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Each day, more and more signs reveal just how close we are to the beginning of football season. Today, Bovada released their conference championship odds for all of the major conferences, including our beloved B1G. WARNING--Vegas does not have much faith in the Fighting Illini. (Penn State is not listed)
| Team | Division Odds (West) | Championship Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 33/1 | 200/1 |
| Iowa | 5/1 | 14/1 |
| Minnesota | 12/1 | 66/1 |
| Nebraska | 3/2 | 11/2 |
| Northwestern | 18/1 | 40/1 |
| Purdue | 100/1 | 300/1 |
| Wisconsin | 6/5 | 9/2 |
| Team | Division Odds (East) | Championship Odds |
| Indiana | 33/1 | 100/1 |
| Maryland | 50/1 | 100/1 |
| Michigan | 5/1 | 9/1 |
| Michigan St. | 13/5 | 15/4 |
| Ohio St. | 2/5 | 10/11 |
| Rutgers | 100/1 | 200/1 |
A few quick observations and thoughts:
- The Illini have significantly worse odds than Minnesota to win the West. While Minnesota is coming into this season off a better year than the Illini, I suspect that Minnesota will have a little trouble replicating their success of a year ago. While they deserve the upper hand in the odds because of last year, I would argue that their chances of coming out on top in the West, though not that high, are just about the same as the Gophers this year.
- On a similar note, it irks me that Northwestern has such low odds to win the West. I wouldn't bet on them to win a championship, even at 40/1, but 18/1 to win the West seems like a great bet in my eyes. Sad as it is to admit, the Wildcats had a plethora of bad luck last year. Northwestern only lost to Nebraska on a hail mary, after all, and NU gets NEB at home in 2014. They got blown out by Wisconsin, but the Badgers are losing a lot on defense and come to Evanston for only a semi-home game this season. The opportunities will be there for the Cats this year and, in my opinion, their 18/1 division odds are the best ones on the board. All of that said, Wisconsin is the deserving favorite.
- Ohio State is going to win the East unless MSU's defense is able to sustain their outrageous numbers from last year. If you're looking for a value bet in this division, take a look at Maryland's odds. They are 50/1 to win the East and 100/1 to win the conference outright. Maryland is a team with plenty of talented skill players and they have the ability to luck into a win over one of the top teams this year. It's not likely, but I'd wager it's more likely to happen than the odds indicate.
- Okay I was just being modest earlier. Put all of your money on the Illini. #ROSEBOWL2015
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