The Big Ten features more teams with 20-plus wins than teams with losing records this season as the conference is chalk full of talented teams. Michigan State is a large favorite to win the Big Ten conference tournament, but several teams are chomping at the bit to knock them off.
The Spartans feature arguably the best all-around player in the country in Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes is having one of the best shooting seasons in conference history. Michigan State also ranks inside the top 25 nationally in points, rebounds, assists and points allowed.
Indiana ultimately ran away with the Big Ten regular season title with a 15-3 SU record within the conference. The Hoosiers defense has been tightening up, but their offense, which averages 82.8 points per game, is the reason why people pay to see them.
Maryland and Purdue both sit closely behind the top two teams. The Terrapins could be one of the best teams in the nation, but have shown that they can take the occasional game off. The Boilermakers have been a solid team all season long on the back of senior center A.J. Hammons.
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Michigan State | +105 |
| Indiana | +300 |
| Maryland | +600 |
| Purdue | +550 |
| Iowa | +800 |
| Wisconsin | +1400 |
| Michigan | +2800 |
| Field | +3300 |
Odds as of March 8 at Sportsbook
Archived Articles
The Wisconsin Badgers are the heavy 10/11 favorites on the odds to win the 2015 Big Ten Tournament at the sportsbooks after going 28-3 overall, 16-14-1 ATS, and 16-2 against conference opponents this past season. The Badgers will hit the hardwood on Friday at the United Center.
Wisconsin is one of four schools that gets a bye into the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, with No. 2 Maryland (7/1), No. 3 Michigan State (7/1), and No. 4 Purdue (14/1) all getting a breather early this week as well.
The Big Ten Tournament gets underway on Wednesday with a pair of Sportsbook-round matchups - No. 12 Nebraska vs. No. 13 Penn State, and No. 11 Minnesota vs. No. 14 Rutgers. The Golden Gophers have the top tournament odds at Sportsbook out of that group at 33/1.
Thursday's second-round action then has No. 8 Illinois vs. No. 9 Michigan, No. 7 Indiana vs. No. 10 Northwestern, and No. 5 Iowa and No. 6 Ohio State vs. first-round Sportsbooks. The Buckeyes are actually second on the Sportsbook odds to win the Big Ten Tournament at 9/2, with Iowa at 9/1 on those lines.
Big Ten Tournament Odds at Sportsbook
Wisconsin 10/11
Ohio State 9/2
Maryland 7/1
Michigan State 7/1
Iowa 9/1
Purdue 14/1
Illinois 16/1
Indiana 20/1
Minnesota 33/1
Michigan 66/1
Nebraska 200/1
Northwestern 200/1
Penn State 200/1
Rutgers 500/1
Big Ten Tournament Schedule
Sportsbook Rounds - March 11-12
Quarterfinals - March 13
Semifinals - March 14
Championship Game - March 15
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Big Ten Tournament betting action will hit the semifinal round on Saturday with three of the top four seeds remaining at the event at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Top-seeded Michigan will meet fifth-seeded Ohio State in one of the Big Ten semifinal matchups, while second-seeded Wisconsin takes on third-seeded Michigan State.
In the quarterfinals on Friday Michigan topped Illinois 64-63, Ohio State got past Nebraska 71-67, Wisconsin defeated Minnesota 83-57, and Michigan State beat Northwestern 67-51.
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The quarterfinals are set in Big Ten Tournament betting action, and top seed Michigan will hit the hardwood for the first time at the event this year when they take on ninth-seeded Illinois on Friday.
The Fighting Illini topped Indiana 64-54 in Sportsbook-round action at the tournament on Thursday to set up their date with the Wolverines on Friday. Michigan is 6-0 both SU and ATS in its past six games against Illinois.
The other three quarterfinal contests on Friday at the Big Ten Tournament are Ohio State vs. Nebraska, Minnesota vs. Wisconsin, and Northwestern vs. Michigan State.
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With Big Ten Tournament betting action set to get underway on Thursday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis it's top seed Michigan that is sitting as the favorite on the tournament betting lines at the sportsbooks.
