The Big Ten conference will see its biggest season ever, thanks to the addition of four teams from the former Pac-12. The Washington Huskies, Oregon Ducks, USC Trojans, and UCLA Bruins enter the conference. October 5 will even see an in-conference National Championship rematch between Washington and the Michigan Wolverines.
Michigan will have a new head coach in Sherrone Moore after Jim Harbaugh departed for the NFL. The Ohio State Buckeyes could be the ones to capitalize on a change at the top of the conference, as they are currently listed as the favorites to win the Big Ten, followed by Oregon.
Here are each Big Ten team’s regular-season win totals, conference and national championship odds and ESPN betting expert Joe Fortenbaugh’s best future bet as we head into the season.
For the most up-to-date odds, visit ESPN BET.
Coming up: SEC (Thursday), American (Aug. 12), Mountain West (Aug. 13), C-USA (Aug. 14), MAC (Aug. 15), Sun Belt (Aug. 16), Independents (Aug. 17)
Fortenbaugh’s favorite: Michigan Wolverines No Playoffs (-145)
Apologies to my good friends in Ann Arbor, but I just don’t see it happening for the Wolverines this season. 15 starters are gone from last year’s championship team-which includes quarterback J.J. McCarthy-not to mention a Hall of Fame coach in Jim Harbaugh. On top of that, the schedule features three underdog spots by my count (vs. Texas, vs. Oregon, at Ohio State) as well as a daunting October 5 road trip to Washington. A three-loss team could very well make the 12-team playoff, but a three-loss Michigan wouldn’t have much to point to on their resume in terms of high-profile wins.