Odds to Win Big Ten Tournament: Michigan State Favored To Repeat

The Big Ten was a wide-open field during the regular season, ending with three teams – Wisconsin, Maryland and Michigan State – tied atop the standings with identical 14-6 conference records. It is the latter that is favored going into the conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with the Spartans holding odds of +275 to win consecutive championships and likely a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Online sportsbook BetOnline has Michigan State leading the charge at +275 followed by Maryland at +400, Michigan at +600, Wisconsin at +600, Iowa at +800, Ohio State at +800, Rutgers at +800, Illinois at + 900, Penn State at +1000 and Purdue at +2000 to round out the top 10 teams on the oddsboard.

Be sure to check out our March Madness hub for all your betting information for the conclusion of the college hoops season.

Why Is Michigan State the Favorite?

Heading into the season, Sparty appeared to be the team to beat, getting the nod by oddsmakers as the favorite to win the national title and ranked No. 1 heading into its opening game vs Kentucky. Michigan State lost that game and never returned to the top spot and even had a two-week hiatus from the AP Top 25 rankings.

So why are the Spartans the favorite to win the Big Ten tournament? First of all, a bye into the quarterfinals leaves them just three victories away from the title, with their first contest against the winner of Ohio State and Purdue. Then things get interesting with a dance likely with Maryland and the winner of the top half of the bracket, perhaps Wisconsin or Illinois.

The squad is led by a pair of upperclassmen in Cassius Winston (18.6 ppg) and Xavier Tillman Sr. (13.7 ppg) and head coach Tom Izzo always has his players competing at the highest level in these pressure situations. We have a been-there, done-that scenario and experience drives the odds.

Which Team is Providing Better Value Than Michigan State?

Although a case could be made for many teams in the Big Ten to provide more value than the Spartans, I’m going to lean toward the top-seeded and red-hot Wisconsin Badgers at +600. After a slow start to conference play during which they went 5-5 through their first 10 Big Ten games, the Badgers have won nine of their last 10, including eight straight, with a win over ranked teams Michigan State and Michigan.

Wisconsin has a pair of big forwards leading the squad offensively in Nate Reuvers (13.1 ppg) and Micah Potter (10.1 ppg). The two also combine for over 10 rebounds a game and junior guard D’Mitrik Trice dishes out 4.2 dimes per game; this squad is well-rounded with a lot of talent. Not sure if the Badgers can knock off Sparty in the end, but if you could get +600 odds to win that game, I would take it all day.

Here’s a look at the full list of odds to win the Big Ten tournament:

Odds as of March 10 at BetOnline