At Sportsbook Michigan is the +325 favorite on the odds to win the Big Ten Tournament, and they're one of four teams getting a bye into Friday's quarterfinal round; the others are No. 2 Wisconsin (+375), No. 3 Michigan State (+350), and No. 4 Nebraska (+3000).
The Sportsbook-round matchups on Thursday will be No. 8 Indiana vs. No. 9 Illinois, No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 12 Purdue, No. 7 Minnesota vs. No. 10 Penn State, and No. 6 Iowa vs. No. 11 Northwestern.
Of those eight teams Ohio State has the best Big Ten Tournament odds at Sportsbook at +450, with Iowa just behind them at +525. Northwestern is the longshot at the event, holding down +100000 odds to claim the Big Ten title.
Big Ten Tournament Odds at Sportsbook
Michigan +325
Michigan State +350
Wisconsin +375
Ohio State +450
Iowa +525
Indiana +2000
Nebraska +3000
Minnesota +3300
Illinois +5000
Purdue +15000
Penn State +20000
Northwestern +100000
Big Ten Tournament Schedule
Sportsbook Rounds - March 13
Quarterfinals - March 14
Semifinals - March 15
Championship Game - March 16
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So far the Big Ten Conference Tournament has gone chalk with all four top seeds advancing to today’s semifinal round.
In the first game on the slate, No. 1 Indiana will play No. 4 Wisconsin in college hoops betting action. The Hoosiers have been opened as 6.5-point favorites even though the Badgers are 10-0 straight-up and 8-2 against the spread in their last 10 meetings.
Then the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes square off against No. 3 Michigan State. This series is tied 3-3 SU in the last six meetings, including a split this season. The Spartans have a slight 3-2-1 edge ATS over those half-dozen contests.
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The top four seeds in the Big Ten Tournament take to the court in today’s quarterfinals starting with No. 1 Indiana as a 9.5-point favorite on the Sportsbook line against No. 8 Illinois. The game of the day pits No. 4 Wisconsin against No. 5 Michigan with the Wolverines favored by 3.5 points.
The bottom half of the bracket kicks things off with No. 2 Ohio State facing No. 10 Nebraska. Friday’s late game pairs No. 3 Michigan State against No. 6 Iowa. The Spartans have won the last five meetings straight up and went 4-1 against the spread.
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Indiana picked up the regular-season title, but the quest for the Big Ten Tournament crown gets underway this Thursday with first-round action from the United Center in Chicago.
The highest eight seeds will be paired off in the Sportsbook round starting with No. 8 Illinois against No. 9 Minnesota. Just a half a game separated these two in the standings and they split the season series with the road team winning both straight-up and against the spread.
Sportsbook has opened the Golden Gophers as 2-point favorites for this game and the Sportsbook advances to Friday’s quarterfinals to face the No. 1 Hoosiers.
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Game 2 on Thursday pits No. 5 Michigan against No. 12 Penn State. The Wolverines went 12-6 SU in conference play and come into this matchup as 14.5-point favorites.
However, they were stunned by the Lions 84-78 the last time they met as 13-point road favorites. The Sportsbook here draws No. 4 Wisconsin in the next round.
No. 7 Purdue will square off against No. 10 Nebraska in the third game on Thursday’s slate. The Boilermakers faded down the stretch with a 4-7 SU record in their last 11 games but they have been opened as 5.5-point favorites over the Cornhuskers.
Purdue won both regular season games SU and ATS and will try and pull off the sweep to earn a shot at No. 2 Ohio State in the next round.
First-round action wraps up with No. 6 Iowa taking on No. 11 Northwestern. The Hawkeyes come in as 9.5-point favorites after posting a 9-9 SU record in Big Ten play that included two victories over the Wildcats by a combined 34 points. The Sportsbook of this matchup will go up against No. 3 Michigan State in the late game on Friday night.
While the top four teams have a distinct advantage with the first-round bye, the team that probably offers the most value this week is Michigan (assuming the Wolverines avenge that loss to Penn State) given that it is more than capable of beating any of the top seeds.
