NCAAF

Big Ten Championship Odds: Is Ohio State favored over Michigan? 5/27/17

Ohio State Buckeyes

Is Ohio State favored over Michigan to win this year’s Big Ten Championship? Let’s take a look at the odds.

The Favorite: Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes, according to oddsmakers, are 8/5 favorites to repeat as Big Ten champions in 2017-18. Ohio State won the conference a year ago with a tightly-fought victory over Michigan in the final regular season game for both teams. The Buckeyes were then trounced by the eventual national champion Clemson Tigers in the semi-finals of the playoffs, but return one of the most talented and deepest rosters in all of college football.

The Challenger: Michigan Wolverines

Following their outstanding 2016 campaign, Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines have 11/5 odds to win the Big Ten next season. Michigan has a huge challenge on its hands heading into this upcoming season. That’s because Taco Charlton, Jabrill Peppers, Chris Wormley, Jake Butt, Amara Darboh, Ryan Glasgow, Jourdan Lewis and a slew of other players are now in the NFL. Their defense should be good again, but will it be as good as it was a year ago? And can quarterback Wilton Speight play more consistently in 2017?

Other Contenders: Penn State & Wisconsin

Not many people expected the Nittany Lions to win 11 games in 2016, but that’s exactly what they did. Following a 49-10 spanking at the hands of then-No. 4 Michigan in late September, PSU rattled off nine consecutive wins to finish the regular season. One of those wins came against No. 2 Ohio State as the Lions’ defense dominated JT Barrett in a 24-20 victory. Penn State also upset No. 6 Wisconsin 38-31 in the Big Ten Championship Game before losing an epic, back-and-forth battle with USC, 52-49 in the Rose Bowl.

Speaking of Wisconsin, the Badgers had an incredible 2016 as well. Following narrow back-to-back loss to No. 4 Michigan (14-7) and No. 2 Ohio State (30-23, overtime), the Badgers strung together six straight wins before blowing a sizable lead to Penn State in the Big Ten title game. Wisconsin then defeated Western Michigan 24-16 in the Cotton Bowl to wrap up its 2016 campaign.

The Rest of the Field

Nebraska is 15/1 to win the Big Ten crown next season, followed by Michigan State at 18/1. Northwestern, meanwhile, is 22/1, followed by Iowa at 30/1 and Minnesota at 35/1.

What about the teams with the longest odds to win the conference next season? That would be Indiana at 60/1, followed by Illinois, Maryland and Purdue at 150/1, respectively. The worst team in the Big Ten last season was Rutgers, so it’s no surprise to see the Scarlet Knights listed at 250/1.

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