Big Ten 2017 College Football Betting Preview: Ohio State Clear Odds Favorite

The Ohio State Buckeyes made the College Football Playoff last season without winning the Big Ten championship. Instead, the Penn State Nittany Lions used an upset of the Buckeyes and a big rally against Wisconsin to win their first conference title since 2008. And in doing so they cashed in at longshot odds.

So how is the betting on the 2017 Big Ten championship shaping up?

Ohio State once again leads the odds to win the Big Ten at a price of -120 (wager $120 to win $100). The Buckeyes return 15 starters this season, which is a ton for a program that often loses great players early to the pros. Those returnees include four members of what could be one of the best offensive lines in the country and all four pieces of what could be one of the best defensive lines.

Ohio State, second on the national championship odds at +600, also gets the rematch with Penn State at the Horseshoe and misses the favorite out of the West Division, the Wisconsin Badgers.

Those Badgers sit as the second choice on the board at +375. Wisconsin has played in four of the first six Big Ten championship games, but while they won the first two, they've lost the last two, including the heartbreaker last year against the Nittany Lions.

This year the Badgers get most of their tough conference games at home, and, as mentioned previously, won't have to play the Buckeyes.

Michigan and Penn State are tied as the third-favorite at +550. The Wolverines came within a whisker of winning the Big Ten East last year, but only return five starters this season, the fewest in the Big Ten and second-fewest in the nation. The Nittany Lions, meanwhile, return 15 starters, led by a pair of Heisman contenders in running back Saquon Barkley (+800 on the Heisman board) and quarterback Trace McSorley (+3300).

Nebraska and Northwestern are both being offered at +1600, and Iowa rounds out the upper tier at a price of +2000.

Minnesota, entering its first season under new head coach JP Fleck, is getting +3300 odds. Michigan State, facing another rebuilding season, is lined at +5000. Indiana, in Tom Allen's first season as head coach, is getting +10000, as is Maryland. Illinois and Purdue, the latter of which is in its first campaign under Jeff Brohm, are paired at +20000.

And Rutgers—4-21 in three seasons of Big Ten play—brings up the bottom of the board at +50000 at online gambling sites.

For more on Big Ten odds, check out OddsShark's Big Ten 2017 Season Betting Preview.