Big Ten Conference Tournament Odds - courtesy of Sportsbook:
Indiana +165
Ohio State +320
Michigan State +425
Wisconsin +875
Michigan +650
Iowa +3500
Purdue +9500
Illinois +6000
Minnesota +3000
Nebraska +75000
Northwestern +50000
Penn State +100000
Thursday, March 14- First Round
12 PM ET – No. 8 Illinois vs. No. 9 Minnesota
3:30 PM ET – No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 12 Penn State
6:30 PM ET – No. 7 Purdue vs. No. 10 Nebraska
9 PM ET – No. 6 Iowa vs. No. 11 Northwestern
Friday, March 15- Quarterfinal Round
12 PM ET – No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 8/9
3:30 PM ET – No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 5/12
6:30 PM ET – No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 7/10
9 PM ET – No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 6/11
Saturday, March 16- Semifinal Round
1:40 PM ET – No. 1/8/9 vs. No. 4/5/12
5:10 PM ET – No. 2/7/10 vs. No. 3/6/11
Sunday, March 17- Championship Game
3:30 PM ET – Sportsbook Semifinal 1 vs. Sportsbook Semifinal 2
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It should be a very interesting Big Ten tournament this year as the two favorites to win the conference tournament, Ohio State and Michigan State, are also favorites to do damage in the NCAA Tournament.
Defending champion Ohio State opened as the slight favorite to win the Big Ten Tournament at +150 at Sportsbook despite an inconsistent year earning them the No. 3 seed. Michigan State isn’t far behind at +250 and earned the tournament’s top seed. Michigan is at +300; all three finished with a 13-5 conference record.
The tournament tips off Thursday morning with a matchup between the No. 8 Iowa Hawkeyes and the No. 9 Illinois Fighting Illini. While the seeds and season records may look close, this series hasn’t been of late; Illinois is 9-1 straight up and 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games against Iowa, including a 5-0 SU and ATS run over the last five games against the Hawkeyes.
Tied with Nebraska for the worst conference record of 4-14 and the longest odds to win this tournament at +10000, No. 12 Penn State will do its best to put up a fight against No. 5 Indiana. Penn State is 6-4 straight up and 6-3-1 ATS in its last 10 against Indiana, but lost both games to the Hoosiers in 2012. The total has gone UNDER in eight of the last nine games between these two teams.
While Illinois and Iowa are seeded closer, the first round’s most competitive match may be No. 7 Northwestern against No. 10 Minnesota. Northwestern is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games coming into the tournament.
There isn’t much to like about the No. 11 Nebraska Cornhuskers against the No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers on Thursday. Nebraska finished 12-17 straight up and 9-16 ATS this season, including an 83-65 loss to Purdue back in February.
Check out the live Big Ten odds and see matchup reports and betting trends on every game.
Big Ten Conference Tournament Odds - courtesy of Sportsbook:
Ohio State +150
Michigan State +250
Michigan +300
Wisconsin +400
Indiana +600
Purdue +1000
Northwestern +1000
Illinois +1200
Iowa +2000
Minnesota +5000
Nebraska +10000
Penn State +10000
Thursday, March 8 - First Round
11:30 AM ET - No. 8 Iowa vs. No. 9 Illinois (Game 1)
25 min. after Game 1 - No. 5 Indiana vs. No. 12 Penn State (Game 2)
5:30 PM ET - No. 7 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Minnesota (Game 3)
25 min. after Game 3 - No. 6 Purdue vs. No. 11 Nebraska (Game 4)
Friday, March 9 - Quarterfinals
Noon ET - Game 1 Sportsbook vs. No. 1 Michigan State (Game 5)
25 min. after Game 5 - Game 2 Sportsbook vs. No. 4 Wisconsin (Game 6)
6:30 PM ET - Game 3 Sportsbook vs. No. 2 Michigan (Game 7)
25 min. after Game 7 - Game 5 Sportsbook vs. No. 3 Ohio State (Game 8)
Saturday, March 10 - Semifinals
1:40 PM ET - Game 5 Sportsbook vs. Game 6 Sportsbook (Game 9)
25 min. after Game 9 - Game 7 Sportsbook vs. Game 8 Sportsbook (Game 10)
Sunday, March 11 - Championship Game
3:30 PM ET - Semifinal Sportsbooks
