Even though the Ohio State Buckeyes have cashed in on the Big Ten title odds at online sportsbooks two straight seasons and Jim Harbaugh has never defeated the Scarlet and Grey since making Ann Arbor his home back in 2015, the Michigan Wolverines are currently installed slight favorites to win the B1G title game for the first time in program history. That’s an enormous vote of confidence by linemakers for a Wolverines program that hasn’t experienced much success since the Big Ten championship game came into existence back in 2011. Maybe the folks setting the lines are putting way too much into the fact that Urban Meyer is no longer roaming the sidelines in Columbus. Then again, maybe not as the Maize and Blue look to have a pretty darn good team at its disposal; make sure to circle November 30 on your calendars!
ODDS TO WIN BIG TEN
Michigan +177
Ohio State +204
Michigan State +1067
Nebraska +1110
Wisconsin +1298
Penn State +1364
Iowa +1620
Purdue +1800
Minnesota +1876
Northwestern +3450
Indiana +15000
Maryland +27500
Illinois +37500
Rutgers +45000
FAVORITE TO BACK: Ohio State +204
I don’t care if Meyer is no longer overlooking the program. I don’t care that Justin Fields won’t come anywhere close to surpassing let alone matching the 4,831 yards and 50 TD Dwayne Haskins accumulated last season. The Buckeyes are and will continue to be the team to beat in the B1G until someone else rises up and puts an end to their reign. While the offense will look much different with Fields and his dual-threat ability running the show, the Buckeyes will still put a potent attack on the gridiron every passing week. That will have everything to do with arguably the conference’s most talented running back duo in the forms of J.K. Dobbins and JK Hill who will be a bear for all opposing defenses to contend with over the course of the regular season.
All of it will likely go for naught however if the defense isn’t able to dramatically improve upon last season’s outputs that saw it give up an average of 400 yards and 25.7 points per game. The secondary was the unit’s Achilles Heel with it getting ripped for over 245 yards per game. There are some rock solid quarterbacks littered throughout the Big Ten, so this ragtag unit’s ability to improve upon last season’s meager outputs will go a long way in allowing OSU to win the Big Ten a third straight time. Until someone does, my money resides with the defending champs.
UNDERDOG TO BACK: Michigan State +1067
I like what I’m seeing out of East Lansing heading into the regular season. Mark Dantonio’s kids struggled to a 7-6 overall record a season ago which included dropping an ugly 7-6 decision to the Oregon Ducks in the Redbox Bowl. We’re talking about a team that gave up a league-low 223 total points and is likely to get much more production from the offense now that it’s healthy. MSU had tallied double-digits in wins four straight seasons until the injury bug took enormous bites out of the roster last season. Because of it, the offense ended up ranking No. 117 overall which offered up zero relief for a stop unit that rated out as one of the country’s elites.
Brian Lewerke will be back under center and is said to be fully healthy after struggling for most of last season. He’ll be the ringleader of a revamped attack that’s scrapped the plodding two-back philosophy for new offensive coordinator Brad Salem’s up-tempo, one-back approach. It’s pretty safe to assume the offense won’t score seven or less points like it did in five of its last eight games to close out 2018-19. That’s great news for MSU’s defense that returns All-Big Ten players in every phase headlined by defensive end Kenny Wilekes, linebacker Joe Bachie and cornerback Josiah Scott. With all hands on deck, Dantonio has a serious shot at acquiring his fourth Big Ten championship when the season comes to a close.
LONGSHOT TO BACK: Minnesota +1876
No team from the B1G West has won the conference title game since the divisions were realigned before the 2014 season kicked off. P.J. Fleck’s Golden Gophers have an excellent opportunity laid out before them to make some history with Minnesota returning a bulk of contributors from last year’s 7-6 team. Trouncing Georgia Tech 34-10 in the Quick Lane Bowl will have only given this young squad even more confidence that it has what it takes to spring a few major upsets and become a dark horse contender for the Big Ten title.
It was one of many exciting wins for the Gophers a season ago which included going into Madison and defeating the Badgers to take home Paul Bunyan’s Axe, a 41-10 thrashing of a Purdue team that defeated Ohio State, and a 21-14 win over what proved to be a rock solid Fresno State team. But for Minny to be a true contender this time around, it must find a way to win on the road. Save for going into Wiscy and coming out victorious, Minnesota had dropped its previous four road games to Maryland, Ohio State, Nebraska and Illinois by an average of 23.5 points per game. That simply won’t cut it this time around - Especially with road games at Iowa and Northwestern leading up to the season finale against Wisconsin. Minnesota’s odds of winning the B1G aren’t nearly as long as they once were at top rated betting sites ( +8500 ), and rightly so!
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