Best Early 2018 Big Ten Championship Odds

The Big Ten was one of the two Power Five conferences to miss out on the College Football Playoff last year. Ohio State won the conference championship, knocking off previously unbeaten Wisconsin, who would have gone to the playoff had they beaten the Buckeyes. Both of those teams lead the odds to win the conference again this year, and the question for Wisconsin will be whether they can get their offense together enough to keep up with elite teams — their defense is stout enough to win a title. For Ohio State, the question goes the other way — can their defense keep offenses off the field? We have sports betting odds for each team along with our thoughts about the several odds to win the 2018 Big Ten Championship.

Best Early 2018 Big Ten Championship Odds

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2018 Big Ten Championship Odds

• Ohio State                                                       +150
• Wisconsin                                                        +400
• Penn State                                                      +450
• Michigan                                                         +600
• Michigan State                                                            +1000
• Northwestern                                                  +1600
• Iowa                                                                +2500
• Purdue                                                            +2500
• Rutgers                                                           +3300
• Maryland                                                         +3300
• Indiana                                                                        +3300
• Nebraska                                                        +3300
• Minnesota                                                       +5000
• Illinois                                                              +10000

Ohio State will finally have a quarterback not named J.T. Barrett, and the process of working this new signal-caller (Dwayne Haskins, at least entering preseason camp) into the offense will likely cause some jitters, particularly in the early half of the season. The value of the Buckeyes in this bet (+150) doesn’t offer a lot in terms of margin of error, so as you consider your wagering, taking the Buckeyes doesn’t give you much for trusting in a new starter. The defense gave up some huge plays last year, and with a new quarterback, there’s not as much assurance that they can come back from those errors. Wisconsin plays in the Big Ten West, which is significantly weaker than the East. Other than the Badgers, the only team in the top six on the odds table is Northwestern, which represents a significant dropoff in talent. Alex Hornibrook returns to lead the Wisconsin offense, and he did a good job down the stretch of reducing his interceptions, but he still couldn’t lead the team past Ohio State. The Badgers are almost a lock to get back to the Big Ten Championship, and another year of experience for Hornibrook could get the Badgers over that hump this time. If you look down the list for a dark horse candidate, you could look at Northwestern at +1600. They are in the West, so they have fewer powerhouses to take down on the way to Indianapolis. If they can get by Wisconsin and Iowa, they should be able to skate the rest of the way. They have a solid defense and a reliable senior quarterback. I’m not sure I would pick them head to head against Wisconsin, but this is why they play the games. I would stay away from Michigan simply because of the lack of value you get from a +600 moneyline. They need better play at the quarterback position and more consistent run blocking and pass protection from their offensive line — plus they have to get by Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State just to get out of the Big Ten East. I’m not sure they’ve made it that far in their progression to be below +1000 as far as a moneyline goes. Then there’s Penn State. They were one play away from beating both Ohio State and Michigan State last year, but that’s life in the Big Ten East. Both of those losses came on the road, and Penn State earned redemption in the Fiesta Bowl by knocking off Washington. Trace McSorley returns as one of the best quarterbacks in the conference, and receivers DeAndre Thompkins and Juwan Johnson are also elite. Tailback Miles Sanders is ready to take over where Saquon Barkley left off. At +450, this is a team that represents a solid value because they have more pieces in place than Ohio State does. Of course, Penn State doesn’t have Urban Meyer, but coaches don’t make plays on the field