyes are heavy favorites for a reason and that’s because the program has routinely been successful ever since Urban Meyer made the Horseshoe his home.
Ryan Day hasn’t been too shabby either as he’s amassed a 23-2 SU record since taking over for the future Hall of Fame coach. While his teams have always shown a penchant for putting big points on the scoreboard, his defenses have also done the same when it matters most. One only has to look at the second half of the semifinal matchup against Clemson two years ago as well as the National Championship Game of a year ago against an Alabama Crimson Tide team that dropped 52 points on their heads.
CFB bettors will get a good idea as to if the defense is improved the second week of the season when OSU runs up against the Oregon Ducks in the ‘Shoe. With it evolving into a new 4-2-5 look, it could take some time for all the moving parts to get into a rhythm with one another. That likely won’t be the case for the offense regardless of C.J. Stroud about to embark on his collegiate career as a freshman. He’ll have arguably the best wide receiver corps in the nation at his disposal as well as one of the more dominant offensive lines spearheaded by Thayer Munford and Harry Miller. OSU gets Penn State at home and avoids both Wisconsin and Iowa out of the West. It’s toughest road test could come in Bloomington Week 8, but it’ll get two weeks to prepare for Michael Penix Jr. and the Hoosiers if he’s not already injured by then. You roll with the defending champs until someone knocks them off!
Underdog to Bet: Wisconsin Badgers +600
The Badgers hit the ground running at the outset of the 2020-21 season thrashing both Illinois and Michigan by the aggregate score of 94-18. Graham Mertz looked like a wunderkind in the season opener ripping the Fighting Illini for 248 yards and 5 TD all while completing 20 of 21 passes. The effort broke school records! Then he went out and only managed 127 yards and two more touchdowns on 12-of-22 passing against the Wolverines. From there, he would amass just two more games in which he threw for 200+ yards and Wisconsin as a team only scored 40 points in its final four regular season games. How could that have been? That’s not the Wisconsin we all knew and loved the first two games of the season!
Don’t even bother breaking it all down. Bottom line, the coronavirus ripped the roster to shreds. On top of that, Mertz was injured. Guess what, he isn’t anymore and the Badgers return a bulk of the PTPers on the offensive side of the ball which should have Paul Chryst’s unit running down opponent’s throats and stretching the field when they overcompensate to stop it. Stud running back Jalen Berger only partook in one game last season. He will be a player to watch this season running behind a dominant O-Line with standout right tackle Logan Bruss paving his way.
We’ll know if the Badgers are back to being themselves right out of the gates. They open the year at home against Penn State and then battle Notre Dame at Soldier Field following a tune up against Eastern Michigan. While having that off week so early is a bit concerning considering they’ll have to suit up for 10 straight weeks following it, the schedule shapes up very nicely. Seven of its 12 overall games come in the comforts of Camp Randall where Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern and Nebraska will all visit through late November. With a majority of their games coming at home and the program looking to bounce back from a very disappointing season that was no fault of their own, Wisconsin is likely going to be Ohio State’s dance partner in the B1G title game.
Longshot to Bet: Iowa Hawkeyes +850 / Indiana Hoosiers +1600
Honestly, it doesn’t matter who you insert into the longshot spot because there won’t be a team coming from out of nowhere to surprise like the Wildcats did a season ago. Much like the ACC, the Big Ten is about as cut and dry as it gets. Sure, the Hawkeyes are always a pain in the butt and Tom Allen has got a good thing going in Bloomington, but do you really foresee either Iowa or Indiana unseating the two aforementioned teams up above to snag their respective division’s bid to the dance? I most certainly do not!
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