With the college football season set to start, it’s time to break down the Big Ten and see which teams are going to be left standing at the finish line.
We start with Wisconsin, priced at +165 to emerge as the conference champion at the end of the season.
The Badgers may have lost their starting QB, Russell Wilson, but they’re still able to fall back on the best running back in the nation: Montee Ball. Ball had over 2000 total yards last season and ended up with a whopping 39 touchdowns. He single-handedly makes Wisconsin a force to be reckoned with in the Big Ten.
Elsewhere, the college football odds are also being kind to Michigan, listed at +250 to win the Big Ten title.
Denard Robinson is the center of attention for the Wolverines and rightly so. That said, Robinson and his teammates will be tested right from the get-go as they take on defending champs Alabama in the first week.
The next two on the list are Nebraska (+525) and Michigan State (+625).
Cornhuskers fans would be the first to admit that last season was a disappointing one, but they’re hoping Taylor Martinez can rebound and lead the team to a much better 2012 campaign.
As for the Spartans, there are questions on whether QB Andrew Maxwell can step up to the plate as the main signal caller, but fortunately for him he’s got a terrific defense that’ll be able to bail him out if necessary.
After those four top contenders, the odds become a lot higher. There’s Illinois (+1700), Purdue (+2800), Iowa (+3500), and Northwestern (+4500) which take up spots five through eight.
The two biggest underdogs in the Big Ten will be Indiana, quoted at +7500, and Minnesota, which can be backed at an amusing +17500 to win the conference championship. Clearly it won’t be a season to remember (at least in a good light) for either the Hoosiers or Gophers in football.
